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 Posted - January 01 2024 : 8:20:04 PM
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Why would any railroad put an auxiliary tender behind a tank engine? They have a nice, compact little engine and add that length. Some have done it to extend the locomotive's range. Some have done it to keep the water in the tanks over the drivers longer for added traction.
I had an 0-6-0T that was a nice compact, powerful little puller. The side tanks are really blocks of metal putting great weight on the drivers. Unfortunately all electrical pickup was in one rigid wheelbase. If two drivers on one side were on an insulated switch frog and the third was just a hair's breadth above the rails because of some unevenness in the switch, the engine could stall.
Clearly, some more pickup wheels on a different wheel base would nearly eliminate stalling. In the real world, an auxiliary tender is a water tank. For me, it's additional electrical pickup. For something short and compact, I had in my junk box the water tank from a 3-truck Heisler. Once upon a time, I converted an AHM/Rivarossi 3-truck Heisler to a 2-truck Heisler. It was not practical to use its original Heisler wheels, because I couldn't get the worm out of the frame, so the wheels could not freely turn. Also in the junk box was an old passenger car truck without a mate. It was the perfect wheelbase and was not especially useful without a matched pair. Best use it here.
The two screws behind the cab steps are electrical terminals. The one that's grounded to the frame was easy. I just drilled and tapped a hole and put in a metal screw. The other has a nylon screw to not short the terminal to the frame. A piece of plastic holds the brass plate away from the frame, and the wire connects to the contacts on the insulated drivers.
Cosmetically, the tender got pilot steps. It's on a switch engine, and the brakeman has a place to hop on during switching moves. I also added a ladder so the fireman can get up to the hatch to fill the tank. The ladder is stamped ladder stock. The pilot steps are soldered together from scraps of brass.
The wheels have metal treads and flanges, so pickup wipers made from .010" springy phosphor bronze wire touch the backs. They're supported on brass brackets attached with a nylon screw and have a plastic spacer between them so they don't short out to each other. The same screw holds the truck to the center sill which is laminated from popsicle sticks. Flexible wires carry the power forward to spade connectors for the contacts on the locomotive.
The whole thing goes together as seen, here:
Railroads seldom lavished much ornamentation on auxiliary tenders, so it got a coat of basic black and it's locomotive's road number.
If the crews use the water from the auxiliary tank first, they can climb the ruling grade with full side tanks and lots of weight on the drivers. Here's the little beast hauling the longest likely peddler freight it'd ever have to pull.
With the added electrical pickup, there's almost no stalling, and the arcing is much reduced, allowing it to go much longer between wheel cleanings.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - January 01 2024 : 11:32:47 PM
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Great solution! I’ve thought about doing the same thing with a Life-Like docksider, using a caboose. I would use the loco as a yard switcher and justify the caboose by saying the conductor needs it for paperwork.
Glenn
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
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Posted - January 02 2024 : 09:04:49 AM
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quote:I’ve thought about doing the same thing with a Life-Like docksider, using a caboose.
Originally posted by gmoney - January 01 2024 : 11:32:47 PM
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I've read that peddler freights doing mainline switching sometimes had the caboose next to the engine and cars trailing along behind. I'm not aware of yard switching with a caboose, but if you're thinking of the engine making up a train to take on the road, it wouldn't look out of place, at least in a short line operation.
Carpe Manana!
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Bamos
Big Six
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Posted - January 02 2024 : 3:58:44 PM
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Very nice little tender . I've been wanting to make cab less slug for my Tyco plymouth switcher. It suffers from poor pickup also.
Bill
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Posted - January 02 2024 : 6:55:15 PM
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quote:I've been wanting to make cab less slug for my Tyco plymouth switcher. It suffers from poor pickup also.
Originally posted by Bamos - January 02 2024 : 3:58:44 PM
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When you do, write it up here. It'll be fun to see.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - January 03 2024 : 09:56:56 AM
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Nice Work!!
Randy
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