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What to do with a lonely tender?


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Morning all,

I have an old NE tender that I think was from an O2 or something from the 80s. It's black with yellow NE letters on the sides, 6 wheels and what looks like a bit of sandpaper over one axle I presume was for 'realistic chuffing sound'. The loco itself is long gone, someone borrowed it and didn't return it most likely.

 

Anyway, I've not really had much use for it so I was wondering if anyone here had any suggestions for what I could do to incorporate it into the layout.

I don't want to sell it as it won't be worth much on its own so not worth the hastle.

A couple of years ago I was at the Swanage Railway and I noticed a Bullied tender in a siding a little way north of Norden station. Was this common railway practice to have tenders in sidings whilst the loco was in for repairs or is it just a preservation era convenience?

As I only have the one tender, it might look a bit odd on a siding on its own. Could it be used as part of a train? Either being hauled along as is or on a warwell or something (bridge/tunnel clearance isn't an issue)?

 

I'd greatly appreciate any info or photos you have regarding lonely tenders, it may inspire others in a similar situation.

Thanks in advance :-)

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Tenders were used to supply Blackpool station with water during the the summer as the local water supply was unreliable and there were a large number of excursion trains that needed the water for the steam engines. 

They were also used to supply water to breweries, one example being from Burton to Bolton as the water was so good for the beer. 

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There was a weedkiller train which stabled at Blackheath (on the North Kent Line near London) which consisted of six tenders between a pair of old luggage vans and a guards van. The leading van was fitted with a spraying bar and windows in the end so the operator could see what he was spraying. The train could run propelled or hauled, and was a common sight in the spring spraying all the lines to get rid of weeds.

There was a second train, but the tenders had been converted to tank wagons with a cylindrical tank on each chassios.

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The tender you have belongs to the second variation of R.150S, the B12 class released in the mid-1970's.

This version had finer wheel flanges and tyres were plated.

They commonly show up on eBay, often with-out a tender and are relatively inexpensive, in most cases, should you want to consider an addition to your locomotive stable?

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Thank you all for the ideas, this is proving to be quite an interesting thread!

 

I like the snowplough idea. It has moulded coal load, so I'll cover this over with plasticard or something.

 

A quick image search has given me an idea of how to adapt it for snowplough or water supply. I might even have it interchangeable so I can switch between both for summer and winter uses!

 

@HornbyinNC

I think what I'll do is have the tank top and snowplough removable so if one day I stumble upon a cheap B12 I can run it as a normal tender.

 

@LC&DR

I've found a photo of a train that matches your description, a very unusual thing indeed. I also saw a Collett tender with weedkiller rigging fixed, so I might go for something like that as I only have the one. May not be prototypical for the NE, but then again don't own any other NE liveried locos!

 

Thanks again everyone!

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Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!  Don't alter it, if it's in good condition I would sell it on Ebay or the likes.  Good spare B12 NE wartime liveried tenders are in short supply now.

 

Haha, ok I shan't alter it drastically, just construct water tank cover/snowplough/weedkiller sprayers that are removable. It's pretty grubby having been gathering dust for some time, so I'll give it a clean but I won't weather it.

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 I am inclined to agreee with Margate-Richmond. If it is in good condition don't modify it. Sadly I do not need one now as I was able to construct one for a B12 I was restorng.

I say sadly because I have one noe but I had to buy two to get a good body and chassis and ended up using a set of "Emily" tender wheels I had spare plus the Chuff-Chuff sound box from a redundent Hall tender a few years ago!

 

However if it is dammaged why not modify it

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I know you only have the tender but a nice easy conversion of the GBL locos is their B12. If you can find a running B12 chassis (lots around very cheaply) and get one of the GBL/Americom locos (I paid 99p for mine) I think the only mods to the body were to cut out the plastic under the body, cut a slot under the smokebox, open out the wheel splashers a bit to take the Tri-ang wheels and drill a hole beneath the back of the cab. Sounds more work than it actually is. Virtually instant running loco and the new tender body just glues to the Tri-ang chassis. It was only then I noticed that the cab side lining is missing!

 

However, as your tender is less than common I wouldn't do the above to it. 

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