Tender tank details

I’m way out of practice, but even so, the evening and morning spent assembling the tool boxes and other details that adorn the tender tank was the most fun I’ve had in a while. I actually do have what normal people call “a life,” but normal people don’t understand how forgiving and quick it is […]

Where are all the rivets?

Over three years ago, I started work on the tender shell for 622. I went through a lot of pain and sandpaper trying to preserve the rivets, while making the shortening scar invisible. After all, conventional wisdom says that tenders are full of rivets, and the ones on Bachmann’s casting were too nice to just […]

Tender frame for 622

I seem to be in a bit of a holding pattern as I wait for some electronics parts. They’re going to need a place to sit anyway, and so, I’ve returned to work on the tender. #10’s tender frame is fully represented, but it’s very difficult to see, and forced me to cram weight into […]

Split-frame tender design

When I built number 10, I included a detailed underframe, complete with boards and the stringers. You can’t see it, and frankly, the tender frame is a bit of a weak spot. Not only that, but I didn’t think about how to get current from the trucks to the decoder until very late in the […]

The courage to start on 622’s tender

Okay, so I didn’t spend the eighties and nineties blithely hacking apart diesel shells to turn GP35s into GP38s. It seemed, from reading Model Railroader back in those days, that this was the way to enjoy the hobby. Model Railroading is Fun when you approach it with a razor saw! Well, I never had the […]

The wonder of a local hobby store or It looks like Bachmann’s tender shell will work for 622

Today I stopped in to Central Hobbies to see if they had any of the parts I need for 622. It’s all esoteric stuff, and so I was happy to walk away with the gear box at least. It must be said that Central Hobbies is one of the better hobby stores I’ve ever encountered. […]

Tender sketch for 622

There’s not been much modelling going on for a couple of weeks as summer catches up with us. You know, warm evenings, barbeques, etc. The good life. I did, however, manage to scrape out an hour to roughly sketch the tender. I’m considering buying the tank from a Bachmann tender, but this sketch is scaled […]