Building a Tender

Happy New Year! To kick off 2020, I thought we’d take a peek at the Editor’s Workbench. Back in my September 2019 email, I showed the trucks I was building for the tender of my current long-term project, Juniata & Southern 4-4-0 No.30 in 1.5″ scale. The trucks were nearly finished then, but had no actuators for the brakes. I decided to add a separate vacuum actuator to each truck. (See Photo 1)

Next I built the tender frame – I used end beam castings from Allen Models and a Superscale coupler and pocket on the rear end beam, but the rest is built from scratch. Photo 2 shows the underside. The frame is decked with basswood planks – Photo 3 shows some "creative clamping" while attaching the side trim boards.

The prototype that I’m using for inspiration, Huntingdon & Broad Top No.30, had unusual angled steps at each corner of the tender. I fabricated similar steps from steel plates that were machined to shape and silver-soldered together – the four steps are shown in Photo 4 after emerging from their pickle bath.

With the addition of some hooks for the truck chains and some paint, the frame was complete, as you can see in Photo 5.

I hope you enjoyed this visit to my workbench. When I start building the tank, I will share some more photos with you. I will be using a Vintage Tank Kit from Allen Models; they’ve recently been advertised in Live Steam & Outdoor Railroading magazine

I wish you the best in the upcoming year, and hope you have the opportunity to spend some enjoyable time at your workbench, too...

–David Brush, LSOR Editor

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