quote:
Originally posted by Bob Delbridge:
You're both wrong! It's where they kept their lunch
I'm trying to decide what type of water tank hatch to put on this thing.
I ran across a round hatch, but it's in On30 scale:
HATCHI'm really ignorant when it comes to these "unusual" scales. Is this hatch O size or something smaller?
Water covers (hatches) on Vanderbilt tenders are usually rectangular with rounded off ends and ran crosswise on top of the tank. They looked very much like the water hatches on rectangular tenders.
The reason for this is because of variation in the positioning of water spouts when filling a tank. A round hatch would require much more precise spotting and adjustments of the water spouts, thereby taking more time than necessary to take on water, which was one of the necessary 'evils' of steam railroading. Time spent taking on fuel oil or coal was yet another.
As for that round On3 hatch, it's still full O scale. At a 17" scale diameter it's a bit small for your Vanderbilt as a water hatch. Would do nicely for a fuel oil hatch though and a water hatch too, as shown on that little tank engine. A water cover opening for tenders was generally about 20" wide or so and about 4' long. On a Vanderbilt tender the top of the water cover would be at or just above the wood plank walkway on top of the tank.
As for the doors on the front end of a Vanderbilt tender:: Yes, the middle doors are for access to the the coal bunker. Same as with a rectangular tender. Even if stoker equipped, those doors would still be there. Stokers can break down and there is always a shovel or two on board.
The doors off to the sides are for tools, extra air hoses, coupler knuckles, j0ournal brasses, packing and journal oil. Tenders can get hot boxes too! Red and clear lanterns were also kept in these compartments.
The hose you saw in that photo was connected to the water tank. It was used to wash the cab floor and tender apron and remove accumlations of cinders, which can become quite slippery underfoot. Brooms were also used to sweep them out. However the hose was easier to use when underway. It could also serve to extinguish fire from stray live coals or clothing caught by a back-draft flare when the firing door was opened.
As for a 'toilet' on a steam loco, in times of such need one could take a quick whizz from the tender gangway when the area was conducive for such. For greater need, there was the coal pile, accessed through those center doors. I guess in working oil burners, one just had to tough it out to the end of the run. . .
Ever onward!
Ed Bommer