Upon closer inspection I see that the tenders that came with the last run of FEF and the tenders that come with the new Challengers are not identical. Attached are some pictures that show the Challenger tender on the left and the FEF on the right. I read that the real tenders were different with the Challenger tender holding more water. It is hard to see in the pictures, but the Challenger tender is slightly larger than the FEF. The topside detail is also different. I have included a picture showing the relative pickup roller spacings. So, I stand corrected, Lionel could not have just put the FEF's tender on the Challenger model. Now the catalog descriptions for the next release of the Big Boy makes more sense. The "4014 as first run" version will come with a Challenger tender (and likely the short pickup spacing). The "Excursion" version will come with a Big Boy tender which I suspect is the same tender that came with the FEF's and has the wider pickup roller spacing. ericstrains.com does a great job of reviewing various engines and if you look at his review for the Vison Line Big Boy he shows the underside of the tender. The spacing looks the same as that on the FEF's tenders. If that is the case then the Excursion version might run OK through Atlas O #5 switches.
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