@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:I had asked on the whatcha getting topic of the catalog what are commonwealth trucks and the no after-cooler(I think it was). Sorry, on my phone and can't pop my picture from yesterday. Also said to, guess the tender extensions are referring to the coal bunker at the top? Looks like the artwork is all the same so you don't know what the difference is unless you already know. Can someone please educate me on these questions?
Commonwealth trucks are a type of tender truck and there can be variations. All of the A engine numbers in the catalogue should have Commonwealth tender trucks. The illustration of the 1238 has the WRONG Commonwealth trucks under it. The trucks for the 1238 should be the same trucks that were used on the J 611-613. Lionel already havs the molds for the correct trucks so I'm not sure why they would not use them. In the catalogue illustrations the Y3 tenders seem to show Buckeye trucks which is incorrect for the numbers shown. There were early A engine tenders that did have Buckeye trucks.
The Wilson after cooler is the radiator looking thing up front on top of the pilot. These were added later in the life of SOME engines.
The the tender extensions are the coal boards that extend on top of the coal bunker. In the early 50's engines started getting extra water tenders added to eliminate stops. After the water tenders were added the coal boards were later added to lengthen the engine trips without stopping for fuel. Some photos claiming to be the years 1953 and 1954 show tenders with the coal boards on them but if at all I'd say they were not prevalent in those years. I'd say that in 1955 the coal boards really started becoming prevalent.
