@christopher N&W posted: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.
Awesome Chris, glad I got an answer on this. I popping what we are talking about with a comparison so others know as well.
After-cooler
Coal bunker extensions up top.
Commonwealth trucks on the Pilot version, and the 1238 wrong Commonwealth trucks.
I am wondering if they may confuse some of the options when they are building these. Its a good thing that they are looking at samples now(HOPEFULLY).
