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looking at the selection of various tenders I’ve acquired, it occurs to me that the air whistle tender from the “train set” Polar Express Berkshire could be combined with the tender from the MPC Hudson, to produce an air whistle tender with 6-wheel bogies and die-cast body, to accompany the Hudson. 

The key question is, are the base plates interchangeable? They look as though they have the same mountings, does anyone know for sure? 

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We would need specifics... there are many editions for the Polar Express and many MPC Hudsons and Tenders...

Basic Tender Families Families:

  • Square Santa Fe style tenders based on the 233/243 Postwar Tenders that are 7 5/8 long
  • Small Streamlined 200 series tenders that are 7 1/2 inches long
  • The Streamlined Tenders that are 8 1/2 inches long (Think 2046W)
    • 8 Axle Version
    • 12 Axle Version
  • The Die Cast Tender that is 8 1/2 inches long (Think 2426W)
  • Early Coal Tenders (Think 2466W)

 

To further complicate things, even if the mounts interchange, the whistle housings may be of different dimensions and cause interference.

The tender on the Hudson is described as 2224W here, https://www.trainz.com/pages/t...-large-steam-engines - but this seems inconsistent with other descriptions of it, having 2-axle trucks. Also the baseplate clearly isn’t of a Prewar type, because it isn’t fitted for the air whistle - presumably it’s an MPC era item, a number of their locos were so fitted. 

I have to look into the Polar Express tender! 

I have a 233W tender which I presently use with either loco to provide a whistle, when required. 

Looking at the details, the base plate from the PE tender is a similar size to the die-cast 6-wheel tender on the MPC loco. They are probably interchangeable... and the die-cast tender is a large shell which would have had an air whistle in its original incarnation.

The 6-wheel trucks have brackets on them for rollers. 

So, there is a probable solution involving combining parts from the two. Another possible solution is drilling the 6-wheel base plate and fitting the air whistle and rollers from another donor tender. 

Right now the K Line Hudson is off having its electrics upgraded. The MPC one would be a good “club running day” loco, with a silent tender so I’ll shelve the project until the K Line returns. 

 

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