Putting MTL coupler on a Bachmann Short USRA tender

[OldEastRR]

I'm pretty sure there's a thread here somewhere about how to do this (metal tender frame) but I have no idea how to find it. Hints?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I just use the universal Bachmann adapter kit MTL sells. It's a little hard to eat properly but it fits

[bbussey]

Could have sworn that I just screwed a 1015 to the bottom of the floor.  Drill and tap.

[CNR5529]

Could have sworn that I just screwed a 1015 to the bottom of the floor.  Drill and tap.

This is what I do as well.

[jdcolombo]

Actually, I think that for the metal-frame tenders, the MT 2004 underslung coupler is the correct one to use to get the right mounting height.  The 1015 probably would work with a shim.  MT's conversion table shows the 2004 for a Bachmann DCC-ready 2-8-0, which used the short tender.

John C.

[OldEastRR]

Well if this was easy as drill and tap..... however, right about where the screw would go is a nice slot in the metal. about as wide as the screw. Plus you need to trim away plastic tabs on both sides of the space. Looks like I'll first place the hole either farther in or farther out and hope a long shank or a short 1015 coupler will stick out just right.
BTW, I swapped the original tender off the 4-6-0, maybe it had no slot.

[atsf3751]

I have put MT 2004 and 1015 on the all the Bachmann tenders with metal floors. This includes short, medium, long USRA tenders and medium and long Vanderbilts, probably 50 tenders in all and it is more work than removing the Bachmann boxing glove and screwing in the MT. There is a metal lip on both sides of the mounting platform and the screw goes in a metal extension in the center of the pocket. The screw hole is in the right place for the MT coupler so you need to be careful that you don't damage it. On the short USRA it is relatively easy to do because there are no steps on the end. A good sharp pair of cutters will work.

For the rest of the tenders you need a Dremel (or similar tool) using a metal cutting bit to flatten the mounting platform. What I use is a metal cutting bit at high speed and use the end, not the side. This will flatten the lips on each side and remove the post that the Bachmann install uses. You have to be careful that you don't damage the plastic steps on the frame end. You will need to remove the tender shell either before you start or after flattening the mounting plate. If the hole is still there then tap it for a 00.90 screw. This hole lines up with the rear of the tender shell and the shell will not sit with the screw in. Access to the screw to cut it off is difficult so what I do is notch the rear of the tender making space for the screw. Make it just big enough to clear the screw. The slot will be very hard to see even if you know it is there because there is detail on the frame to conceal it.

I say 2004 and 1015 because not all Bachmann tenders are the same, sometimes you will use one and sometimes the other. I use a lot of the Bachmann medium and long Vanderbilts because I think they are a cool looking tender and since I have my own roadname, everything is legal. I have done so many of them that the total time involved is 15-20 minutes with most of that being flattening the mounting platform.

[bbussey]

I have two New Haven 4-6-2 Mountains with short tenders, one of which was used in my McGrattan Memorial photos and video.  Tonight I will review what I did and advise.  Pretty sure I used a 1015 and didn't have to jump through hoops to mount it, but it could have been a 1016 which would have moved the mounting point inward.

EDIT — are you considering the small slope-backed tender to be the "short" tender?  If so, I have not adapted those.  I may have one at home to look at.  But my first inclination would be to use a 1016 which would move the mounting point away from whatever gap is there.  Second option would be to fill the gap with styrene and then drill/tap.

[OldEastRR]

Wow, you're right -- the tabs that hold on the Bmann coupler pocket ARE metal, as are the steps and rear frame end. Maybe this is the medium tender -- I know I took off that huge Large NMRA tender and picked a shorter one, maybe its the Medium. But the tabs are metal, I have no pre-drilled screw hole, and there is a gap right where a screw hole would be drilled. Maybe I'll just put the boxing glove back on ...

[peteski]

Maybe I'll just put the boxing glove back on ...

Themz are fightin' words!
 

[atsf3751]

The steps on the end are plastic so they can be damaged if you are not careful. I like swapping tenders around because that changes the look of the engine and Bachmann is the only source for tenders today. Model Power did sell a very short Vanderbilt tender and it had tender pickups, if you bought the undec model it came with a coal and an oil bunker. Wish I had a few more of them.

[bbussey]

If the sloped tender is considered to be the small tender, then my Mountain has the medium tender. Bachmann refers to it as the medium tender. I used a 2004 coupler and had no problem drilling and tapping the hole.

I do have one of the sloped back tenders, and I don't see any gaps that would prevent a hole from being drilled. I do see the metal tabs that would have to be milled down. And you would need the MTL 2001 coupler, which contains both the standard length and extended length versions of the offset shank, and use the extended length shank in the standard length box, in order to clear the tender steps.

[bbussey]

I have a bunch of Bachmann tenders I picked up when MBK ran a fire sale. There are metal tabs on the medium tenders as well. So I obviously milled the tabs off so there was a flat flatform on which to mount a 2004 coupler. So, more effort than I remembered, but nothing that a few passes with a Dremel can't rectify.

I see the gap you are referring to. I just inset the coupler about .020" to clear the gap.

[atsf3751]

Bachmann has several tenders in their lineup (when you can get them all), there is a slope back tender, small USRA, medium USRA, large USRA, medium Vanderbilt and large Vanderbilt. The only one that had a slot was an earlier Bachmann tender, easily identified by not have any rear steps. All the ones with rear steps are the same (in my collection, anyway) with a lip down each side of the mounting platform and a threaded post in the middle that you connect the cover plate to. After you level the plate out you will still see that screw hole. Remove the tender shell (if you haven't already) and drill that hole using the bit MT provides for tapping a 00.90 then thread it. That hole is in the correct location for either a 1015 or a 2004, whichever one that tender will use.

Modifying a Bachmann tender for an MT is not trivial but neither is it difficult. Only the first one will be hard because you are feeling your way through it, it gets easier after that. I hadn't mentioned it before but the job is much easier if you remove the rear truck before you start, also easier if you remove the shell first too. It is worth the effort.

[atsf3751]

That is the medium tender on your New Haven. The short USRA has higher sides on the coal bunker.