BLI Decides to go “Stealth”

[pjm20]

Email them and ask.. maybe they just missed it.

I actually did receive an email back from them, they told me that due to the lack of feedback that they are only going to produce two of the road numbers per variant. Fingers crossed I can convince them to do #2111 or another PRR leased number. If you want to see a PRR leased Reading T1 number, email BLI pronto people, and let them know stealth is much appreciated (and you'll order hordes of PRR I1s  ).

[peteski]

If you're going to get pedantic about it, Pete , there have been a handful of projects through the decades with RRs trying to improve efficiency using auxiliary fuel tenders with diesels. SP and BN immediately come to mind and there are doubtless others. In all cases the experiment is dropped because of the "special handling" they add. Like with hood-style B units - conceptually it saves a few bucks, but increases time and labor especially in terminals.

I was just curious about diesel tenders.  I remember the BN fuel tender because friend of mine modeled it in N scale. It was basically a tank car, not anything that would look like what I think of as a tender.

Marc mentioned that if a Next 18 connector fit on a "dummy" PC board from a diesel tender it should fit on a steam tender PC board, but I never seen BLI model of a diesel tender.  He probably just meant "diesel loco's PC board".

[brokemoto]

diesel tenders.

Steam generator cars for passenger trains? 

The Canadian roads used them.  None of the NYO&W F-units had steam generators.  Old and Weary built two steam generator cars out of tenders from scrapped steam locomotives and used those.  If you were to bash one, though, it looks like the B-mann F-7B would actually be the best donor.  I do not know out of what the Canadian roads built their steam generator cars.  I am sure that some other US roads besides Old and Weary had them, as well.

[nickelplate759]

Steam generator cars for passenger trains? 

The Canadian roads used them.  None of the NYO&W F-units had steam generators.  Old and Weary built two steam generator cars out of tenders from scrapped steam locomotives and used those.  If you were to bash one, though, it looks like the B-mann F-7B would actually be the best donor.  I do not know out of what the Canadian roads built their steam generator cars.  I am sure that some other US roads besides Old and Weary had them, as well.

Related to that - NP used "water-baggage" cars to carry extra water for the steam generators.  Sounds like at least half-way to being a tender to me!

[thomasjmdavis]

Steam generator cars for passenger trains? 

The Canadian roads used them.  None of the NYO&W F-units had steam generators.  Old and Weary built two steam generator cars out of tenders from scrapped steam locomotives and used those.  If you were to bash one, though, it looks like the B-mann F-7B would actually be the best donor.  I do not know out of what the Canadian roads built their steam generator cars.  I am sure that some other US roads besides Old and Weary had them, as well.

Santa Fe had steam generator cars that included modified steam loco tenders (from Pacifics, according to one source), built in the 40s for use with non-SG equipped FTs and freight F units for use on troop trains and secondary trains.  Later, in the 1960s, they modified several streamlined baggage cars for use with F45s, when those units would pinch hit for FP-45s.

I think that the difficulty of making them in N scale is that steam generator cars were usually unique to a particular railroad- and the folks who want a steam generator car are likely to be prototype modelers (ok, just my opinion, but it makes sense to me.)

[nickelplate759]

Amtrak 667 was a steam-generator car too - rebuilt from an E9B

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chuckzeiler/32340076771

[peteski]

And all those cars were called "diesel tenders"? 

[nickelplate759]

And all those cars were called "diesel tenders"? 

well.. Amtrak 667 was a diesel, and then became a tender (sort-of).

Yep, secondary (or is it tertiary?) thread drift strikes again!

[oakcreekco]

The only "diesel tender" that I've always wanted.

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[brokemoto]

Related to that - NP used "water-baggage" cars to carry extra water for the steam generators.

Baltimore and Ohio had several A-A pairs of F-3s that had sixty five MPH gearing.  One of the units had a steam generator the other had extra water tanks.  The railroad had them built that way so that they would be available on short notice to protect passenger and mail schedules.

[nstars]

I was just curious about diesel tenders.  I remember the BN fuel tender because friend of mine modeled it in N scale. It was basically a tank car, not anything that would look like what I think of as a tender.

Marc mentioned that if a Next 18 connector fit on a "dummy" PC board from a diesel tender it should fit on a steam tender PC board, but I never seen BLI model of a diesel tender.  He probably just meant "diesel loco's PC board".

Yes, that’s what I meant. And let’s face it, changing.a PC board to more steam size should not be an issue.

Marc