Coal tender for 2-10-2

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Can anyone tell me how large (length) the coal tender, not oil tender, is on the new IHC 2-10-2 and does it have wipers on the axles to pick up electrical current. I want to replace an oil tender with a coal tender on a 2-10-2 I have reworked with a Bowser (English) drive system. The IHC tender looks like it would be a good, long run, coal tender for this engine. I have not seen an IHC in any hobby shops

Thanks for any input

2

My IHC 2-10-2 isn’t here, but the tender is a long one – I would guess it’s at least 7 and possibly 8 inches long – and yes, it has electrical pickup wipers because this engine is DCC ready and the DCC decoder socket is in the tender. I put a SoundTraxx Tsunami heavy steam sound decoder with an oval speaker in the tender and still had plenty of room. I’m thinking about putting a second speaker in the tender because there’s plenty of room for two.

The way the IHC tender is made, the circuit board is in the front, the center is filled with weights, and there is a speaker cutout above the rear truck.

IHC sells direct instead of through hobby shops – go to their web site or phone your order.

3

Cacole,

Thanks for the post.
I think I will go ahead and get this tender ffrom IHC.
My Mistake - I had my 2-10-2 on the brain when I wrote my original question. Actually I am going to put this tender with a long 4-8-4 Northern which I repowered and detailed. Since I am modeling Eastern railroading I am looking for a coal tender and will park the oil tender which came with it.
If it is 7 inches long it may look right for the Northern which is a long engine. I think it is one of the old Bachmann’s. Repowed with a bowser drive and chassis and with some tuning, it runs fine.
I would be interested in your review of the IHC 2-10-2 when you run it .

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I’m not sure that IHC sells a tender as a separate item. Bachmann does, but their tenders are shorter. Both have wires coming from them that connect to the locomotive. If you’re wanting to use one of these tenders with a different type of loco that doesn’t have the sockets for the tender connections, you’ll have to modify or remove the circuit board that is in the tender.

When I bought my IHC 2-10-2 I got the set of 8 heavyweight passenger cars and interiors for them. The IHC locomotive’s frame and boiler are cast metal and has much more detail than any previous IHC product. The tender has a metal bottom and plastic top. I weighted all of the passenger cars, put Intermountain 36" wheelsets onto them, and changed from truck-mounted to body-mounted Kadee #148 Whisker couplers. The locomotive can pull all 8 passenger cars up a long 2 percent grade with no slipping.

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Mine measures 6 1/4 inches along the tender frame. Add a bit more than 1/4 inch for the rear coupler – maybe 6 9/32 overall.

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rclarkdc,

Thanks for the reply on the IHC tender. The other tender I am considering purchasing is a Bowser long haul and leave off the Pennsylvania style “doghouse” the back.
I think either one will look goodwith the Northern, with some details added.

Thanks again and the Forum comes thru again

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Another one to keep in mind is an ex Rivarossi Berkshire tender. These riveted tenders resembled a lot of Eastern coal tenders. I got two off the ‘bay’ for decent prices.