Was there any other difference in the prewar 2226w tender and the postwar 2426w tender besides the trucks?
The 2226w had 6 wheel prewar trucks with box coupler and the 2426w had 4 wheel postwar trucks and a regular coupler.
Was there any other differences in them?
I think you’ll find that all 2426w tenders had 6 wheel trucks. This tender was found on the PW 726 and 773. It’s pre-war equivalent would be the tender found on 700E’s
At any rate, the 2226w tender, while looking physically the same is much smaller than the 2426w.
Bruce Webster
The 2426W is the postwar version of the 2226W, and they are exactly the same size. The 2426W has the standard postwar 6-wheel trucks with a coil-type knuckle coupler (not 4-wheel staple-end freightcar trucks). The pre- and postwar tenders are (almost) identical, except for the trucks and the exact size and type of lettering. The casting had a very small revision for postwar use – the holes for the screws holding the steps at the corners are open all the way through on a prewar casting, but don’t go all the way through on the postwar. Prewar lettering (rubber-stamped) was slightly smaller than postwar rubber-stamped lettering, though most 2426Ws had white heat-stamped lettering. (Based on Greenberg’s postwar Vol. VII: Selected Variations, Paul Ambrose & Harold J. Lovelock) The 2426W came with both the 726 Berkshire and the 773 Hudson (1950).
The 700T or 700W which went with the scale 700E Hudson was indeed much larger than the 2226W, but it was not brought back during the postwar years.
There was also a 2224W (and 2224T and 2235W) prewar tender that is very similar to, but slightly smaller than, the 2226W; these often turn up with postwar 6-wheel trucks and are hard to tell apart from the 2426W unless they’re side-by-side. Plus an even smaller (though similar) plastic tender, which became various postwar numbers (e.g., 2466W, 6466W, etc.)
I’m afraid I stand corrected. I compared my 2226 tender to the one coupled to a new PWC 773. Seems Lionel decided to use the large 700t type tender with the PWC 773 reissue. Shoulda done more research on this one. Thanks for clearing that up, martinden. Sorry for the confusion.
Bruce Webster
Yeah, I sympathize – I think all four types of prewar tenders discussed have been re-issued at one time or another in the modern era by MPC/Fundimensions, LTI, or Lionel LLC. And as for the “big” Hudsons, without guides and catalogs in front of me, I can’t even keep track of the versions issued in the modern era, much less which tender goes with each of them.