Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Enid, Oklahoma
Posts: 11
Santa Fe 2-10-2
I am considering the purchase of a Santa Fe 2-10-2 steam engine in the near future. I have run into a problem trying to determine which supplier to buy from. I had looked at the Broadway Limited, Bachmann Spectrum, and IHC. I had pretty much decided to go with the IHC until another member of my club said they had the wrong tender with it. He had purchased the Bachmann 2-10-2 and it came with a short four axle tender. The IHC model comes with the longer six axle. Both engines are the 3800 class steam engine. Could anyone provide a little background as to which tender is the correct one, or were both of them used by Santa Fe?
Thank you in advance for the help.
Edit - I posted two other pix that weren’t acceptable…seemed dead.
If you scroll down to the bottom of the page that opens inthe link, below, you’ll find an alphabetized sries of steam image files based on railroads. find AT&SF in the A’s, and look for the 2-10-2 series. Lots there.
The picture below is from BLI and represents the oil burning 3800 class 2-10-2’s for the most part. During rebuilding in later years, some of the engines received the larger oil tenders almost identical to 3751 class oil fired engines.
The BLI is proper for most of the 3800 class engines for most of their useful life.
The BLI is modeled after the Santa Fe engine and is the only one of the three that will really represent the Santa Fe road closely.
Santa Fe 2-10-2’s were mostly used as helpers on Raton, Glorietta, Tehachapi, and Cajon grades with the smaller tenders. The big tenders were attached to the long Passenger haulers. Some 900 /1600 class 2-10-2 had 'whalebacks.
I have a picture somwhere of a ATSF 2-10-2 3800 class with the long tender, but I think it was the exception.
The 3800 class were delivered with the tender like BLI is bringing in for the whole class when new. A few were coal burners when new also, but the oil tender is the same with an oil bunker in it. Only a few of the 3800 class engines got a larger tender. A picture of the 3904 on page 84 of the Modle Railroader Cyclopedia Vol I shows the larger tender (20,000gal), not the 56’ foot used on the 2900’s.
The 3800 class is a much larger engine than the 900 /1600 class…
I looked at the BLI engine and it is the six axle tender and appears to be the large one. I may still purchase the BLI 2-10-2 but they keep pushing the delivery date for it. I alos found a picture of a double header at this site and they also appear to be the large tenders. http://rr-fallenflags.org/atsf/atsf-s3874abw.jpg
The BLI is the model you want if you desire an accurate rendition of a 3800 class. The IHC is more of a generic model with a Santa Fe look but it probably has a number of inaccuracies in addition to the tender. The Bachmann is a beautiful model but is a USRA 2-10-2 and the Santa Fe did not have any. I haven’t heard any word on the BLI’s being available yet. Are they? Bruce
They are listed as April 06, but that has slipped a few times already. Lets hope they can bring them in quickly. The Santa Fe whistle was correct on the 3751 class Northerns and I hope they keep the same one for this engine.
Bruce I contacted them two days ago and they are saying April for a delivery date. I may wait and get the BLI. I have two of the BLI 4-8-4 Northerns with sound and they are impressive and a lot of fun to run. They also pull trains of around 30 cars with no effort.
Thank you.