Hello how far away should a tender be from the loco? I have few locos that I think the tender is to far. So I moved one closer to the loco and it looks better. But I still have a space I think is to big ? Is there a rule of thumb to go bye or do you go bye looks ? Thanks Fank
Pretend you are HO scale. Now, try and climb into the cab via the tender. That is your spacing.
David B
tenders are too far apart from the mfg, mostly to negotiate the crazy tight turns that we have on our layouts…
Many engine drawbars have at least two holes so that the owner can couple the two items as prototypically as possible and still get around the curves one must have in a given space and configuration. If you look at photos of steamers, their tender front walls are quite close to the footplate inside the cab. Something on the order of 3 feet would be the norm. In HO scale, from the rear wall of the cab to the front of the tender, it works out to be around half an inch, even somewhat less in many cases.
Yes, tenders are too far apart when set on the furthest hole of the drawbar. But many locos will not work at all on tight turns without unrealistic play room.
If you have tight turns like me even your switchers will need “room” My P2K Heritage 0-8-0s all hooked their sanding lines on the tender in the tight turns.
Tenders in reality are very close, as mentioned above—a fireman’s stride.
Just set everything “close” and move it back on a loco-by loco basis as you notice tenders knocking locos sideways in some spots of the layout, if at all.