Vanderbuilt Coal Tenders

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I was watching some old Video’s on Steam and notice the different kind of coal tenders that were in use. I noticed the majority were the standard box coal tender and then I noticed a few were the Vanderbuilt ones (1/4 square and the rest the round barrel shape). For the steam Guru’s out there, was there any advantage of one over the other? I thought I remember the SP steam program having some of these Vanderbuilt Tenders?

Larry

2

Theoretically the round tank on a Vanderbilt tender can be constructed without any internal framing - but a square tank definately needs internal structure or the walls will bulge out. But I have never been inside a Vanderbilt to look.

dd

3

The square tender will hold a lot more water.