Questions about small Vanderbilt tender and spectrum 4-6-0s

[NevinW]

I have a number of Spectrum 4-6-0s that I would like to mate with the Bachmann small Vanderbilt tenders.  I have already noticed an issue with the plugs.  Has anyone successfully put these together?  I would also like to put DCC and sound in these tenders.  Has anyone fitted a Loksound or Tsunami sound into one of these tenders?  I have not opened one up yet so I don't know how much room I have in there.  Thanks -  Nevin

[SteamGene]

I have not actually put sound into the small Vanderbilt, but the logical method is to put the speaker under the coal load and the decoder in the tank.  You will need to drill a hole in the slope sheet. 
Gene

[Atlantic Central]

Nevin,

I can't help you with the sound/DCC thing, but to get the vandy tender behind the 4-6-0 for DC, you need to read the following:

Tender Swap â€" Bachmann medium Vanderbilt oil tender (Item #89905) with 63” driver 10 wheeler (Item #82307)

Initial test using jumpers provided with the tender â€" dead short, no operation.

Original plan â€" move 10 wheeler circuit board into new tender. This proved unworkable for several reasons, 10 wheeler circuit board too large and wires too short to fit into Vanderbilt tender without major modifications to both the tender and the circuit board.

New plan â€" can existing circuit board from Vanderbilt tender be rewired to work with 10 wheeler. A simple examination of both circuit boards revealed that while different, they both have the same basic connections, so the problem must lie in pin assignments in the connectors.

Tracing wires and a few simple checks revealed that the two wire connector simply brings the loco pickups to the circuit board. Reversing the wires on one end of the two wire jumper corrected this. Now the loco runs but in the wrong direction.

Two of the wires on the four wire plug are the motor leads. Reversing them gave us correct operational direction.

This only left the front headlight. The circuit board in the Vanderbilt tender is for the 2-8-0 which has 12 volt lamps for lighting. The 10 wheeler uses LED’s, this is the main reason the circuit board is different. Rather than trying to modify the circuit, I simply replaced the loco headlight LED with a 12 volt lamp.

Additionally I added weight to the Vanderbilt tender bringing it weight to about 5 oz. and replaced all couplers with genuine Kadee #148 on both the loco front and tender.

Result â€" loco now converted, runs well with original 10 wheeler draw bar and looks great. 

This issue seems to be tied to what tender cam with what loco in the first place. I do not have all of the Bachmann spectrum locos, but from what I have seen, read and experianced, the following may be a good begining of a compatablity chart:

Light Mouintain & Consolidation will work with all of the "medium" tenders.

Heavy Mountain and 2-6-6-2 will work with the long coal tender, hicken tender and long vandy tender

Russian shares same tender with some 10 wheelers, so I am guessing they share the same circuit board.

The 10 wheeler is really a wild card here because it comes with three different tenders, depending on roadname. Some have the low, small "pre 1900" looking tender, some have the small tender from the Russian and one has the same tender as the consolidation, but obviously with a different circuit board.

But again, I think most of these differences are just the pin assignments and the type of headlight.

Sheldon

[NevinW]

That is kind of depressing.  I was hoping that it wouldn't be that hard.  -  Nevin

[Atlantic Central]

Nevin,

No offense, but if that sound too hard, maybe you should just pay someone to install DCC and sound.

While I did write a detailed explaination, it was not really hard at all.

From what I do know about DCC/sound, the only logical approach would be to remove the factory circuit board, install the speaker in the coal bunker as Gene suggests, and hope to fit the sound decoder in the tank - still hoping to add or at least maintain the factory weights.

This is not plug and play, this is a modeling task for someone with some experiance with this sort of thing.

Sheldon

[NevinW]

I used to model Sn3 in the 1970's by converting HO MDC engines to Sn3, so I have done more than my share of serious kitbashing to get what I want.  I've also done dozens of DCC conversions so the wiring is no big deal.   I appreciate the information. 

It is disappointing however, that these tenders aren't more interchangeable.  I don't like to do work that I don't have to.  It seems to me that having such like similar plugs implies that we can switch them easily.  I've got enough other difficult projects for my new railroad that a plug and play for this conversion would have been welcome.  Too bad.  However, When you are modeling obscure roads like the Tonopah and Tidewater RR and the Bullfrog Goldfield RR you have to expect some cutting and fitting.   -  Nevin

[SteamGene]

Nevin,
There are quite a few who agree with you.  Just in case you are interested, it's possible to connect the wrong Bachmann tender to the wrong Bachmann locomotive and produce a basket case.  I did that with a light 2-10-2 and a 16K Vanderbilt tender, despite the fact that the 2-10-2 comes with the same tender as most of the USRA heavy Mountains that the 16K Vanderbilt does. 
There is absolutely no reason why the boards should be so different. 
Gene

[r.cprmier]

There is absolutely no reason why the boards should be so different. 
Gene;
But they are, and them's the facts.  I still contend you would have better luck by just getting rid of the useless junk, and direct wire everytnihg.  Just for the record, Micro-Mark sells what I believe are the plugs you would need, if even that is neccessary.

Rich

[Atlantic Central]

Rich,

The non electrically indoctronated folks tend to make this harder than it is. I agree with you, for DCC or sound/DCC, get rid of the board - for DC, I have published the simple solution above for most every logical conversion that is not compatible - simply rewire the plugs and change a few lamps.

Sheldon