HO 2-10-4 Santa Fe 5016

[Vidshooter]

I just bought one of these and I love it. Runs well and looks good.

I'm fascinated by the size of the very large tender.  I'm not familiar with the prototype - is the tender scale size? 
Thanks

[ABC]

I'm not familiar with the prototype - is the tender scale size? 

I think it is 52' long, which is what it is in 1:1.

[Doneldon]

Vid-

Yes, I think the tender is prototypical.  The ATSF had some huge tenders necessitated by the long distances the railroad ran and the difficulties involved in providing coal, oil, and, especially water to a huge fleet of locomotives.  Tenders carry mostly water, though, and water was the real issue.  

Most of the water in the southwest is strongly alkaline and chock full of minerals.  Both of these are major problems in steam engines so the Santa Fe had to transport much of its water from a satisfactory source to the various water plugs on the route.  The fewer of these the better so Santa Fe opted for the mongo tenders.

                                                        -- D

[jettrainfan]

No coal, your fire will die and you'll be a sitting duck.

No water, you better drop the fire and run to the hills! If the worse happens, let's hope your out in a desert and not a town. Boiler explosions could cause some serious damage!

[Vidshooter]

Thanks Guys,
Vid(eo) Shooter

[RAM]

If you can go 100 miles without stopping for water, your going to save a lot of time.