4-6-0 tender shell question?

[sp4449lover]

hi guys, im wanting to get one of the new 4-6-0s, but im wondering about the tender shell. it looks like to be the same shell as on the 2-8-0, the usra medium size tender. id like to get the 4-6-0 in unlettered, buy a 2-8-0 tender shell for a certain roadname, and then replace it on the 4-6-0 and then letter the number myself. would this be possible, or are the tender shells for the 2-8-0 and 4-6-0 different? thanks if you can help!

[brokemoto]

The tender on both the ten wheeler and consolidated is a USRA standard tender.

The shell on the ten wheeler is a friction fit.  The shell comes off a chassis.

On the older consolidated, the tender deck/coal bunker is one piece that you can pry from the tender shell after you loosen the forward truck screw.  I am not sure about the newer version of the SPECTRUM consolidated.  If it has the smart decoder, I would suspect that it has the same tender as does the ten wheeler, but I am not sure as I do not own any of the latest issues of the consolidated that has the decoder.

[skipgear]

If you are planning on buying one of the DCC ready seprate tenders, then the shell will work. If you are looking at getting a spare shell from parts, then it won't work. Here is the inside of the DCC ready standard tender....



The shell is the same and the one used on the 4-6-0. If you are going the route of the DCC ready tender, then just go ahead and pickup one of the short tenders and put behind it for a better look, unless the long is good for what you are modeling.



It requires some soldering to perform the swap but looks much better.