Davy's CGW L3 Mikado - Tender Modifications
The Aristocraft Pacific tender is actually not far away in it's basic details from some of the USRA standard tenders. However, for more accuracy it requires to be shortened, and the rolled bunker sides replaced with flat sides. The two CGW photographs show two sisters of the same USRA class, but it is instantly obvious that there are detail differences both in locomotive and tender between these siblings. I have chosen to do loco and tender No 750. The tender on 750 is nearly as original but has had the original flat sides extended. I have drawings for the tender as originally built and I will just have to 'guestimate' the bunker extensions.
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Tom Farin has shown how to disassemble a pacific tender on his
CNW E2 Pacific
project. Straight forward enough job -- removal of six screws on the underside releases the tender top.
So I will start with the Pacific's tender top. In this case, the tender top is lettered for Union Pacific. |
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The line drawing shows the USRA standard type tender. The Aristo one will be modified to match it as closely as possible -- plus the added CGW details of course. |
Before beginning to remove the bunker sides etc it is better to remove the Brass "handrail wire " of the back ladder. To do this pull the handrails straight up nice and gentle and they will come out without breaking the steps. These will be put back in place later.
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The rolled coal bunker sides of the Aristo tender need to be removed. It's best to cut above the rivet strip along the bottom edge of the rolled bunker sides, then buff down with a small drum sander making sure not to damage the rivet strip. The new flat bunker sides are the exact same length and will be fitted later in the same place as the ones removed. |
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The Aristo craft "coal" load and bunker angled/back retaining wall (one molding) is removed by removing two screws and washers on the inside of the tender. Lay this aside for future use. Cut everything remaining of the bunker except the parts I have left in the photos (i.e. parts of the front centre and back centre of the bunker). These "stubs" are required to be left in position as they will form the base for the new bunker back and front which we will deal with later on. Also remove the water filler lid and buff off all tender top fittings (ie. all the molded features on the top /back behind the bunker). No need to worry about marking this top back area as this will be 're- plated' after shortening the tender. |
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The Aristocraft tender is too long by exactly 1and 5/16ths inches and must be shortened. The best way to do this is to cut and join as near the back of the tender near the corner as possible. To get nice straight lines carefully measure off and mark the lines with masking tape. |
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Then cut off the back of the tender keeping the cut back from the edge of the tape about maybe about 1/8th of an inch or so. |
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Then repeat the process on the other side. A five minute job at the most! The area between the tapes to be removed is mostly now gone. However the rough edge has still to be removed. Using a mini-drill drum sander smooth off the rough edges off the excess plastic using the straight edge of the tape as your line. |
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As long as you have done the taping properly, the tender back should fit pretty neatly to its new position.Glue a couple of plastic plates over the inside of the join and with the end of your finger seal the join at the sides with some plastic filler or suitable filler and wipe away any excess before it hardens. Your tender top is now shortened and is the correct length. |
Next -- The New Bunker Sides
The tender fitted to engine 750 in the only photo I have of her appears to be a USRA standard but with the bunker sides raised. I have had to estimate some of the dimensions and also work from USRA standard drawings.
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These are the sizes I used to construct the new bunker
sides. Under the circumstances and due to lack of relevant archive material as long as the finished product
'looks the part', I will be quite satisfied.
The bunker sides were cut from polystyrene card or plasticard. I drew out the first one and cut it out, then, using it as a template, cut out the other one. I then sanded /buffed the second one till it was identical to the first. These are simply glued in place where the original Aristocraft rolled bunker sides were located either side of the tender. |
 the original bunker back. |
I also had to adopt the 'calculated guess' criteria for the bunker front and back plate,
Next job was to "plate" over the tank back /top area. This is straight-forward. Simply cut out a fine piece of plasticard sheet as per drawings in second photo. The only tricky bit of this job is rounding the back corners to fit snug into the original tender top. This plate extends right from the back of the tender to the 'stub' we left in the earlier step. |
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Now we have to make the bunker front. This again was cut out of fine plasticard and was fitted to the remains of the original bunker front . |
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I also at this stage buffed of what was left of the original bunker front's top
curve so that when the tender is filled with coal this will no longer be seen.
The new plate is glued to the old bunker front above and around the bunker door/box etc. the rear bunker plate is exactly the
same -- slightly shallower (about 1" instead of 1 and 1/16th deep as it will be standing on the new back
plate). This I fitted exactly 5and 11/16" back from the front plate.
As I have no info on what the arrangement at the bunker back, this is guesswork. But it looks fine when finished. |
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The tender top is now almost complete with only the water filler to be fitted, a new coal load added, hand rails refitted, paint, and decals, etc. If you want "rivet" detail ,feel free ! |
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Decals applied and painted. |
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Ready for its new coal load. |