Lionel 18056 tender handrail stanchions

This part was also successfully 3D printed in resin by Forum member AlanRail. The stanchions were unavailable for many years until Alan stepped in and helped alot of us out. The brass ones look great too! Nice job👍

*PS.  Thank you @Junction shop for updating your initial post, it's clarified your situation greatly. I'm confused no more!  I was wondering if you experience any TMCC signal anomalies using brass stanchions? Anyway, outstanding work!

John

This one had suffered terminal stanchion breakage by the previous owner's poor packing, AlanRail printed a whole set, and it's as good as new.  Since this is a TMCC equipped tender, it had to have plastic stanchions, that's why they previously broke.

The detail on the stanchions is amazing, they actually look better than the originals from Lionel!

I have a Sherline table top lathe, so I machined the stanchions my self.

Those brass stanchions look great. Major improvement over the plastic ones and far more durable.

Hello Ryan,  Thanks for your comments.

                                                                           JS

@Ryan Selvius posted:

Those brass stanchions look great. Major improvement over the plastic ones and far more durable.

If you have a TMCC/Legacy tender, you need the plastic ones.

The 18056 tender does not use the tender railing for the TMCC antenna . I machined the stanchion base stub undersized to allow the use of heat shrink to get a tight fit, and to insulate the stanchion from the tender body if needed.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

If you have a TMCC/Legacy tender, you need the plastic ones.

Totally get that but as the OP stated, not needed on this model. The 18056 tender stanchions are well known for getting broken easily and even when you could get replacements from Lionel, some of them didn’t fit well.
These brass ones will last a long time on this tender. This solution won’t work for every model but it is a good one for this model.

If the stanchion is insulated from the body, and a non conductive bushing Is used were the railing enters the body, why won't this work on TMCC.

@Junction shop. Beautiful job on those. Any chance you'd concider selling a couple sets?

@Junction shop posted:

If the stanchion is insulated from the body, and a non conductive bushing Is used were the railing enters the body, why won't this work on TMCC.

You could do that, but now you're finding the proper non-conductive bushing and modifying the tender mounts for them.  Not something that appealed to me, but if that floats your boat, it's one way to go.

Heads-up... on 'Any chance you'd consider selling a couple sets?'   This question should be asked in private email or PM.  Parties may list, Items 'For Sale' or Items 'Wanted To Buy' in the the appropriate FS/WTB forum.

The Vandy Tender (TMCC) must have the Stanchions Insulated from the Handrail to the Tender (die-cast)... and, Gunrunner beat me to it!

Sorry, I only made the one set that I needed, and I don't think I will be making any more.

     The 18056 vandy tender I have does not use the tender railings for the TMCC antenna, It uses the Loco railings.

To insulate the antenna from the metal shell a small flanged bushing w/ a .045 hole and a .078. OD . Lionel uses similar bushing on your tender John.

I did the same as junction shop. Used brass tubing. Very challenging soldering tiny pieces without a jig.

Great job Rod. Thanks for sharing.

                                                                          JS

@Junction shop posted:

Sorry, I only made the one set that I needed, and I don't think I will be making any more.

     The 18056 vandy tender I have does not use the tender railings for the TMCC antenna, It uses the Loco railings.

To insulate the antenna from the metal shell a small flanged bushing w/ a .045 hole and a .078. OD . Lionel uses similar bushing on your tender John.

Actually, Lionel doesn't have bushings in the holes for the antenna.  They do have one insulated bushing for the railings to go through for the antenna to connect inside.  However that bushing would come out very easy, the stanchions Alan printed have a nice snug fit and aren't going anywhere.

In any case, since I have better than new stanchions for my tender, it's a moot point for me.

Lionel part # 620-8022-020 is a flanged tapered bushing. The stanchions you used were NOT the same as the 18056 which were undersized and brittle. These are inferior parts!                                             I will refrain from posting on OGR in the future. Dealing with the OGR experts on everything is not worth my time.

@Junction shop posted:

Lionel part # 620-8022-020 is a flanged tapered bushing. The stanchions you used were NOT the same as the 18056 which were undersized and brittle. These are inferior parts!                                             I will refrain from posting on OGR in the future. Dealing with the OGR experts on everything is not worth my time.

Odd comment, as I stated, I used custom 3D printed stanchions, not anything from Lionel.

Thanks to all who responded. These forums really are the best source for 3-Rail (and other) knowledge! For what it's worth, the TMCC was removed from this loco and a DC can motor installed. So the radio signal is/was no longer a concern.

@Junction shop  Thank you anyway. Your original post got my gears churning as I have this engine apart presently and was wondering what I was going to do when I reached the tender stanchions. Several were broken when I bought it and I managed to break a few more with my gorilla fingers. For me at least, plastic is not a viable solution. Your stanchions are so nicely done I had to ask.

@romiller49  I think I will be trying your method and see how it turns out. Your work is also impressive. Ans at least with the brass if I bend one in the future I know I can repair it. I'll probably make extras just for this reason. Thanks for posting the pics of your tender. If you don't mind, I may hit you with questions when I get to that point in the project.

@Dennis-LaRock  For the record, I did try a PM first. But it appears he has this feature disabled. I also tried email with the same results. Using the open forum was the last chance/choice. I will keep your notice in mind for the future

You gents have a great holiday!

Bobby