Reproduction 746 Long Stripe Tender? Picture Added.

Reproduction shells are almost always NOT painted.  They also tend to be shiner than the original P/W shells.  I would say that if you have an original.

BUT.

You need to check Greenberg's Guide to Lionel Trains, 1945-1969.  It has a section on the various tenders.

Marbleized plastic is not that unusual and the inside wouldn't be painted anyway, except possibly for some overspray around the bottom edge.

Look closely down the side of the tender.  Repro's are usually silk screened and the lettering would appear slightly raised.

Lionel used a heat stamping method that occasionally left a small ridge around some of the lettering.

Rusty

There are differences between the castings of authentic Lionel tender shells and all the reproductions that I have seen.

While there are other casting differences, an obvious tell would be:

It is my impression that all of the authentic 746W tender shells had a number board cast onto both sides of the tender. This would be both the long and short stripe versions.

It is also my impression that none of the reproduction tender shells that have been made to date have those number boards.

At least two different folks have had tender shells made. Both made runs 746W shells.

CW makes some excellent points; but, I refer you once again to Greenberg's.  

I have read Ambrose's Greenberg's Guide to Lionel Trains 1945-1969 Doyle's Standard catalog of Lionel Trains 1945-1969, and Algozzini's Postwar Lionel Reproduction Handbook Guide.  None give an authorative enough description of a reproduction vs original long stripe 746 tender.  My concern is that my long stripe printing is different from my short stripe.  The long stripe printing is similar in color to the modern N&W striped tenders and not the more orange tinted red stripe of my short stripe tender.  The short stripe tender is obviously heat stamped. It is not obvious to me if my long stripe tender is heat stamped.  The letter shapes and spacing of my long stripe and short stripe tenders are very similar except  the short stripe tender's "A N D" has larger spaces between the letters than my long stripe.  My long stripe tender has some wear on the rollers and the paint has worn of the rivets that were covered by the stripe.  The interior of the tender is not painted and the shows marbled plastic. The interior of my short stripe tender is painted and where the paint has been dinged red plastic can be seen.  There are unnumbered number boards on the sides of my long stripe tender.  Any more comments?  Thanks Carl

Carl, my long stripe tender paint does match my engine in color, sort of orange-red with yellow stripes. All of the long stripe tenders I have seen that are original are rubber stamped, not heat stamped! This is documented in the Greenbergs book as well. The lettering that was heat stamped was on the short stripe tender including the lettering on the number board 746w. The long stripe tender was made later and does have the number board but should not have the number 746w stamped on it. Mine has overspray on the inside but is not fully painted and is marbelized red-brown/white plastic.

My guess is that the key may be the color. The Red should match the engine color but may be thinner in application as mine is. The lettering should be the same yellow as the engine.

Most of the silkscreened reproduction tenders I have seen if looked at closely will show evidence of the screen in the ink/paint. That screen look is not to be confused with the slight texture you get with rubber stamping.

Could you post pictures of your tender with close ups of the paint/stripe?

I believe that my older sample of 746W tender shell was silk screened. It was not done that well, but was all that was available at the time.

I also have a newer sample, whose decoration was done with a long "sticker".

I think the older one was done by Bob Geller. He posts here from time to time, so maybe he will comment.

I purchased the newer one from a dealer in the Orange hall at York. He always has a large setup in the left rear corner of the hall, near the MTH display.

The best way to spot a repro tender is by looking at the coal piles. They are close, but not exactly like the originals. But all the repros I've seen have been molded in black. You might have an original that has been redone.

This is a picture of my 746 long stripe and short stripe tenders.

Wouldn't there be an impression of Lionel Lines from heat stamping on a redone shell?  It would be tough to sand/smooth that heat stamped lettering without messing up the rivets.

I have both engines and I know for sure my long stripe is original and it looks like your long stripe.  I can't validate a perfect match, but mine is similiar.  At first glance the short stripe looks too bright, but my short stripe is brighter then the long stripe too.  I think they probably need to be seen in person by an experienced collector who has owned a few originals.  G

I would concur with GGG, as I stated before my long stripe has weaker red just as yours does as it was a rubber stamping process and not heat stamping. Not being able to completely confirm as the picture does not always show the truth I would say that your tender looks original but seeing it in person would confirm that. As far as checking the coal pile as Jumijo states that may help to confirm as well. There is another tender that was made with the number board you could confirm the coal pile against if you have the original "new york central tender that came with the later 60's 773 hudson. I think you are 90% there on confirming it is original.

Also as stated earlier, the yellow stripes on my tender show where the rubber stamp was pressed and there was a slight raised bleed that squeezed out from under the stamp creating a sort of higher ridge. This condition would not be indicative of silk screening.

I checked the coal piles with a 2 minute inspection (I was late for work) they look identical.  Thanks for all the inputs.  Carl