Tender for Lionel Santa Fe Northern 37751 - 6-38055

If you don’t mind doing a little cobbling, John @ NLima has 3751 tender shells available on his bay sight, ....a sheet metal frame would suffice, and if you have pics of what the trucks are supposed to look like, I might can help you with a pair of trucks, they’d be MTH trucks, but I’m sure I can come up with a PS1 coupler which is what you’ll need to fire it under Lionel’s control....Lou1985 is a master at cobbling together ATSF stuff, maybe he’ll chime in with the do’s & don’ts....

Pat

"I simple question is, can one use the 6-38055 engine withe the 6-11332 tender?"

I do not think that the TMCC and Legacy boards can talk to each other, even though TMCC can control Legacy locos and vice-versa. I'd love to be wrong.

I assume that you have looked on daBay for an orphan tender/tender guts of similar vintage. They do show up. Maybe a similar tender/truck combo that can be "re-bodied".

Ok.  So I have a bead on a replacement 3751 tender shell.  The idea of a donor tender is a good one.  I looked at a PT tender (RS5) that would have the same electronics, so it widens the search.

Thanks for the feedback!

Not sure a NYC PT from the CCII offerings would be a good choice for cannibalizing .....the PT is crammed with speakers from darn near front to back...you probably could figure out mathematically what it’d take to get down to one speaker,..but seems there’d be a better option...like the half price parts sale,....maybe???....

Pat

You are correct.  Lionel parts sale will most likely the best solution.

Like I mentioned before, ...and I believe Lou has already cobbled an ATSF tender together for a PS3 MTH loco I found for him or he already had or something along those lines.....I think he might know the frame to use for that shell that John has @ N.Lima.....I’m pretty sure I’ve got trucks that’ll compliment, then it’s just a matter of drawbar and electronics....adding pick up rollers to MTH trucks is a cinch.....I think you might be able to do this on a budget buster if you can get your hands on the Lionel electronics ....I say might, I’m not sure how proud of the electronics the big L is gonna be even at half off....😉

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

Lou1985 is a master at cobbling together ATSF stuff, maybe he’ll chime in with the do’s & don’ts....

Pat

I wouldn't say two cobbled together tenders is a "master" but I can help with the cosmetics. Use the ATSF 20K gallon tender shell from North Lima and get the trucks, toolboxes, and frame from Lionel. Electronics as well if you need that.

I've used that Lionel ATSF 20K gallon tender shell with the chassis from a MTH Premier ATSF Hudson. You just have to slot the screw holes in the MTH frame and the Lionel shell bolts on. I use some 1/8" sheet aluminum on each end to fill the gap and help keep the sound in.

Here's the Lionel tender shell with MTH chassis behind a Premier ATSF 3460 class Hudson.

Here's another Lionel shell on a MTH chassis behind a ATSF 5009 class Texas I'm putting together, because no one has made one in O scale, so I'm making my own.

Lou, I think you got all my ATSF tender frames,..no??....but to be sure they can’t be that proud of a sheet metal tender frame.....hopefully?...

Pat

Thanks guys.  Ordered the wheels and electronics from Lionel parts today.

@DaveGG posted:

Thanks guys.  Ordered the wheels and electronics from Lionel parts today.

Cool...keep us posted on the build as you move along with it....did you find that shell I mentioned on N Lima’s bay sight?....that’ll complete the puzzle no??...

Pat

Yes.

Especially since it is not available through Lionel any longer.

@harmonyards posted:

Lou, I think you got all my ATSF tender frames,..no??....but to be sure they can’t be that proud of a sheet metal tender frame.....hopefully?...

Pat

Yup. I'm pretty sure I cleaned you out of those 😉.

Most of the parts have arrived.

Couple of things-

I ordered a couple of parts from the later legacy tender version as some parts were not available for the RS5 version.

The drawbar from the legacy tender will need to be modified.  The hook on the back of the engine drawbar is wider than the slot opening drawbar for the tender.  And the tender drawbar appears to sit a bit lower.

I ordered the frame, trucks and speakers from the legacy tender.  My hope is that the tender will sit a little lower.  Also,the older 50mm speaker were not available.

I was able to get the RS5 mother board and the railsounds 5 sound board.  New holes were drilled in the frame to mount the mother board (which now will be located in the rear of the tender).

Currently working through the wire harness needs.  These are a bit smaller than the older TMCC connectors that I am use to.

Did receive the RS5 version tender shell without any problems.

Thanks again for the earlier suggestions.

It should all bolt together fine. Like you noted the big issue is just making mounting holes for the electronics and speakers.