Here are some facts, confirmed with official NYC drawings and also over 2500 photographs, if the requirement is for J-1 and J-2 Hudsons that are prototypically correct. (Now, if you want one that just has "a lot of detail", I am not your man")
ENGINES
J-1 Hudsons
There are eight defining appearance features for establishing the time frame and appearance of J-1 Hudsons:
1a) NYC changed from Antique Roman lettering to Sans Serif (ie block) lettering in 1940. Some Hudsons may have operated for a time after 1940 with Antique Roman since engines were usually painted after an overhaul.
1b) The running boards, originally straight with two main air reservoirs on the fireman's side, were raised, with an air reservoir on each side. This change was made when the Walschaerts valve gear was replaced with Baker gear and the valve pilot was installed, (Michigan Central J-1C's, all J-1D's and all J-1E's were built new with raised running boards, and this is what the MTH casting looks like.) By the end of WWII, ALL J-1's had Baker gear and raised running boards.
1c) ALL J-1's were cross balanced for high speed service starting late 1932. The original main driving wheel with a crescent shaped counterbalance was replaced with a scalloped shaped counterweight. This is a major appearance factor for correctly modeling these engines.
1d) All Hudsons operated by NYC affiliates CCC&STL (Big Four) and M.C. (Michigan Central) were renumbered into the NYC 5200-5404 number series in 8/1936.
1e) A new and larger sand box was applied to J-1 Hudsons starting in late 1944. (The MTH boiler casting uses the smaller original sandbox, but it is not unreasonable to assume that the use of the larger sandbox might have taken some time to accomplish, especially since the new J-1 sand box was also retrofitted to L-2 Mohawks, and this change occurred during WWII.)
1f) Each Hudson order used one of three feedwater heater systems, either the sunken Elesco (drum), the Coffin (completely inside the smokebox like 5344), or the Worthington (box ahead of the stack-CCC&STL J-1E ONLY).
1g) ALL Hudsons used the low profile, air operated 14-1/2-inch bell. Some engines new to affiliates originally had a bell rope, but these were mostly gone by the 1936 renumbering. (MTH used the correct bell on their L-4B Mohawk, so it is available for the J-1's.)
1h) The troublesome Duplex stoker with two coal elevators on the backhead inside the cab was replaced with the HT stoker by the late 1930's.
J-2 Hudsons (B&A)
2a) Class J-2A (R/N 600-604) (Crescent shaped main driver counterweight)
2b) Class J-2B (R/N 605-609) (Scalloped main driver counterweight)
2c) Class J-2C (R/N 610-619) (Differently shaped main driver counterweight)
2d) Engines "as-built" had 8-wheel tenders, receiving hand me down 12- wheel Hudson tenders between 1940 and 1945
2e) ) Some or all engines and tenders painted in two different shades of green. (MTH has previously issued this model with the correct colors as a result of discussing and confirming colors with Robert Buck (now deceased), owner of Tucker's Hobbies, who saw the J-2's as a boy.)
2f) B&A engines started to receive the much larger "square" sand box after 8/1936.
SPECIFIC ENGINES
5344
3) The ONLY J-1 Hudson of all classes J-1A thru J-1E that was equipped with Scullin double disc drivers was J-1E #5344. In addition, when 5344 was equipped with Scullin drivers in 1935, it was also equipped with Timken roller bearing main and side rods, the ONLY J-1 so equipped. It ran with these drivers and rods until it was retired. (There was a test application of Scullins with standard rods in the 1938 time frame on R/N 5221, but 5221 at that time had straight running boards, etc. so is not sufficiently accurate to model with existing MTH tooling.)
TENDERS
4) From early 1935 thru mid 1936, the tender trucks of ALL NYC Hudsons received Timken roller bearings journals. The initial application was to #5344 in 1931.
5a) NYC built five PT-1 tenders at its Beech Grove Shops in mid 1943, so any Hudson PT application was after that date. No builders plate. These PT-1's capacity was 43 tons/17,500 gal. They were not originally built with overflow control (no cistern at rear and top of coal space) and they did not have water scoops. (They were all upgraded after the War for overflow control.) Two of the five found their way to J-1's, R/N 5271 and 5274.
5b) One PT-2 was built at Beech Grove in 8/1943 and applied to J-1E R/N 5401. This PT-2 is much different than the other PT's re appearance, and held 25 tons and 22,000 gals to avoid a water stop at Greensburg, IN. No water scoop since there were no track pans on the CCC&STL (Big Four).
5c) Qty 10 PT-3's built by Beech Grove in 1944 and 1945. No builders plate. Capacity 46T/18,000 Gals. Overflow control. Built almost exclusively for the Dreyfuss streamlined Hudsons, but at various times found their way to the following J-1's: 5264, 5271, 5272, 5268, 5270 and 5273.
5d) Qty 50 PT-4 Lima tenders built late 1944-mid 1945. Qty 40 applied to J-3A Super Hudsons (Recall that qty 10 were previously equipped with PT-1's.)(Equipment Trust nos. 14000-14008 identify PT tender applications to J-1 Hudsons 5261-5263, 5265-5267, 5269, 5272, and 5274.
5e) Photographic evidence exists that J-1B R/N 5204, 5211, and probably others were equipped at times with Lima PT-4 tenders.
5f) J-1E R/N 5333 was equipped with a PT-4 tender with no builder's plate.
5g) The PT-5 tenders were used exclusively on Niagaras, with two temporary J-1 exceptions: 5236, 5257. They had a rectangular Alco builders plate at the collar at the front adjacent to the gangway.
5h) R/N 5200 never had a PT tender, and no J-1D Hudson was ever equipped with a PT tender.
6) The NYC Locomotive Classification Book lists qty 5 J-1C Hudsons R/N 5265, 5266, 5268, 5271, and 5274) equipped with firebox thermic syphons, and the superior performance of these particular engines may have made them candidates for 14-wheel PT tenders. (These J-1 Road Numbers all were equipped with PT tenders at times, based on photographs.)
Obviously, MTH has the pieces to assemble six Hudson variations with correct lettering, Road Numbers, tenders, and accessories. I am not aware of their plans in this regard since road numbers have been announced.
I hope that this post dispels some erroneous information re dates, configurations, and conjecture.
