Loaded tenders

[mike morley]

I have two locos suffering from severe doses of nose-heaviness - a Dean Goods with a compensated Perseverance chassis and a BR Standard 4 4-6-0 with a rigid Comet chassis. Both are victims of having fireboxes occupied by comparatively light motors and gearboxes that are unable to counterbalance smokeboxes full of lead at the other end of the loco. The 4MT also suffers from having cast whitemetal cylinders a country mile ahead of the leading drivers.

 

I am now on my third attempt at trying to correct matters by using loaded tenders and I am getting nowhere fast.

 

Attempt Number 1 involved the Dean Goods and a Comet tender chassis with a rigid rear axle and lightly sprung middle and leading axles. To start with the middle and leading axles were so lightly sprung derailments were a problem and as I increased the strength of the springing it reduced the effect on the loco far more rapidly than it improved the track-holding of the tender.

 

Attempt Number 2 also involved the Dean Goods and the Iain Rice idea of combining the middle and leading axles of the tender into what is effectively a floating bogie. That was a complete disaster, with the bogie likely to derail the loco as well as the tender without making any noticeable difference to the haulage power of the loco.

 

Attempt Number 3 involves the 4MT and is a variation on Attempt Number 1. I had hoped the huge BR tender could accommodate enough weight to tolerate the effects of springing strong enough to keep the wheels on the track while still making a difference to the balance of the loco.

Yeah. Right. So much for that idea . . .

 

Is it simply that there is a knack to loading a tender that I have yet to acquire or is it a lot more difficult than those who extol its virtues would have you believe?

[N15class]

_{On your deans why have all the lead in the smoke box? Can you not get some lead in the chassis or in the top of the fire box. I do know what your locos are made of but with compensated cassis youdo not needso much weight. Counter balancing withtenders works wel I have done it on 4-4-0's you need a draw bar that will take the weight either sprung or bogie like front wheels on the tender will do, the bogie type still need to be sprung enough to keep it on the rails but not to take weight from the tender.}

 

_{I would concentrate on casting lead shapes to fit inside the loco over the driving wheels, no lead in the smoke boxes. Use cast lead as it is heavier than sheet. I have made up ashpans in lead to help.}