I have a brand new long vanderbuilt tender that I have paired with a 4-8-2 that I bought used. I noticed that someone had removed the light in the firebox, and spliced the wires to bypass that. Could that have anything to do with the tender rear light not working? I'd rather not have the firebox light, but I would like to have a working backup light. Any ideas?  Also, I am modifying the new tender, need to shorten it by about 10 HO scale feet and reconfigure the front of the tender. Without DCC, how critical is that circut board in the tender? I'm not sure about removing it just yet, but it would make the kitbash easier if it wasn't a factor. Why did they but half of the "brains" in the tender? 5 wires to the tender, is that really nesessary?  As I said, this is on a straight DC layout. I'm no electrician, but that seems like overkill to me.

I have a Spectrum "Long Vanderbuilt" tender that is about 6 1/2" long. How long is a "Hicken" tender? Are they available with coal bunker, or just oil?

Thanks.
Todd

I posed a question about this about a month ago and everybody said "good luck". Well, I called Bachmann and explained what I was doing and they sent me a truck that fits perfectly. This is the second time that I've contacted Bachmann, and both times, I gotta' say, they have a great service dept.!
So, what's the big "mystique" about not being able to get Bachmann parts? Was I just lucky, or are you guys not doing your homework?
I'm not modeling the steam era on my layout, this is just a "One-off" project for my excursion steamer, but well worth it. The Bachmann heavy 4-8-2 is, with some extensive modification, a spitting image of the GTW U-1-c 4-8-2's  This will be the 6039, the one currently rotting away at Steamtown. My scenario is that GTW reclaimed her in the mid-1970's and shopped her for company excursion service much the same as N&W did in the late 1980's.

I have a Spectrum heavy 4-8-2 that I'm trying to modify to GTW prototype. Is there a Delta type 2 wheel trailing truck that I could swap out easily?

Thanks.