hi guys, im wanting to get one of the new 4-6-0s, but im wondering about the tender shell. it looks like to be the same shell as on the 2-8-0, the usra medium size tender. id like to get the 4-6-0 in unlettered, buy a 2-8-0 tender shell for a certain roadname, and then replace it on the 4-6-0 and then letter the number myself. would this be possible, or are the tender shells for the 2-8-0 and 4-6-0 different? thanks if you can help!
The tender on both the ten wheeler and consolidated is a USRA standard tender.
The shell on the ten wheeler is a friction fit. The shell comes off a chassis.
On the older consolidated, the tender deck/coal bunker is one piece that you can pry from the tender shell after you loosen the forward truck screw. I am not sure about the newer version of the SPECTRUM consolidated. If it has the smart decoder, I would suspect that it has the same tender as does the ten wheeler, but I am not sure as I do not own any of the latest issues of the consolidated that has the decoder.
If you are planning on buying one of the DCC ready seprate tenders, then the shell will work. If you are looking at getting a spare shell from parts, then it won't work. Here is the inside of the DCC ready standard tender....
(http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/1263/USRA_Std_Apart.jpg)
The shell is the same and the one used on the 4-6-0. If you are going the route of the DCC ready tender, then just go ahead and pickup one of the short tenders and put behind it for a better look, unless the long is good for what you are modeling.
(http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/2211/4-6-0_ShortTenderFullSize.jpg)
It requires some soldering to perform the swap but looks much better.