Prototype Info.
These tenders were ordered in 1947, being placed into service from 1952 onwards, as a result of wear and tear on the existing standard goods tenders, and it being considered more economical to build new, rather than repair. There were 201 ordered, and they were attached to all the standard goods classes, and also, later, some were used behind 35 class locomotives.
As many of the tenders were still in reasonably good condition when steam was withdrawn, some were recycled as water gins, and others converted to flat wagons for carrying rail in continuous welded lengths. In the former case, some were modified with welded water tanks occupying the coal space, giving a capacity of 7000 gallons, whereas others did not receive the additional tank.
The Model.
The kit is based on the Greg Edwards drawing, and also on measurements and detail information taken from the tender behind 5353 in the collection of the Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum, to whom thanks a) for preserving it, and b) for making it available to us. We have made the kit as accurate as possible, but there are a number of necessary compromises. Firstly, the coupler and box are modified to use a standard Kadee coupler for compatibility with the majority of HO models, and the position of the tender floor is designed to be adjustable. This was done because the cab floor of the Footplate / DJH whitemetal kit appears to be too high, so it is possible to mount the tender floor in the high position so that the fall plate looks correct. If, however, you are going to couple it to a brass model, you will probably want to fix the floor in the lower position, as most of the brass models that we have checked appear to have the cab floor at a more correct level.
You also need to be aware of the electrical characteristics. As an all metal tender, it is electrically conductive, including the drawbar and coupler. The tender is designed to be electrically isolated from the rails (all wheels are insulated) but depending of the characteristics of its intended locomotive and whatever it will be coupled to (eg, double heading) you may need to insulate the tender from the locomotive, by substituting a non-conductive drawbar (eg. plastic) and insulating the fall plate by attaching a styrene shim.
The tender is also expected to be widely used with sound. It is possible to fit a large Tsunami decoder and a 23mm hi-bass speaker and box, but this leaves no room for the internal slope plates, so these are not included. If you wish to model the tender with a part load of coal, it will be necessary to fabricate the slope pates from styrene, or similar sheet material.