PRODUCT REVIEW: 1:22.5 SCALE MOTORIZED CHRISTMAS TENDER
Manufacturer: LGB of America, 6444 Nancy Ridge Drive, San Diego, CA 92121. Price: 25176 twin axle motorized tender with operating backup light $137.95 suggested list.
MORE PEOPLE HAVE entered large scale railroading by buying a starter set than by almost any other means. And many of those people begin with an LGB Christmas set. LGB has anticipated what those people will need after they buy more rolling stock than their little 0-4-0 can pull by offering a motorized tender with colorful Christmas decorations.
Most of us are familiar with LGB's motorized tender; it has been in the line for years. In the event it is unfamiliar to you, it contains the same motor block as LGB's 2020, 2017, and 2090 type locomotives (all 0-4-0s) so it runs compatibly with them and more than doubles their pulling power. In other words, the tender is really a second locomotive in disguise. It has the same smooth running, 7 pole Bühler can motor, four wheel electrical pickup, spring loaded track sliders for additional electrical contact, and weatherproof mechanism. The combination results in one of the most powerful units in LGB's line.
The tender scales about 15 feet long from the deck to the end buffer, 8 feet wide over the grab irons, and 9 feet high at the top of the plastic simulated coal load. Except for the metal parts in the mechanism, the screws, wheel tires, track sliders, and springs, the model is entirely very high quality injection molded plastic. As we know from extensive field testing, the tender is weatherproof and extremely durable and the mechanism will perform under almost any conditions you could imagine.
Our sample operated exactly the same as every model we have tested with the same kind of mechanism. We tested our tender alone, as though it were a locomotive. It started smoothly but a little abruptly at about 7 scale miles per hour, typical for most 0-4-0 mechanisms and much better than most. It performed exceptionally smoothly and quietly at all speeds. The model easily will pull half a dozen American style freight cars on level track and we have seen the combination of a 2017 or 2020 locomotive with such a tender handle nearly a dozen such cars outdoors up a curve on a 2.5-percent grade.
The tender includes a pair of wires to connect to jacks at the front of the tender and the rear of the locomotive. That makes the two units run electrically as one and permits pickup from all eight wheels and four track sliders. The tender also includes a hook type coupler to allow attachment to the locomotive and a deck plate to prevent your model fireman from falling between the loco and tender to his doom.
The tender tank is bright red, the grab irons are gold, and the rest of the model is black. The decoration on the side of the tender tank is in full color. It is handsome.
LGB made its reputation with locomotives and tenders such as our review sample, and no wonder. They are superb.-RR
