About a decade ago, Broadway Limited came out with the NYC Hudson.  LED lighting and sound - that could run in both DC and DCC modes.  It was really something new and different when it first came out.  I had to get one.  The Hudson was followed by the big N&W A - I had to get one. Then came the super stylish PRR T1 and the brutishly hansome PRR J1.  I happily paid the premium for these models and was as happy as can be with these purchases and my collection of "noisy" engines.

While researching information on details for a loco tender I noticed that older tenders had chains from the ends of the truck frames up to the under body of the tender. What exactly was the purpose of these for, and why didn't other rolling stock have them?

I have a number of Bachmann Vandy tenders that I wish to put sound (and decoders) into. In particular I am looking at the VC16 and VC12 tenders at the moment.

First the VC16 tenders. I want to build at least 3 different versions for experimentation purposes:
1) Mount a Railmaster bass-reflex speaker (already enclosed in its own 'box') on the bottom frame firing out the bottom of the tender.

While steam locomotives are completely outside of my normal modeling type and era (modern CSX), I have a long held fascination with Shay Locomotives in particular and logging lines in general.

I therefore couldn't resist the opportunity to buy a Keystone Locomotives 2 Truck Shay Kit on our local auction site.