Marx 3/16 Slope Back Tender

e*Train Issue: Oct 2003 | Posted in: Restore & Repair & Photograph

By Dave Hess

Some projects are just born by chance.

While sorting through a bunch of Marx slope back tenders, I set one next to a group of Marx locomotives. I remember thinking, “Wouldn’t a slope back tender look really great behind a 999?”

Unfortunately, the tender was too high and wide to have the right look. The height could be rectified with a set of 3/16″ scale trucks, but what could I do about the width?

The answer awaited in my wood shop. Yes, it was tablesaw surgery for the little slope back!

Realizing the blade would be rather high for this procedure, safety was of utmost importance. After much consideration, including blade width, the proper amount was determined to be removed from the tender.

Wearing safety glasses and with pushstick in hand, I carefully pushed the Marx tender shell along the rip fence through the sharp blade. Leaving the setting the same, I turned the shell around and repeated the procedure. Approximately 3/16″ was taken away from the width of the car and what a difference! The cuts were made adjacent to the coal bunker on each side, but did not exceed the second row of rivets on the water tank. The edges of the cuts were clean and smooth and little sanding was required.

The three pieces were cleaned with dish soap and warm water and the old lettering was removed. After drying, the sides were cemented together with Tenax-7R, a liquid cement designed to weld plastic.

I expected to do use spot putty to smooth out the joints, but none was needed. The shell was then coated with Krylon flat black primer.

At this stage of the project, I realized that very little thought had been given to the base of the tender. I could have built one from wood, but why not use the original Marx sheet metal base? I was off to the belt sander to remove approximately 3/32″ from each side. With a little filling and the removal of the back metal step, the two metal tabs slid smoothly into the plastic slots in the shell. Even the front screw lined up. The base required a coat of Krylon satin black to cover up the bare metal edges from the sanding.

Next, Marx 3/16 scale trucks were installed on the base with tab coupler in front and twist coupler in back.

Now that the tender was roadworthy, a coat of Krylon gloss black was sprayed to provide a good base for decals. My favorite roadname, the SP&S, was selected for lettering.

After the decals dried overnight, the entire shell received an application of Testors Dullcote. The little slope back has already seen six weeks of service, and I can tell you that this is a tender that will see a lot of use. I have already built another!

Shop Amazon and Help TCA

TCA members who shop at Amazon.com can have each of their normal purchases generate a modest payment to TCA! And it won’t cost you anything!

The Train Collectors Association is now a participant with AmazonSmile, which is a special website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

The difference is that when customers shop at AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organizations selected by customers.

The process is simple. Just search for and select Train Collectors Association when you sign up and shop at smile.amazon.com.

You use your regular Amazon.com username and password, but when you log in to smile.amazon.com, you’ll see that you are supporting TCA with your purchases:

Note that if you just log in to the regular amazon.com, this benefit does not operate.

There are no costs to either you or TCA, but TCA benefits!

This is a great way for TCA to earn extra cash to offset costs, so sign up today to help support TCA.

* Note: TCA is not a party to any of your Amazon transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors.

Helping TCA with your ebay purchases when you use PayPal

If you’re an ebay user and have a PayPal account you use to make payments, you can designate a donation for TCA when you’re checking out — any amount, small or large.
If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can pre-designate a percentage of your sales to be donated automatically in your name to TCA as long as the purchaser pays with their PayPal account.

In both cases, you will receive a donation receipt from the PayPal Giving Fund, and enjoy applicable tax advantages.

How to do it:

Click on the image above, or use this link. This will take you to ebay, where you will see the following page (log in to ebay if you are not already):

This offers TCA as an option. Click on the “Add to My Charities” button where indicated with the red arrow. Thereafter, when you make a purchase, at checkout you will be offered the option to make a donation to TCA in any amount of your choosing. Small amounts add up, larger ones are great! It’s always up to you!

The option will appear at the lower part of your checkout page, something like this:

If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can allocate a portion of your sales proceeds to be donated to TCA. Look at the green arrow marked “Optional” above to see how to do it. Details on how ebay calculates the donation may be read here. This is a wonderful way to share the financial benefits of your hobby with the organization that promotes it!

An added benefit to TCA is that these donations are not subject to normal processing fees, so that makes your donation work harder!

* Note. TCA is not a party to any of your eBay transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors. PayPal issues the receipts to you for your donation, not TCA.

Marx 3/16 Slope Back Tender

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