I am doing the same thing, but with a Athearn Loco:

The Bachmann Parts folks were helpful in getting me a list of all the parts needed to assemble a tender.

The issue I ran into but haven't solved yet (again, never enough time), is that I need to come up with a way to connect the pins on both. The Athearn Tender has a bar on it that the loco pin connects with. The Bachmann Tender has a pin instead of the bar.

I may be able to take the bar off the original Athearn tender, and find a way to connect it to the Bachmann Tender. I just haven't got that far yet.

I think the Broadway Limited's are the same way, with the pin on the loco and the bar on the tender.

But I would think there are a few possibilities to make this work.

 

AWESOME

Wow that looks amazing, and Im sure connecting it wont be a problem:http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_198&products_id=4740

put this on one side and hold it on with a ring of solid glue or somthing. My real worry is, how much did the Athern engine cost, how much did the tender cost, How did you connect them with wires, does it have dcc/sound, and can you please send me the list for the tender. Thanks so much.

 

Wow that looks amazing, and Im sure connecting it wont be a problem:http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_198&products_id=4740

put this on one side and hold it on with a ring of solid glue or somthing. My real worry is, how much did the Athern engine cost, how much did the tender cost, How did you connect them with wires, does it have dcc/sound, and can you please send me the list for the tender. Thanks so much.

I would use a styrene sleeve to hold your fabricated drawbar in place, so it can pivot freely. The band of glue will be too imprecise and fragile to work.

There are very few things that a person absolutely cannot accoplish in this hobby, given the desire, materials, and skills. Wiring, for instance, is a non-issue, provided you are willing to cut all the existing wires off one or both ends and redo the wiring yourself. Modelers in other scales (S, for instance), often build just about everything from scratch.

Or you can pay someone else to do it, which isn't as satisfying but may be a better option if you don't feel your skills are up to the task. Expecting to find fully compatible, prototypically accurate models off the shelf to do what you want isn't realistic.

 

A rectangle of plastic with two holes of the appropriate diameter. Slide it onto the engine, secure it with a small ring of rubber tubing. This makes it easier to remove the tender.

 

Normally the top of the coal bunker is below the cab of the engine. The USRA light 2-8-2 is about 15' tall and the more modern NKP tender is probably a foot or two taller.

This falls into the "its your railroad and you can do anything you want" category, but it will look funky with the tender way taller than the engine.

 

Ya it does but nobody makes a proper 587 in HO and thats actually what attracted me to the engine was the tender making it look like a much more powerful/large engine than it actually was. http://locomotive.wikia.com/wiki/Nickel_Plate_Road_587/Gallery?file=587pc.jpg

 

The two metal pins are probably either a press fit or threaded into the frames. If one is threaded, unscrew it and replace it with a screw to hold the drawbar in place.

 

I know absolutely nothing about either the loco or
the tender. However, I am aware that some locos
used their own wheels for power pickup and others used
all or some wheels of the tender for power pickup.

You should be aware of how this loco gets it's power.

Sound decoders are often in the tender. That likely
would mean the need for very flexible wires to the
loco mounted motor and lights.

Don

 

Thank you so much this is incredebly helpful, but if I buy a BLI 2-8-2 do you think id be able to buy an empty tender chassis and put the chips and speaker from the original engine in the new tender?

 

I can only speculate with the BLI 2-8-2 that it might be possible. I am sure that mounting placement would not be the same, and most likely the electronics mounting will not match up, but there are always options with a little creativity. The Bachmann Tender is big, so there should be plenty of wiggle room inside to work with.

As with any project like this, if you go this route take plenty of pictures along the way so you can clearly see what wires go where, in the advent that something comes loose.