So yes, RT3 does have the S3 and the P8, which are quite decent in terms of what they'll actually do, but they're not a lot of fun. The S3 kinda looks like the designers had a nasty accident with a large frozen bratwurst and suffered brain damage as a result. The P8 is very serious Prussian choofer for very serious people, the sort that might bite you if you even think about having fun. I've taken a bit of liking to the Austrian style of the period, primarily Karl Gölsdorf's designs.
These are a good fit for the several Orient Express maps that various people have made, and come in a range of types from freight slugs to flat out express. For example, there's a four cylinder compound Atlantic known as the kkStB 108. It's a bit tricky to find information on them in English (Google Translate rocks) but there's some good pix of a model here. This was one of the locos used to haul the Orient Express, and was also used on runs as far as Berlin in the north and Verona in the south, west to Prague, and east as far as St. Petersburg. They really got around. Introduced in 1901, just about the time most people playing Orient Express maps start to get worried about their express speeds. In service for more than 30 years. Clocked at 89 mph during testing. What's not to like?
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So that led me to Blender, again.
![roll_laugh ^**lylgh](./images/smilies/lachliegen.gif)
And while doing this I realised the logic behind the weird and lumpy Austrian tenders of the period. I'd always thought they were a bit bonkers and wondered what the point of them was. It turns out they were quite sensible. They just had a different way of looking at the problem.
The water tank takes up the whole lower section of the tender. This has rounded edges because those were easier to keep strong and watertight. No stress concentrations or gunk traps. You just bend the sheet around without needing to join it. The coal bunker is just sat on top of the water tank. They didn't bother cutting chunks out of the tank like the usual UK and US tenders. They just made a big simple tank, and sat a box of coal on top. Since their choofers went merrily choofing all over the place, this plan obviously worked.
The extra funny-looking bit on the sides, in the middle and with sloping tops, are tool boxes. Not just for the usual spanners, but big enough for a long-handled shovel and a crowbar, or whatever else you might need for fending off vampires out in the wilds of Transylvania.
So there ya go. Big simple tank full of water. Box of coal on top. Really good-sized toolboxes port and starboard. Put it all together and you get one weird and lumpy-looking tender.
![thumbs_up !*th_up*!](./images/smilies/ok.gif)