Now it was time to start work on the frame.  The first thing made was the frame ends.  Started with some 1/4" angle iron and rough machined it..

After bending the corners and cutting the angle iron to length, this is what things looked like so far.

I couldn't resist putting everything on the trucks to see how it looks.

Before welding the frame together, I wanted to do as much machining as possible with loose pieces so it would be easier to put in the vice.  Drilled tons of holes on both sides of the angle iron.  This will be used as a template for the sheet metal sides.  Drive screws will be used in this section.

Here's everything so far.  Still have to do more machining and cutting on the end pieces before welding.

The 1/8" plate was measured and cut for the frame decking.  Things are already starting to get pretty heavy. Once I get all the pieces cut, machined and fitted, then I will weld everything together.  Next is to start on the body framing.

The truck bolsters were made and attach.

The end plates are finished and sand blasted.  Here's a picture of all the clamps holding the frame together just before being spot welded in place.

After spot welding the underframe, I temporarily put it on the trucks to see how things looked so far.

Next is the framing for the body....

I wanted the scale of the tender to be accurate.  The problem was that the 40lb propane tank takes up a good portion of the tender.  Not only that, but the propane tank only had about 1" clearance from the top and sides of the tender.

To take the tank out, the front has to be tilted upward and wiggled out.  It still rubbed up against the tender in places so grinding took place to get a good fit.  This allowed me to keep the prototype dimensions without having to resort to smaller propane tanks or come up with something else.  A "guillotine" door at the front of the tender was made in order to get the tank in/out as the fit it very tight.  The picture below shows a portion of the body framing done with the propane tank.

It's starting to take shape!

Two stainless steel baffles were made for the water tank to keep the water from sloshing around.  They're made to be removable to make access to the pumps, piping, filters, easier.  It will also make it a lot easier to waterproof the inside of the water tank.  Brass tabs hold them in place.  Stainless and brass were used to avoid corrosion.