The Tender Trap 10

What is the Tender Trap? It's what happens when someone places the tender of a toy or model locomotive backwards because it "looks right that way." Usually to do so, they have to ignore the connectors that are specifically designed to work only when the tender's facing the right way. 

 So to insist on placing the tender backwards, ignorance isn't enough -- you have to deliberately ignore the evidence in front of you.

It's one thing for an individual who knows little about trains to connect a tender backwards. It's a little more aggregious when it's a company. Both Rosko (see Tender Trap 9) and Lionel (see Tender Trap 8) are guilty of this error. And so is the unknown Japanese toy company in this example:

The actual toy train inside the box looks nothing like the artwork, so my beef is exclusive with the marketing department. The Japanese artist was clearly, um, inspired by the Lionel Prairie-type locomotive.

See how the tallest part of the tender is in the front -- not the rear?

And in case you're wondering, Lionel did get it right. Here'a photo of the actual locomotive:

I'm not sure how the commercial artist got the tender wrong unless he was painting from life -- and someone set up the trains incorrectly. Or maybe it was an art director who thought the correct version looked wrong.