Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern SD40 build

[stevef45]

As I wait for some things to finish i've been slowly working on this along with eveyrthing else.  Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern SD40-3 was a former DME SD40-3, prior to that UP.  Made some trades and sold some stuff to get the model and some parts.  I love stripping Athearn shells, paint just slides off with 91% alcohol after only a few hours.

The prototype


The model.
Cab is still in the box.



Factory Athearn 3 chime horn and base, didn't look right to me so I scavenged my parts bin and found a DW kit for a p2k gp30 super detailing kt.
Now its replaced with a better looking DW horn


Added the MU stand, cut down from a spare DA highmount ditch light that I screwed up a while ago.

Added rear long hood eye bolts

[stevef45]

Making room for Cannon & Co. grills that I had left over from a NYSW project 5 years ago.

The DB hatch on the model was wrong for what was being built. I had bought one on ebay but it was just garbage. So I found one on a Athearn tunnel motor i had already painted yellow for NYSW but stopped working on it when Athearn finally released the last one. So it became a parts donor.

But it was to long. I had to trim it down a lil and sand the opening up a tad. Biggest issue was it sat lower than the original so i had to add some styrene shims to lift it a tad.



MU hoses and the big plow! Love the look of these large plows. I want to add them to my freelanced SD70ACE/M-2 models.



Cannon grills installed. I also installed DW flag brackets but didn't get a pic.


Much better looking than the original one.



Finally found the correct flexcoil trucks with high brake cylinders. Had to add roller bearings to the conductors side.



This is where it sits as of today. I need to add the batten strips and radiator fan hatch whenever i get that.

[nsc39d8]

Steve,

Can you show how you sanded and shortened the DB hatch. I need these for my Southern and N&W units.

[Milwaukee Road 513]

Very nice work Steve!

[stevef45]

I removed the vent at the top and took a piece of narrow tamiya painters tape and put it across to the point of where I knew where I wanted to cut. Took my miterbox handsaw thingy and carefully/slowly cut it off. I sanded just a little to remove burrs off. Came out near perfect. I did have to add .010 shims on the shell since there was a gap and sanded those down a lil bit to make sure the db hatch was level with the rest of the shell. I'll see if i can photograph something tonight to show you.

[T]

Ouch, my eyes are hurting from the GENESEE and WYOMING paint scheme.. I think G. & W. could've chosen a better paint scheme which doesn't hurt the eyes ! Lol .

Tom

[stevef45]

added some etched steps

[tamaman]

Very nice start Steve.

[stevef45]

[deez]

Nice build Steve. It's coming along nicely. The reason that unit has a -2 looking dynamic housing is because It's a 1971 built SD40. If it came from UP they did have '71 built units. These SD40's also have support ribs on the blower bulge. It's an early blower bulge with the support ribs. Not a -2. Cannon has the part. If you have a pic of the conductors side you should see it. You can also see the small square bolted access panel on the forward faring of the dynamics if you look close. These are the spotting differences for 1971 GP/SD40's, SD45's, and most 38AC units too. '71 built EMD's are some of my favorites.

[stevef45]

here is the former UP unit in DME paint, the horizontal things on the blower duct, is that what you mean?


This is the DB hatch im using, where would that bolted piece be?

[deez]

Yes, the horizontal pieces you see are the support ribs introduced in '71. It's the older style blower with ribs. Dash 2 EMD's have a lil bit different style blower with the ribs. If you zoom in especially on your first Proto pic you can see the small square bolted access panel in front of the extended range hinged door on the dynamics.

[deez]

Also another note about early pre dash 2 EMD's ordered with extended range dynamics. The extended range access door is more flat and built in, where as the dash 2 door protrudes out like it was set over the surrounding metal. Cannon also has these earlier extended range doors.

[stevef45]

Thanks for the info. I was hoping I had the correct cannon part since I had a bunch of stuff for another project, but it's the dash 2 version which wouldn't work. The Athearn shell has the parts that can pop off if your carefull, so i was able to pop off the blow cover. I ordered the correct cannon part for it though.

[stevef45]

Finally got the correct cannon blower housing.

Working on another RCPE unit from a former NYSW units I built years ago.

[stevef45]

Slowly working on finishing this model. Just gotta add more pilot details and ditch lights then its all off to paint.


Added the roof mounted air line for hte horn relocation. Had it worked good till the headlight/numberboard part popped off the cab. Small piece of plastic broke off. one of those things to drive you absolutely bonkers.





Here i had to cut out the ratcheting handbrake that i had installed last year for a different project. Cut down the brake wheel to the proper width and got it to fit. Will sand down the putty in a few days.


Group shot



Lastly, can anyone tell me if these 2 roof mounted pieces are PTC antenna's? They are the parallel looking things.



Also, dos anyone have any spare factory athearn 48" fans for the radiator section?

[jazzlife1]

Very nice; but what happened to the pictures at the top?

[stevef45]

no idea, photobucket always keeps messing up. I'll have to link them again. I just started working on these again the other night.