Post by SCL on Jan 2, 2009 13:03:49 GMT -5
I picked up a brand new Athearn RTR GP40-2 on eBay for about $25. Not bad, considering this is a later run with grab irons installed.
Here is just one shot of the unit, I will post plenty more when I get some details on it. At this point the unit is practically naked:
The very first thing I noticed - The color is wrong. The stripes are caboose orange instead of yellow!
Although Athearn has come a long way since the BB days, this unit is clearly not perfect. The paint appears to be a little thick, there is a cab-fryer light instead of working headlights, etc. The motor ran nicely on my test track after being "broken in".
That being said, I plan to bring this unit up to Seaboard Coast Line standards as it would have been in 1974 - the era of my next layout.
This particular roadnumber, #1654, was built in April of 1972. At the time, the SCL was using these for mainline through freight service, as the wheelslip technology of the day had not yet reached a point that these would be useful in local service.
While I have no photos of this specific unit, I dug up one on RRPA:
www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1172430
The date is 1982, a couple things you will notice is Athearn's correct manufacture of white numberboards with black letters. However, this is not correct for the original numbers, it would have been in around 1978 before the change was made:
www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=209039&nseq=0
Another shot of the later version:
www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=48731&nseq=3
Here is what I plan to add to the model:
-Drop Steps
-SCL Style MU stands
-MU and air hoses
-Nose light
-Bell
-Diamond tread walkways and steps
-Uncoupling lever
-Fuel tank details
-Reverse numberboards (white letters on black background)
-Light weathering to represent a couple years in service
-Wipers
-Couplers from Proto:87 stores
And, these are under consideration:
-New decals to cover orange lines (need to be yellow)
-Mount the coupler to the frame so I can fill the gap below it
-Operating head and nose lights
-Full interior
-Removing motor and replace with Genesis drive (if possible)
This will be my first project in a very long time, hopefully I can share everything I do here as a step by step process. This way, anyone else who models the SCL (yeah right!) can correct their own units.
As the first step, I am searching around for the best parts for my project. I would like for this unit to be detailed without damaging the factory paint (I have no airbrush!).
Any suggestions are welcome!
Here is just one shot of the unit, I will post plenty more when I get some details on it. At this point the unit is practically naked:
The very first thing I noticed - The color is wrong. The stripes are caboose orange instead of yellow!
Although Athearn has come a long way since the BB days, this unit is clearly not perfect. The paint appears to be a little thick, there is a cab-fryer light instead of working headlights, etc. The motor ran nicely on my test track after being "broken in".
That being said, I plan to bring this unit up to Seaboard Coast Line standards as it would have been in 1974 - the era of my next layout.
This particular roadnumber, #1654, was built in April of 1972. At the time, the SCL was using these for mainline through freight service, as the wheelslip technology of the day had not yet reached a point that these would be useful in local service.
While I have no photos of this specific unit, I dug up one on RRPA:
www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1172430
The date is 1982, a couple things you will notice is Athearn's correct manufacture of white numberboards with black letters. However, this is not correct for the original numbers, it would have been in around 1978 before the change was made:
www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=209039&nseq=0
Another shot of the later version:
www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=48731&nseq=3
Here is what I plan to add to the model:
-Drop Steps
-SCL Style MU stands
-MU and air hoses
-Nose light
-Bell
-Diamond tread walkways and steps
-Uncoupling lever
-Fuel tank details
-Reverse numberboards (white letters on black background)
-Light weathering to represent a couple years in service
-Wipers
-Couplers from Proto:87 stores
And, these are under consideration:
-New decals to cover orange lines (need to be yellow)
-Mount the coupler to the frame so I can fill the gap below it
-Operating head and nose lights
-Full interior
-Removing motor and replace with Genesis drive (if possible)
This will be my first project in a very long time, hopefully I can share everything I do here as a step by step process. This way, anyone else who models the SCL (yeah right!) can correct their own units.
As the first step, I am searching around for the best parts for my project. I would like for this unit to be detailed without damaging the factory paint (I have no airbrush!).
Any suggestions are welcome!