Cotton Belt B30-7

[fr8kar]

I recently added some details to a factory-painted Atlas B30-7 to better match the prototype Cotton Belt locomotives as they were during the 80s around the Fort Worth, Texas area.

The Atlas model does not include any of the extra lighting options that were found on the prototype in its early years, unless you count the nose and numberboard lights on the front. So I built up a box for the rear Gyralight from 0.010" styrene and a bracket for the rear UDE light from 0.005" styrene and applied it to the rear using some photos as a guide. I also replaced the exhaust stack with a Hi-Tech part.




I'm not very knowledgeable on Southern Pacific or Cotton Belt power - I'll be the first to admit that. But I was able to find some differences between Southern Pacific and Cotton Belt GEs. I noticed the Cotton Belt units had an air conditioner mounted on a flattened portion of the roof and a large ground plane behind the AC unit. I used a Detail Associates part for the AC unit and some scrap styrene for the ground plane. I used a Cannon part from a low nose kit for the round vent and a Detail Associates UDE light. The horn and plow are both from Details West. The UDE light bracket is 0.005" styrene and the cabinet on the fireman's side behind the cab is made from 0.015" and 0.005" styrene.






For some reason, Atlas chose a number for the model that didn't match any Cotton Belt B30-7s, but that's no big deal. I made the number change and added some Pine Bluff sublettering to match a prototype photo taken at Hodge Yard here in Fort Worth, which is part of the area I am modeling. I used a darkened version of Model Master Euro I Gray to touch up the gray areas. Simply thinning Model Master Ford Engine Red for the airbrush was enough to closely match the scarlet.












Now that the finishing is done, I'm excited to get to the weathering and the fragile details like chains and sunshades. But for now, it's nice to have a project get this close to the finish line. It's been awhile.

[tankcarsrule]

That's a sweet looking engine Ryan!

Regards, Bobby

[fr8kar]

Thanks Bobby. I figured it was high time I posted something here.

[Deleted]

great looking unit

[m a y o r 79]

Turned out great! Do all of the lights work or are they just for show?

[fr8kar]

Thank you, Vince and Mike.

I did not make the UDE lights work since I can't see a reason to use them in my operations. I also don't plan to run it long hood forward for any reason other than a light power move in the yard, so the rear gyralight does not funtion either. However, the rear headlight does work and so does the front headlight and gyralight.

[fr8kar]

There are some major updates to this project since I posted it four years ago, some of which were covered in my Southern Pacific B36-7 thread. Anyway, I replaced the cab of this model with an "L window" cab from an Atlas U33C. That gave me a spare B30-7 cab, which was used on the B36-7 model. The cab is the linchpin to this model and as it turns out to all the GE U boats and Dash 7s I've built.

Atlas has taken many cracks at the GE cab and they've gotten close with the B23-7/B30-7 model. So when they released the U33B/U36B they should use the updated cab, right? Of course not. Hi-Tech cab to the rescue! Not so fast: they didn't get it right, either. How about the U30C cab? Nope, not horrible, but not as good as the B23-7 cab.

At the end of a long quest I was given a copy of GE cab drawings to use for a 3D printing project focusing on the GE U series cab. I came up with a basic 3D model along with dozens of variations and applications and made a model of each. One of those cabs came to be the third cab used on this model.

This is a "used to be" cab with open auxiliary windows, reinforced doors, rounded headlight housing with air conditioner base and antenna ground plane:

www.pbase.com/mecrharris/image/167138457/large.jpg

www.pbase.com/mecrharris/image/167138458/large.jpg


Here I have removed the details I was able to salvage from the U33C cab and I have installed them on the printed cab:






At this point I've painted the cab, but there are still some seams visible from assembly. The cab parts are printed acrylic and they respond immediately to CA, so having the parts exactly where you want them when applying glue is critical. I didn't do a great job assembling the cab which I blame on my failure to accept the fact that I need reading glasses for this kind of work (but I'm not old yet! yes I am).




Seams are filled in and it's ready for another coat of paint:




Once the cab was complete I replaced the lighting. I still don't see a reason to light the UDE, so I don't bother with it, but the gyralights are a must. I installed a TCS DP5 decoder, which is a perfect fit for the small area in the frame. I love the motor control on TCS decoders, along with the adjustable effects lighting, but it was a major pain to set this model up the way I want it. I like to have control of the lights independent of locomotive direction, just like on the prototype. Unfortunately, I couldn't get everything the way I want it, but the gyralights are directional and can be turned on an off, the headlight can be dimmed and can be kept on regardless of direction. Doing this with an NCE decoder, which is what I use in 90% of my models, is a no-brainer. Installing a DA-SR in this model would have required cutting the frame, so I'm just going to live with the limited lighting functions.

Not to go too far on a tangent, but I have many locomotives I've built over the years that have no decoder or lighting. Just doing the math in my head I realized it was going to cost a small fortune to fix this problem. So I standardized on NCE D13J decoders for Athearn 9-pin plug RTR models and those repower jobs where I could wire in the 9-pin harness and the NCE DA-SR decoder for most Atlas installations where the board is a perfect fit as a replacement.

The other thing I did was assemble my own lights using 1.5mm fiber optic, pre-wired 0603 warm white LEDs and shrink tubing to hold the fiber optic against the LED. These are very easy to assemble using a candle to shrink the tubing. With a little practice I can bend the fiber optic into curved shapes to fit tight locations, such as the gyralight atop the cab of the GP60 demonstrator. Using 820 ohm resistors these LEDs shine very bright with that warm tinge of yellow.

The last step was adding decals. Unfortunately, I used all the "PINE BLUFF" decals I had in the Microscale set I'm using, so they aren't on there yet. Weathering and window glass are the next steps. Hopefully it won't take another four years to get that done.

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[Deleted]

Very nice RCH.

Just need to find a GE high hood cab for a p2k u30b, atlas u33c,ect ect


Really turned out nicely.

[fr8kar]

Dec 28, 2018 1:55:36 GMT -5 @countryroads said:

Very nice RCH.

Just need to find a GE high hood cab for a p2k u30b, atlas u33c,ect ect


Really turned out nicely.

Thank you. I make several GE high hood cabs if you don't mind assembling them. All of the cabs I've designed, GE and EMD alike, can be found here:


www.shapeways.com/shops/he6agon?section=Diesel+Cabs&s=0


Because I'm limited with how many characters I can use in each item's title and for the sake of naming things in a way I could quickly identify, I had to come up with a naming convention for the many variations of GE cabs. These abbreviations are used to make up the name of each kit:

HH = High short Hood (no headlight)

RH = Rounded Headlight housing (1973+)

SH = Square Headlight housing (up to 1972)



LW = "L" shaped engineer's side front window

XLW = "used to be" L window (SP converted many "L" windows to two panes in the 80s)

AC = Air Conditioner base and antenna ground plane

GP = antenna Ground Plane



BSW = Blanks inserted in Side auxiliary Windows (in place of glazing)

NSW = No Side auxiliary Windows

OSW = Open Side auxiliary Windows

PSW = steel Plates welded over Side auxiliary Windows



RD = Reinforced Door applied beginning in 1974

For example, the cab used on this model is GE cab RH XLW AC OSW RD. It has a rounded headlight housing, the "used to be" L window on the engineer's side, an air conditioner base and antenna ground plane, open side auxiliary windows and reinforced doors.