Western Railway GP28M-2, a GP20 Rebuild Project

[rock]

The Western Railway is a fictional road created by a good friend of mine who passed away a little over a year ago.  I am continuing his legacy by having a place for his railroad on my layout where it transfers with my SPSF Railway and also has their own customers to switch.  My friend's layout was highly mainline running without a lot of local work.  I was able to get some SW1500s and GP38-2s from his estate, nearly his entire low-horsepower 4-axle roster.  It is a great feeling to be running equipment that he spent time detailing, painting, and decaling himself.  I have two Western jobs on my layout: a transfer from South Omaha to Bellevue that utilizes a pair of SW1500s and then the local switch job that serves Western's customers.  Here's a shot of the SW1500s - 128 is a dummy and 125 has been repowered with a Mashima drive and has a Tsunami AT-1000 sound decoder.



For the local switch job, I struggled with what motive power to use.  I ultimately repowered one of the GP38-2s (they were all Athearns) by modifying the blue box shell to fit on an Atlas chassis and it now runs very nice.  I didn't really want to do this with another GP38-2 and I also wanted to introduce some variety to consist, especially since the other job uses a matching pair of SW1500s.  I also wanted to show that the Western had to get some new motive power for its extension into my territory via purchasing the C&NW Cowboy Line in the early 1990s.  I also liked the idea that using a consist with a unit that my friend built and a unit that I built would represent how his railroad continues to live on in my world.

So I thought through the Western's history and, not knowing what locomotives really existed in my friend's version of the Western, I came up with a potential roster that had more roadswitchers.  Zeroing in on new power, I decided that the Western would have sent their aging GP20s, GP30s, and GP35s through a rebuild program at Morrison-Knudsen, about 30 units total.  I'm not sure if my friend's Western ever had these models, but it seemed to fit the timeline that I came up with.  I also figured that they would lease some older GP38s at this time.  I have already modeled GP30 and GP35 rebuilds for the BN and New York Central, and the GP38 didn't sound too interesting, so I am going with the GP20 rebuild project idea.  I also have created decals from Highball Graphics to match my friend's paint scheme.

What I like about this is that the GP20 has the potential to be what I consider the perfect road switcher and a nice complement to a GP38-2.  Rebuilt with a 645 motor, it could provide a 16-cylinder, 2,000-horsepower, normally-aspirated locomotive with four axles, two radiator fans, and an upgraded air filter system, fitting nicely in EMD's second-generation 4-axle chassis.  I researched the BN's GP28Ms and GP20Cs, which this project is loosely based on.  They were rebuilt at the same time these units would be, so that fit really well, and has some of the same modifications, including a new cab.

So then I went about acquiring the material for this project, shown in the photo below.  I am using a Proto 2000 GP20, a Kato drive and Kato trucks from a Stewart F-unit, a spare Atlas GP40 shell for the cab and new air filter assembly (including the blower), a few Cannon & Co. parts, and some other random parts on hand.  Below is a photo.



My first step will be to repower the locomotive with the Kato drive and trucks and get the sound decoder in and test run it.  I am planning to add an iPhone 5 speaker to complement the sound card.  I also want to add some weights (I will have to remove most of the P2K weights) so that it can pull a decent train up my grade to the Western's South Omaha area.

Stay tuned!

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

Nice to see that you are keeping your friend's railroad alive to honor his memory and for others to enjoy.

[enginseer]

I agree, that's an awesome thing to do and interesting to boot.

Looking forward to the build.

[rock]

Thanks! Here's an update - almost done installing the new Kato drive and trucks. These came out of a Stewart F-unit and are practically a drop-in replacement. I just had to mill the area around the drive a little and also on either side of where the trucks swing. Now I will connect the rest of the motor, install a speaker and lights, and test it. Then on to the shell!

[rock]

Here's the Western's diesel roster. I adjusted it slightly from my friend's real roster. I was never able to get a real roster from him, but I did track down most of his locomotives and compiled them into a spreadsheet. His numbers were all across the map and I am a diesel number scheme freak, so I reorganized it and also standardized things a little.

[rock]

I just finished up the detail work on the shell today and yesterday finished connecting the sound and lights to the motor - here are photos of how it looks now. The next step is painting the shell, then decals. The shell came together rather nicely. I used an Atlas GP40 cab and part of the long hood for the upgraded air filter area and blower housing, which also took out the turbocharger features of the GP20. I left the rest of the long hood largely intact, except for adding a couple stacks on the dynamic blister to show the normal aspiration of the motor and also upgraded the radiator grilles. I decided to leave the fans alone to show that this is a fairly low-budget rebuild and decided against adding an anticlimber. Other details I added include a plow, ditch lights, new brass air horn, air conditioner on the cab, and I moved the jack brake to the low short hood.

[sgoti]

Nice!

This has a funky, home-built ingenuity look about it.

Can't wait to see more.

[rock]

Had some time this week to paint! Here are photos of it with the GP38-2 that it will be paired with, after a little primer, and then with the paint scheme colors. I used Badger ModelFlex Reefer White for the primer, which is really a light gray - that works well for putting the yellow on later. Then I used Badger ModelFlex Railbox Yellow and a thinned PollyScale SP Dark Lark Gray for the real colors. I taped off the yellow with 3M painter's tape while painting the gray. The diagonal stripes on the pilots/plow were my idea, a little spin on the true Western Railway paint scheme. I wanted to spice things up a little and figured that it would enhance the visibility, especially since this will be used for local switching. Next up are installing the handrails, a little touch-up paint, and decals!

[PVRR 2647]

Eric~

Let me start off by saying that this is an awesome build, and a truly noble gesture to do in honor of your friend. However there is one thing that jumps out at me on this model. That is the lack of the traction motor blower duct for the rear truck, from the inertial air filter "laundry chute". I know that it's a rebuild, but with a sealed car body and no air duct the locomotive couldn't function for very long. I am trying to not come across negative. May I suggest that you fill in the access holes over the fuel tank on the conductor's side to simulate the duct running beneath the walkway. The Santa Fe did that when they added the central air system while rebuilding the SD26s'. If you added the duct on top of the walkway, like all other second generation EMDs (including rebuilds) then you will have to shorten the engine room doors and move the "knuckle busters" up too. If you opt not to do anything at all, it is still a beautiful model. I just thought that you might appreciate a layman's perspective.

Respectfully,
PVRR2647

[rock]

Thanks for the tip on the blower duct! I gave this some thought and decided to end it where it is for a couple reasons. One because it would take quite a bit of work with the doors and the handrails to get this right - this makes the kitbash a little more difficult and also increases the cost and complexity of an otherwise simple rebuild for the Western. And two because the BL20-2, of which this project is a little similar to (and built in the same year), did a similar thing with their blower duct. Here's a photo of a model that shows the shortened blower duct:


So do you think that with the BL20-2, the rest of the blower duct extended under the walkway? If so, I could definitely fill in those holes for an easy remedy.

[PVRR 2647]

Eric~
Outstanding BL20-2 Model!!! The blower duct for the rear truck on the BL20-2 has to go beneath the walkway, there is no other place for it to go. With a sealed body the rear traction motors need to be supplied with air for cooling from the central air system. I forgot the part were you mentioned the BL20-2 as the impetus for this rebuild. With that said: I would fill in the holes on the skirting, you might consider just installing a piece of styrene behind the holes to simulate the rear blower duct passing beneath the walkway, if it doesn't interfere with the frame. I learned all of the intricacies of the air systems from a article about the GP30 in an old issue of Railfan & Railroad that I picked up at a train show years ago.

Sincerely,

PVRR2647 

[rock]

Thanks for the info on that! I will plan to fill in those holes on the skirting to correct this - should help with the modern look as well!

Today I finished up the decals, did some touch-up painting, and added the handrails.

[antlorch]

Awesome build, I love how you put models together. Great job.

[PVRR 2647]

Eric~

She looks beautiful, really outstanding job. Can't wait to see the chassis.
What type of trucks are you going to use? B or M?
Keep up the great work.

PVRR2647

[rock]

Thanks, Anthony! I think I could just keep working on kitbashes all the time, if I didn't have to get around to doing other things on the layout!

The trucks will be Blomberg B trucks, as they came out of a Stewart F-unit. This works out well since (according to my slightly amended history) the Western Railway used F unit booster trade-ins (probably FTBs) to purchase the GP20s and reused their trucks.

[icghogger]

VERY Nice Work, Eric!!

[simulatortrain]

Very cool! I will put my vote in for adding a piece of styrene behind the holes, since covered holes is more visually interesting than no holes at all. It helps show what the unit used to be. You could always cut the outer brake shoes off the B trucks, since that was a common thing to do around the time this rebuild would have happened.

[milw199]

I would recommend to leave the trucks with the clasp brakes, 2 shoes per wheel.  Engines so equipped stop better, especially in snowy areas.  SP's snow service GP38-2s had clasp brakes retrofitted, trucks came from the handful of GP40s from somewhere on the system, if I recall correctly.  

[rock]

Thanks, everyone! I went with blanking out the holes in the frame and leaving the trucks just as they are. Finished up the unit today; here are some photos. Tomorrow I will power it up again, MU it with the GP38-2, and give it a good test run. So more photos and hopefully a video will be coming.

















Next to another unit with the modern Western paint scheme - this Kato AC4400CW was painted by my friend:

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

The 229 definitely looks like a modern rebuild Eric. Nice work! What other units do you have on the Western roster?