SP SD40M-2 #8581

[espeestacktrain]

So, being new here I am in the mood to share. ;D I also have spent most of the evening going through posts that are old to all of you, but new to me. I noticed that Lance "sdp45" posted in a different thread something about, has anyone ever done one of the real life MK kitbashed SD40M-2s...you know the cool ones with the GP40 butt!!!

Well Lance, everyone else, here ya go!!!













Again, not quite the best at taking pics. I did however, find that the west end of the still unfinished Colton Yard has better lighting!!!

Also, as with some of my other projects, she still needs some weathering, and was pressed into service rather quickly (I wanted to run her during a train show), so I kinda forgot to paint the nose grabs lol. But hey, poo happens! lol

[diesel]

john, I'm not familiar with SP equipment, but if that has part of the long hood from a GP40 (cause it looks like it does, the whole mid section is completely different) that's amazing. At first from the side I didn't notice it, but the top pic is revealing.

[espeestacktrain]

Thanks Dan!!! The compliments are much appreciated!!! ;D And yes, it does have the long hood from a GP40. The real units were an in house kitbash done by MK. SP bought 133 of these from MK in 1993, all were classified as SD40M-2, but they were anything but lol. I am not totally sure if I have the totals correct here, maybe someone else can double check this for me, but from the information that I have the units are as follows.

87 Units are in standard SD45 carbodys.
30 Units are in standard SD40 carbodys.
6 Units are inside of (Ex-EL I believe) SDP45 carbodys.
and 10 are SD45's with GP40 hoods.

The SD45's with GP40 hoods are the only units I am certain that I have correct info on. They were numbers 8574-8582 and 8700. The reason they were built this way was, these were SD45s that MK already had on hand, but had already had parts of the body used on another unit (I believe the hoods went to the MARC commute engines). I do know that MK had one hell of a time trying to find enough suitable donor units for this project, which is why there are so many variations of the model.

Anyhow as for my model, the base was a LLP2K SD45. The trucks, tank, frame/walkway and electrical cabinet/dustbin are all from the LLP2K unit. The cab is Atlas. Short hood, most of the long hood, and sub base are Cannon (Yes this is one unit I actually did up as a "sort of" show piece). The dynamics are the original LLP2K and Atlas combined. The rad section is from the Atlas GP40, and the fans are a mix of Cannon and Athearn.

It was a pretty fun unit to build!! I will say, I am not really a fan of the speed lettering scheme, seeing as it really is too "new" for my modeling era, and I am not totally happy with the way the decals came out, so the unit may at some point get repainted. But overall it turned out pretty decent, I am happy with it.

John

[DRGW 5398]

Very nice looking!!! A buddy of mine did SP 8579 (with GP/SD40 radiator section) a few years back and I did SP 8613 and plan to model SP 8574, which also has the GP/SD40 section. SP 8574 was also the first SP SD40M-2 built.