GEC's Duff Challenge

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Alright, last time I tried to do a locomotive kitbash, it stalled do to my lack of planning. RS3s don't make good RS2s when there are RS2s available! But I digress.

This project is suffering from somewhat of the reverse: I've been trying t figure out how to build one of these things for almost as long as I've been in the hobby. Last week, I decided "to heck with it!" and I've started this new kitbash:

Ex-CNJ GP40P #4108

Prototype Infromation

With support from the Baltimore and Ohio, the CNJ purchased 13 GP40 based passenger locomotives in 1968. These locomotives were purpose built (rather than prototype kitbashes), and their 3,000 HP made them better suited to pulling longer and more modern passenger coaches than the CNJ's GP7P fleet. These locomotives appeared vaguely like an SDP45 on a stretched GP40 frame. The CNJ locomtives appeared in B&O Dark blue and Yellow colors, except with a CNJ logo on the ends and a large "C N J" on the flanks. Towards the upper portion of the Steam generator compartment were NJ DOT logos, denoting partial ownership of the locomotives by the NJ DOT for New Jersey Commuter service. Later on, yellow barricade stripes were also added to the ends.

During the late 70s, these locomotives frequently found themselves on the head end of Express trains to the jersey shore. These trains were frequently called "Jersey Builder" trains due to the usage of former Great Northern and Burlington Northern coaches (many of which were indeed former Empire Builder cars). These trains would most stops between Bay Head, NJ, the southern terminal of the North Jersey Coastline, and South Amboy. From South Amboy to Union interlocking (where the North Jersey Coastline branches off the Northeast Corridor), and from Union to Newark Penn Station, the trains would run non-stop, skipping passengers better served by former Penn Central electrified commuter service. At Newark Penn, the Jersey Builder trains would connect with arriving or departing electric trains to New York Penn Station, as diesel locomotives could not travel into New York under power.

The GP40Ps were passed onto Conrail briefly in 1976, before being sold to NJ DOT outright. A few locomotives appeared briefly in the Blue and silver Erie Lacakwanna inspired NJ DOT paint scheme seen on the U34CH and E8 locomotives. Conrail continued to maintain and operate the locomotives until January 1983, when the newly established NJ Transit Rail Operations took over. the GP40Ps, being relatively "Young" power, were quickly repainted into NJ Transit's Platinum Mist and Disco Stripes scheme, and rebuilt with Head End Power to become compatible with the new "Comet II" coaches as the old steam heat coaches were retired. In the mid 90s, the GP40Ps were further rebuilt to match the more modern GP40PH-2s, which were rebuilt in the 1990s from former Conrail, UP, and other GP40s.

All 13 still currently operate, with no imminent plans to retire them.

The Kitbash

Though I dont have any good photos, I've already begun the kitbash.

I'm using an Atlas GP40. Since no good undecorated models seem to be available, I'm using an L&N model. I disassembled the entire locomotive, and began to remove the pad-printed logos from the model. Fortuneately, L&N's gray paint scheme did not necessistate stripping the whole model. Using Scalecoat "Wash Away" and K&S sanding films, I was able to remove and polish away all the pad printed logos without making any significant damage to the finish.

The first major Surgery was to remove the rear end of the locomotive. I did this with a razor saw and miter box just behind the radiator grills. I then cut vertically just behind the tall engine doors, to just above the radiator doors, again with the miter box. I then carefully cut vertically up each "side" of the locomotive to remover the radiator fan area (which would be reused later).

I then protected the radiator doors with a metal straight edge, and carefully cut above them, but only PARTIALLY. This allowed me to flare the existing radiators like on the prototype, without having to fabricate a whole new rear sections. If one were so inclined, the existing radiators could be left and be "good enough". However, I wanted to make my model more prototypical, and so I protected the body shell wth a few layers of masking tape, then sanded and polished the cast on raditor grills smooth. These will be replaced by Cannon & Co parts.

I then cut and modifed the dynamic brake blister (which is a separate part on the atlas model). The roofline of the GP40P is not dissimilar to the SD45, and so I cut just behind the rear "corners" of the dynamic brake blister. I also shortened this piece to account for the radiator fans, which were moved forward slightly as per prototype photos and drawings.

Rather than scratcbuild a new radiator fan section, I used the existing one instead. However, the fans on the GP40P are not only moved forward, but are bunched closer together. Conveniently, the width of the material to be removed between each fan was the same as the razor saw, and so I cut the pieces into three sections and then glued them back together, filling the seams with thick CA and then polishing them smooth.

I then attached the new fan assembly to the dynamic brake blister assembly, although I may need to make an adjustment to the spacing between the dynamic brake fan and the radiator fans.

I have not yet fabricated the new roofline to "fill in the gaps" between the body and the dynamic brake/radiator fan assembly, but I have all the necessary Cannon roof stock and strip styrene.


Major surgeries in the future will include- Cutting and lengthening the frame, removing just over half the radiator doors and replacing them with Cannon parts, removing the material to mount the Cannon Radiator grills, fabricating a new "end" housing, extending the sill and fabricating the "rear" pilot which is different from most EMD locomotives. I'll probably also have to find some Smokey Valley EMD style hand rail stanchions for the handrails.

I'm thinking I might have the proper drive parts to connect the rear truck with the motor,

[Green_Elite_Cab]

I have to upload the pics (got sick in the meantime, so i'll get to it later), but there is some more progress

I got a hold of the August 1972 issue of Rail Model Craftsmen, which has a CNJ GP40P plan in it. So far, most of my "eyeballed" modifications have been correct. Indeed, the only thing that appears to need alteration is the dynamic brake fan location, but then i'm not sure the drawing matches the prototype photos in this regard.

I am reconsidering Cannon & co fans, since they DO look nice, and if I'm going do all this work, why not? I think i have the proper fans for the dynamic brakes already from the GP40FH-2 project.

Another problem is that the GP40 style radiator grilles are actually not large enough. they ARE the right pattern, but if I used them, i'd have to cut them up and glue them together, which may be difficult. Plano makes SD45 radiator grills that are a perfect match however, and these are made from etched metal, so they could potentially look even better.

Since nobody else makes a "standard" SD45 radiator grill (apart from Detail associates) I'll try to acquire these.

In the meantime, I have aquired all the styrene strip and Cannon hood parts needed to make the body shell, apart from the radiator grills. I also purchased the brass stock I need to extend the frame.

I have begun the frame extension already. I milled out a section of the GP40 frame. In cross section at this location, the frame appears vaguely like an "L". I milled the frame until it became an "l", and then I cut it. This created a flat shelf to install the screws. I layered and soldered heavy brass plate cut to fit the gap between the original frame sections and extend the truck centers to the scale 37' 3" of the GP40P. I have begun to drill and tap holes for the mounting screws, but unfortunately I found out I was out of the poper screws!

I will also need to get much smaller screws and taps to help stabilize the frame after all is said and done, since it seems like only one screw per joint won't do the trick. Smaller screws on the side can help hold the frame steady. I plan to solder these screws in place as well once they are finished, so to discourage movement.

Unfortunately, classes are picking up for me, but I think I'll be able to get this project relatively underway as soon as I get all the remaining parts. If I have time after assignments tonight, I may try to build up the body shell.

This is the locomotive as I intend to model it-



I also have plans for the GP7 in the back (already have all the decals and paint, just need a good GP7 to work with)

[Tyson Rayles]

Looks wise how is this different from a regular GP40?

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Looks wise how is this different from a regular GP40?

Since these locomotives are derived from GP40s, they ARE similar in style and mechanical design. In fact, to be fair, almost everything in front of the radiators is exactly the same as a regular GP40 (except of course the continuation of the flared dynamic brake blister).

However, approaching the rear, its a totally different beast.

A quick list of the main differences:

1. GP40Ps are Much longer- though only slightly shorter than an SD45 coupler-to-coupler, the GP40P's body itself is longer than the SD45's body.

2. Flared Radiators- Again, similar to the SD45, it has the flared radiators (indeed, an SD45 could also arguably make a good starting point for this project, body wise). The GP40X had flared radiators as well, however, those radiators, and the doors below them do not match, and one would not be saving much time using that model as a starting point.

3. Steam generator housing- Not as obvious when the locomotive is running shorthood forward, but the blunt end of the GP40P's steam generator housing definitely stands out when the locomotives run "long hood front", as they freqently did.

4. Rear "ladder" steps- the rear pilots on these are a little unusual, since the steam generator housing takes up just about the entire rear platform, with only the extra added area of the anticlimber permitting you to walk around the long hood. Because of this, the rear steps are also weird, looking more like a ladder than a typical GP40 step.


A decent broadside view of 4103



A standard GP40 for reference



A 1979 photo of #4108, running longhood forward



Another good photo of the GP40P in action in 1979 at Elizabeth, NJ. Though it looks like a close race (and technically, the Arrow III MU is capable of higher performance), the GP40P is almost certainly going to overtake the MU cars in seconds. Other than Newark Penn station, these locomotives ran non-stop on the Northeast Corridor towards the un-electrified stations beyond South Amboy, NJ. This picture shows what I'm all about in an overall modeling sense. All its missing is some Amtrak and Conrail.

[Tyson Rayles]

Thanks for the info!

[Green_Elite_Cab]

I apologize for still not having any photos of the actual model, but here is a diagram of what I've done so far.

Everything in red either has been or will be removed (as noted in my initial post). Red "lines" are cut points. Following Tyson's post, you can see that most of the front end is unchanged, and most of those changes are just railroad specific details (such as the unusual plows on these locomotives).

The trick after cutting these parts is to put it all back together in a presentable manner, which I think I can accomplish. Removed parts will be replaced with styrene and cannon & co parts where necessary.

[e-paw]

More CNJ,,More CNJ,,You can never have enough CNJ...

[Green_Elite_Cab]

More CNJ,,More CNJ,,You can never have enough CNJ...

Eh, I think you can, but after these couple projects, i'll be CNJed out. Between this thing, two GP7s (1 conrail freight, 1 NJ DOT GP7P), and possibly backdating my Conrail NW2 from its Conrail Blue to its CNJ blue with a CR patch, I think I'll have the CNJ stuff covered.

What I really want (and I think this is fair) is a former Lehigh Valley patched GP18, but I can't find a suitable GP18. might not be CNJ, but its still an Anthracite carrier, so I assume it flies. It will fit with my former Reading GP30 I'm working on right now as well.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Not that this thread is super exciting, but it looks like there is no way I'll be done with this model by the spring. Its not that the project is hard, but I've just been to busy. This upsets me to, since I kinda wish I at least spliced the frame back together. I'm about halfway through that process.

I started cutting the unnecessary doors from the long hood as well, so that I can replace them with proper Cannon doors. Once again, I have a few photos, but not uploaded, invoking the following smilie:

:needpics:


Anyways, It looks like I'm gonna have to bang my head into the wall a little while longer. I do have most of the stuff I need to finish the model though, so maybe when I graduate in May, I'll be able to put some time into it.