Prototype

The prototype for this project is the C39-8E, a locomotive that the Norfolk Southern purchased 25 models of in early 1987.  Here is a photo from RR Picture Archives of what it looks like:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1301027

This locomotive looks a lot like the C40-8, but it has the older-style GE fuel tank (air reservoirs at the ends instead of inset on the side) and the older engine and guts inside for the lower horsepower rating.  I am choosing this prototype because it is easier to model than the earlier phases of C39-8s and fits my railroad history better.

Fantasy History

For my fantasy SPSF Railway, I generally follow what the ATSF and SP really bought in terms of motive power.  This is easy to do with my late-90s era and the fact that both railroads bought similar locomotives like GP60s, B40-8s, and C44-9Ws.  This also helps keep my fictional railroad more believable since I'm not going out on a limb saying the railroad really bought some random locomotive(s).

However, this project is a little different.  I wanted to model a 6-axle locomotive for my grain shuttles and I wanted something that was older than a B40-8W but newer than an SF30C or C30-7.  The problem is that there is a gap in ordering 6-axles for both the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific in the 1980s.  Part of this was due to the rebuild programs that both railroads had going on at the time.  Another reason is that both railroads held off on purchasing new motive power while the merger was going on - Santa Fe's last order of new power was April 1985 with GP50s and the next new power was not until May 1988 with GP60s.

Therefore, I decided that the SPSF would have purchased some new power before this time if the merger went through.  The main reasons would be the greater ability to purchase new power with the combined companies, the want to display new, modern power to represent the new company, and the need to replace some of the older power that would come on to the combined roster, like some of the worse U33/36Cs and SD45s - locomotives that might be beyond a rebuild program.  Using my rule as a guide, where I try to keep my roster limited to what the ATSF and SP really had, I decided to go with an earlier model of what they really purchased, the C40-8Ws of the ATSF, as well as something similar to the B39-8Es of the SP, so I came up wtih the C39-8/C40-8.  Then I had to decide on which phase.

Regarding the phase of the locomotive, I thought about what the SPSF would have done in real life.  Say the merger is approved by the ICC on July 24, 1986 (instead of being denied).  That would make a merger date in January 1987 possible, given the coordination efforts that were already underway since 1983.  I would think that the chief mechanical officer would undertake a survey of motive power in August 1986 and come up with a few options for moving forward with motive power for management to approve that would include various options of rebuilding power (both in-house at San Bernardino and contracting it at places like Morrison-Knudsen) and buying new power from both GE and EMD.  Orders for new power could be finalized by September-October 1986 (preceded by a letter of intent before that to get production space) for delivery by the second quarter of 1987, which fits with the desire to have new, modern power for the newly merged company shortly after the merger would officially take place.

That timeline brings me to when the NS C39-8Es were built in March 1987, so I would follow that as the phase to use.  UP got the first C40-8s later in 1987 and NS/Conrail bought the last C39-8 Phase III models in late 1986 (the humpback style), so those don't quite fit my timeline.

Now to figure out how they got to the C39-8E, I would think that they would order four types of new power: C39-8Es and B39-8Es from GE and SD60s and GP60s from EMD.  The C39-8Es could be used on a new daily double-stack intermodal service between Chicago and LA, taking advantage of the combined transcon routes of ATSF and SP.  The six-axle power would be used on these new double-stack container trains, just coming into use more at this time (UP's APL double-stack container train debuted in 1984, for example).  The SD60s could be replacements for aging SP equipment and stick primarily on the I-5 corridor.  The B39-8Es and GP60s would be used for the increasing amount of intermodal traffic, largely for TOFC and COFC, lighter trains than the double-stacks.

I picked the C39-8E over the SD60 because I already have a KCS SD60 on my roster and I really like GE power - it will be interesting to show the progression of motiver power since I already have models of the C41-8W and C44-9W.

That explains how I came up with this particular locomotive and now on to the modeling!

The Model

As you can see from the first photo above, I am starting out with an Atlas C40-8.  I like the NS version because then I already have the black chassis and I am planning to not repaint the black frame - I should be able to just paint the boxes above the frame and use decals for the yellow sill stripe.  And I like the Atlas model because it runs well and will be easy to add DCC and sound to.

I have a fair number of spare Atlas Dash 8 parts, so I am planning to use them for most of the shell.  I have an older-phase C40-8 long hood that I can use, which has the grilles on the top of the hood immediately behind the cab instead of on the side, which is the main feature of the early phase C40-8 hood.  I also have an undecorated cab and low short hood to go with that.

Before I start painting the shell, I am planning to finish up the chassis so I can test out the DCC and sound.  That means I will need to paint and weather the truck sideframes first and possibly finish the fuel tank.  For the tank, I have two C30-7 fuel tanks on hand that I will kitbash to make a longer fuel tank for the C39-8E frame.

I will be using a SoundTraxx Tsunami2 PNP GE Diesel sound decoder (885014), a Streamlined Backshop Services sugar cube speaker, and a SoundTraxx CurrentKeeper - below are what these items look like.

I am also getting some detail parts for the locomotive.  The nice thing is that the Atlas shell already comes with a lot of detail, so I don't need to add things like grab irons and MU hoses.  I will be adding a Details West air conditioner and 5-chime Leslie air horn, part numbers 158 and 327.

So next up is to start taking apart the locomotive so I can begin to install the sound and DCC.  Stay tuned!

Good Luck

Good Luck Eric.

It sounds like you used some sound logic to decide on this model and I can see this really happening since Mechanical Departments instead of Transportation Departments decide on what future models to purchase. I've been a locomotive engineer for NS since 2000 and I have ran U23Bs up to ET44ACs. And because I know the characteristics of these models I actually ban any GE unit from my Layout older than a Dash 9. We NS engineers refer to Dash 8 units as Trash 8 units. The only units that ran worse was the Dash 7 and U boats! Talk about slow loading locomotives. With a Dash 8 you can notch out on the Throttle and actually count the seconds before it will move. If you try to start one on a grade you have to notch out and not release the engine brake before it tries to move or you will start going backwards. The SD60s load a lot faster but they are really LOUD in the cab. The GP60s are hot rods and can move pig trains at track speed up hill as long as you don't load them down with too much tonnage. I used to love running our UPS trains with a set of three or four GP60s. I remember actually catching up to other intermodal trains pulled by CR Dash 8s and dropping them like a hot potato.

Tim G.

Thanks!

Thanks, Tim, that's good to hear you think it is a realistic approach.  And thanks for the interesting stories on the GP60s and Dash 8s!

Disassembly, Fuel Tank, and Trucks

Last night I started taking apart the model.  Here is what it looks like with most everything disassembled:

I took out the motor so I can work on the frame, which will need some milling to accept the older Dash 7 style fuel tank.  Next, I will remove the Atlas circuit board and replace it with the Tsunami2 PNP board.  However, I will need to finish the trucks before that to hook everything up and test it correctly.  I will also need to finish the fuel tank so I can mill the frame before adding the drive and trucks back.

For the shell, I will strip the paint off the long hood, cab, and nose using 91% isopropyl alcohol.  I was initially planning to use spare parts for the shell, but I realized that I don't have a set of C40-8 grab irons and I also don't have a C40-8 long (it is a C40-8W long hood, with the brake wheel in the radiator section).  So to keep the grab irons in the shell, I will end up using most of this long hood.

Fuel Tank

The fuel tank kitbash should be fairly straight forward.  I just need to take my two C30-7 fuel tanks and make one slightly longer fuel tank.  While doing this, I will cut the plastic tank to fit the frame as best as I can, but I will need to mill the end of the frame where the air reservoirs are.  Here is a photo that compares the size of the C30-7 fuel tank to the C40-8 fuel tank and the relation to the frame.

Trucks

While researching late-phase C39-8s and early-phase C40-8s, I learned that sometimes trade-in trucks from older U-Boats were used.  For example, Union Pacific traded in some U30Cs when they ordered their C40-8s, and they reused the trucks after rebuilding them to more modern standards.  The U30Cs had older Adirondack trucks, which looked different from the modern GSC trucks.  It was fairly common to see the C40-8s with mismatched trucks.  I decided that I would want to replicate this look with my project.  What made this decision easy is that I happened to have a spare set of older Adirondack trucks.

Here is a photo that compares the two trucks.  The older Adirondack truck is on the left and the newer GSC truck from the C40-8 is on the right.

Rebuilt Adirondack trucks have air brake cylinders added on the ends and a single shock strut in the center, so they look fairly similar to the GSC truck.  The main spotting difference then is the hole in the sideframe between the axles - the GSC has a center hole while the Adirondack is closer to the outside axles.

I tested the Adirondack truck sideframes and they do fit the C40-8 trucks, so this will work perfectly.  Below is a photo showing one Adirondack truck (left) and one GSC truck (right).  What I will do next is remove the outer shock struts, add one in the center, and add the air brake cylinders on the ends.

What makes the mismatched trucks idea even more interesting is that Southern Pacific, at the time of the merger, had a lot of U33Cs on its roster, many of which had the Adirondack trucks.  I have read that the SPSF may have added these to the SF30C rebuild program, and I think it's plausible that the rejects may have been traded in for the C40-8s with the trucks reused, similar to what the UP did.  That makes for a more interesting back story and it also helps to support the idea that the SPSF would have ordered C39-8Es after the merger went through.

Non EMD Stigma

Trucks and Fuel Tank, Prepping the Chassis and Shell

Trucks

Here is what the rebuilt trucks look like, after adding the center shock strut and the air cylinders (older Adirondack sideframes on the left and newer GSC sideframes on the right):

Fuel Tank

Here is the fuel tank after cutting it in half and adding part of another fuel tank to make it as long as the C40-8 tank, note that I drew lines on where to cut the metal fuel tank piece shorter:

And after cutting the metal off the chassis so that the older fuel tank will fit (trucks are painted and weathered now and I added putty to the fuel tank):

Chassis

With that work out of the way, I could start putting the chassis back together.  Here is a photo showing the trucks in with the drive and sound decoder.  Just a few more things left to install and wires to solder, then I can give it a test run!

Shell Preparation

To begin preparing the shell for painting, I stripped the paint off the NS shell using 91% isopropyl alcohol.  After first planning to not strip the paint off the sill, I think I will after all since it would be better to paint the part below the cab and the sill is thicker than I thought, so my decal stripe idea won't work as well.

As I mentioned, I need an earlier phase C40-8 hood for the C39-8E.  I have one of these older hoods already, but unfortunately, I cut out one of the grilles to use on another project.  So I will have to cut the shells and combine the two parts.

This photo shows the difference between the early and late phase C40-8 hoods.  The yellow shell is the early phase with the grilles on top of the hood and the gray shell is the later phase with the grilles on the side.

And here's a shot of the shell assemblies with the paint stripped so far.

Next up is to finish the chassis to test it and put the shell together with details so it's ready to paint... hope to have that done later this week.

Sound Installation Finished

Here is a short video showing the sound now that I finished installing the Tsunami2 decoder and programmed it:

This photo shows how everything is connected on the chassis:

Shell Details

I had time to work on the finishing up the shell today.  I am planning to get it painted on Monday.  I stripped the paint off the sill, added the detail parts (air horn and air conditioner), and cut in the older phase hood section just behind the cab.  I also decided to remove the radiator section and replace it with a new, undecorated radiator section that I had on hand, since there is a lot of loose paint under the radiators on the factory model from stripping the paint.

For cutting in the older phase hood section, I made cuts on each shell with a little extra room left (I chose a distinguished line on the hood where I would glue the two pieces together).  Then I filed the plastic off until I got close to that line, then started fitting the pieces together, using the sill as a guide for how long it should be.  Then I glued it using a plastic weld glue and I added styrene strips inside to keep it strong.  Below are some photos of this process, as well as some closer photos of the details.

Stay tuned for the painting, coming up next!

Painting

Here are some photos of the painting process.  I used Badger ModelFlex paints for all the colors.

Decals and Weathering

Next up were applying the decals and weathering the locomotive.  I used Microscale 87-496 for the SPSF decals and 87-925 for the diesel data.  I weathered using pastels.

Finished!

Here is a video of the finished locomotive:

Nice!

That looks great Eric!  The mismatched trucks makes an interesting detail for sure.  Well done!

Thanks!

Thanks, Joe!  I am happy to have finished up my 6-axle fleet!

How did you get those grill

How did you get those grill covers off of the radiator location? I have an Atlas Dash B40-8W that I need to get into that radiator housing to the decoder location to make a change to make it work on DCC. But my prying seems excessive, yet not working??