UP 804, and a rebirth

 My days of modeling the UP as my primary road came to an end when I discovered the IAIS, and while I eventually sold my model of the 804, my fondness for GP30s continued.  I wanted to find a way to include one on my current layout, and since BNSF's Council Bluffs yard is adjacent to the IAIS, I thought one of their GP30 rebuilds, labeled GP39Ms, might be just the thing.

 

 I don't have any active BNSF trackage on my layout, but I do represent a short segment of their "KC Yard" lead, where they often tie down local power.  I thought the 2817 would make a good stationary model there, a visual queue to help visitors distinguish between the BNSF and IAIS trackage.

 

Joe, you're slipping...lol

What's next, Rock F units??? ha ha....evil me putting thoughts in your mind.....you know, the F9Am's.   One in UP colors and one in Billboard red.....mwa ha ha..

No slipping...this time

Geez, a guy models one Milwaukee Road F-unit and he's branded for life... 

The BNSF Geep tied down there is actually 100% prototypical.  Well...95%, since BNSF tends to park their power closer to the yard office seen on the backdrop.  Here's 2817's sister at that location:

Looks like you need another unit

You need at least one more BNSF unit to stay prototypical if the photo is an indication of typical motive power tied down at that location.  And maybe a few additional units to park and mix things up between operating sessions...

Marc Simpson

BNSF

He he he...actually, the one unit was more typical, left in town to work the local industries and the IAIS interchange.  And besides...I only have about 3" of track left to work with. 

Hmmmm...maybe!   I could see a patched warbonnet in my future if I ran out of other projects.  Or perhaps a fully-repainted BNSF unit?  

Nice!

Looks awesome Joe. Don't you just love it when change has to happen to keep things prototypical? I mean you got to get rid of the yellow and swap it out for that beautiful green! Not being biased or anything! Jokes aside, it looks great!

Cascade Green

Ha!  Thanks David!  I'm actually a pretty big BN fan, since that's the road I watched that got me interested in railfanning and modeling.  My newspaper route took me by their local yard, and every day I could, I'd stop and watch the action there.

Very nice!

Joe, that's a great model and I like how it simply ties into your location in CB.  I also like the connection between the old model and the new one (the old one still looks nice, especially considering what was available back in those days).  I think things like that really make modeling fun.  So is this just a dummy unit?

Welcome to the darkside

Joe

 Nice job and while not quite as dark as Darth Vader it could be considered a little grey.LOL

                                                                                                                                      Ray

GP 30 fan

Joe

That GP looks really good. I am still impressed at how many of the GP 30 bodies are still running around. I have a UP one and a GN one I am working on to add to my fleet. 

So what is going to be your next motive power project?l

I Always Thought

That the Geep 30's were cool looking units too! Great job and nice modeling.

Espee over Donner

The GP30's have a unique look

They are one of my favorites too. In fact, are my most favorite.

I have pictures I took of UP 868 (LifeLike produced a model) working in McPherson, KS in 1978. Have one of the LifeLike units that I intend to detail and weather to represent the prototype at that time. 

GP30s

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

That was my original plan, but after finding the BN-painted core unit on Ebay in good operating condition with a decoder installed, I decided to leave it intact for now.

Probably PWSX (ex-IAIS) GP10s 401 and 413.  The prototypes were sold and repatched by the IAIS and left the property during my era, so they'll be built as non-sound dummies using the upcoming Intermountain models, currently due in February.  They'll be treated more like rolling stock than locomotives, tied down in the dead line next to the Bluffs shop about half the year, then moved DIT to the UP for forwarding to their new owners.

Beyond those, my motive power build options are dwindling!   Of the operational units I plan to build, IAIS GP8 481 and GP11 485, and UP C44AC 6863 are all that remain.  I also plan two static models for the Bluffs enginehouse: GP8 468 and GP38 601 - the prototypes for both of which spent the entire month of May 2005 in the shop.  I think the 601 will be an especially fun project, since the prototype was midway through a pretty significant rebuild during my era, as seen below.  I have a Walthers EMD 567 prime mover set aside as a 645 stand-in in order to recreate this scene, from May 26, 2005.

Not to hijack my own thread, but if anyone's curious, here's how 601's rebuild progressed over the following year:

October 8, 2005:

March 4, 2006:

May 23, 2006:

...and finally, June 6, 2006:

The transformation of the 601 is a good example of why I feel it's fun to model a specific era.  Also a nice testimony to the quality of work done by IAIS enginehouse forces. 

Bachman GP30's with cracked frame casting.

A long time ago, I acquired a Bachman GP30 and immediately fell in love with the brutish look of it. I like chunky-looking locomotives, it seems. Two moves later, it turned up among the junk that seems to follow me everyplace I go. To my dismay, there was a split in the center of the car body, wider at the bottom, so I took the body off - after considerable effort, because it was stuck - and the die cast frame fell apart - I put the bigger chunks together on a table and had a good look at it. There was a vertical curve to the frame caused by swelling of it, higher in the middle, which in turn split the plastic body as the frame grew in length. There was a lot of other cracking, especially on the corners. Hm, where had I seen this before? Ah! On some of my postwar Maerklin locos, which suffered from 'Zink-pest' (caused by dirty casting metal). There are pictures on the net showing a really sad SK 800 4-6-4 in pieces.

     I remembered seeing a guarantee for life from Bachman printed on the box, so I mailed the loco to Bachman for replacement. Sure enough, a few months later, a new GP 30 was in my hands, plastic frame and all, at no charge. 

Has anyone recently had a case of Zink-pest on any newer locos with die-cast frames? My old Bachman GP30's disintegrated frame goes back to 1975. By the way, newer Bachman frames seem to have a copper plating on them under the black paint. Could this be to ward off the Zink-pest? Curious minds want to know!

gyro

I too like GP30s

My favorite and unique GP30s are on the Southern. The high short hood makes them interesting:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=461610&nseq=54

Bill Michael