IAIS GP9 303

First up is IAIS GP9 303, a unit that started life on the C&O, then spent time in the Precision National fleet before coming to the IAIS.  Here's the prototype as I originally modeled it:

My initial plan with modeling the IAIS was to set the layout in 1997, so my first pass at modeling the 303 was based on its appearance at that time.

...and here's the 303 after the prototype was rewired and touched-up in early 2004, with new green paint along the sill, pilots, sub-base, and cab side (plus some overspray on the trucks and fuel tank):

When I moved my layout's era forward to May 2005, my model of the 303 received the same updates.  With so many layers of paint being visible from so many stages of her life, the 303 has always been one of my favorite units on the roster.  If you look closely you can see C&O blue along the bottoms of the engine room doors from its original owner, "PRECISION" lettering peeking out from under the "IOWA INTERSTATE" patch on the long hood, and a red UP stripe from a short hood that was replaced using a donor from one of the ex-UP, XX-WP GP9s that the IAIS once rostered.  I'm glad they kept the high-mounted C&O bell in that repair...and even gave it a coat of silver paint in the 2004 touch-ups!

OUTSTANDING!!!!!

¨NUF SAID!!!!

Nose

Since the nose has the C&O bell, I wonder if the doors, and not the whole nose were ex-UP.  I saw many engines at the UP Omaha diesel shop that had doors from many roads on them (a WP GP40 with UP and MP doors was my favorite.)

IAIS GP7M 400

IAIS GP7M 400 has had a rough life.  I hesitate to include it here, since the prototype definitely received much more than a touch-up, but after all it's been through, I felt it deserved some love.  Originally a high-hood RI GP7, it was involved in a grade crossing accident early in life that led to it getting a factory EMD sloped short hood.  In 1998, as the IAIS's only ex-RI locomotive, it was involved in a second grade crossing accident.  Here are some Erik Rasmussen pics of the aftermath, used with permission:

I'm told it was totaled by the IAIS's insurance company, but the IAIS was blessed with a top notch crew at its Council Bluffs enginehouse, and while the resurrection took 3+ years, they pulled it off:

On its maiden voyage in February 2002:

I never modeled the 400 in its pre-wreck state, but since its paint was still so new in my 2005 era, I left the vertical surfaces glossy to reflect the prototype's shine.

IAIS 303's nose

I would have thought so too Dave, but its UP heritage went deep.

No idea why the IAIS used two different shades of green on the patch.  Perhaps they ran out of one?   Money was tight back then!

IAIS GP10 403

IAIS 403's touch-ups were a bit more subtle, but still fun to model.  Like a handful of IAIS units, it had its cab vents covered with duct tape (below engineer's front window)...

...as well as having its rear truck replaced with one that apparently came from an ex-CSX unit while shopped for wheel work...which is a real mystery, since the IAIS's only ex-CSX Geep, GP16 495, still has both its blue trucks.

I didn't consider modeling the duct tape until I noticed it while working on GP38ACs 625 and 627 recently and saw that their prototypes had it.  I then started looking for other units on the roster that did and found that the 403 qualified, so I updated the model.  I found that actual duct tape - what else?? - did a decent job of representing duct tape in HO scale.

Beautiful work

I love the multiple layers and colors. 303 looks well used, and 400 looks like new!

Mind Blown

That is absolutely amazing!  Love how the shop crews didn't let the old girls go down without a fight!!

Way cool Joe

Looking forward to seeing more,Kevin

Thank you

Mrtrenes, twforeman, Goose, and Kevin, thank you!  I really appreciate your encouragement.

Same here!  It's interesting, though, how their work could vary so widely based on the need at the time.  On one end of the spectrum, you have GP7M 400 looking like it's fresh off the showroom floor, but on the other end, duct tape and overspray when a unit apparently had to be back in service quickly.  Variety like that sure makes modeling more fun though.

I thought it was interesting that the IAIS's Chief Mechanical Officer told me in early 2005 that GP9 303, built in 1956, had a 97% availability rating after its 2004 rewiring.  Not bad for a 48-year-old locomotive!  If I'm not mistaken, that's a number that's even hard for new power to reach.

IAIS GP38AC 625

Nothing too special about the 625, but it was its duct tape patch over the fireman's side vent that got me started thinking about all this.

IAIS GP38AC 628

IAIS 628 was one of only two units that got touched up with some portion of the new image paint scheme introduced with the 2004 delivery of the 700-series GP38-2s (with GP11 485 being the other, while GP38 601 was the only pre-existing unit to get a full repaint in the scheme).   As part of some other rehab work - cab floor and cab heater replacement, plus other upgrades - the 628 had its cab face and everything forward of that point repainted, trading its hazard stripes on the nose for the new solid yellow nose with IAIS herald.

Here's the model next to recently-completed sister GP38AC 627 to illustrate 628's nose job.  It's hard to capture in photos, but 628's touch-ups have been given a coat of Future floor finish, giving them enough shine that they look glossy in person, but hopefully not so much that they look out of place on the layout.

As a side note, while my model of 628 was painted and decaled from scratch before Atlas offered their 628, my models of GP38ACs 625 and 627 both started life as factory-painted models of...628!  I backdated the paint scheme on both, renumbered, and redetailed to match their respective prototypes.  Not a quick job, but at least it was quicker than painting them from undecs.

Here's another view that better shows the shine.

LLPX SD38-2 2802

SD38-2 2802 had kind of a rude welcome to the IAIS.  It arrived on the property in August 2004, and the following January was involved in a sideswipe incident at Rock Island, IL that damaged the cab, sill, handrails, and air reservoir, as well as ripping a hole in the fuel tank, as shown in the Erik Rasmussen image below (used with permission):

Repairs were made quickly at nearby NRE-Silvis, and the unit was back in service about two weeks later with a new fuel tank and nicely-matched blue paint on the cab side, sub-base, and frame, black paint on the air reservoir, and a new frame stripe.  I really like how NRE even matched the font of the cab lettering.

Like the 628, my model of the 2802 just got a coat of Future floor finish on all the surfaces that were replaced or touched up on the prototype.  I think those details make a fun contrast to the more heavily-weathered units on the roster.

All great

nice work Joe.  You captured the unique character of each of those nicely. 

Steve

Steve

Steve - thanks very much!  That character is a big part of the fun of modeling the IAIS.

outstanding

Great job! It's really fascinating how much research and skill go into your models.

engine 400 ?

Do you know what ran into it to cause so much damage up high? .....DaveB

Thank you

Thanks very much Jan! You’re very kind.

Dave, the 400 hit a dump truck loaded with gravel. The front pilot damage was from that initial contact, but it’s my understanding that everything else happened as the result of rolling into a ditch. The crew survived. 

Thanks Joe

That must have been a scary ride....DaveB

Truthful Railroad Model's

and not a Modell Railroads.

Absolutly great work !

Karsten M

Karsten

Karsten, thank you very much.  I really appreciate your encouragement.

Beautiful

Beautiful work indeed Joe!

The 400's rebuild

Is that long hood off a Western Maryland unit? Sort of looks like the "Circus" scheme there.

400's long hood

Hello Steve - thanks very much!

Hi Jeff - that long hood actually came from IAIS 7976, a Paducah GP8 in IC/ICG orange and white that the railroad parted out.  It was originally supposed to become IAIS 476, but suffered some unknown-to-me fatal defect back in the 1990s and had been slowly cannibalized since before I started paying attention to the IAIS in 2000.

After the long hood went to the 400, the IAIS set aside the 7976's cab face and short hood with the plan to eventually give IAIS 303, the green GP9 shown earlier, a chop job.  Here's a September 2004 Erik Rasmussen pic from https://railpictures.net/photo/172705/ showing the remains:

I believe the rest of the 7976 was scrapped at that time.  Fortunately for those of us who really liked the 303 - IAIS's last remaining high-hood Geep - those plans to give it a low nose were shelved once the 700-series GP38-2s started to arrive.  Unfortunately, the 303 was subsequently sold, leaving the property in May 2005 - a big part of why I chose to model that month.