Gonna bash BN GP20 into a GP10

[climaxpwr]

Starting a project  I have wanted to do for a longtime,  gonna bash a Lionel Large Scale GP20 into a VMV rebuilt GP9, ie a GP10.  I used to work on one that belonged to the shortline where I lived. She was the first EMD I learned how to work on and run.  She was Burlington Northern 1410.  I still have the Prime beacon and one of the glass number boards from when we repainted her from Cascade green to the shortlines colors.   She was road hard and put away wet by the BN, but she was a solid performing unit when I road along on unit grain trains from Kokomo to Tipton, IN.   Those 4 stacks would really talk compared to a standard 2 stacked GP uint.  Biggest part of the converson is making the short hood level instead of the slant that a GP20 has and building the "ox yoke" air filter intake behind the cab.   I have found commercial parts for the 3 chime horn, exhaust stacks and winterization hatch.  Being this is a 1:32nd scale unit,  The Prime beacon from DA in O scale is much closer than what a Lionel GP unit has from the factory.   I am working with someone on building a circuit to sequence 4 grain of rice bulbs like the real beacon does.  I can drill the solid amber dome with 4 small holes, one for each bulb.  I would paint the back side of each bulb black to isolate them from each other.  Folks knock the old Lionel Geeps, but with thier 4 motor growl and smaller size, they are perfect on smaller layouts like mine.   Just gotta watch the Railsounds, they dont like pulse width power packs.  No problem for me, I use an old MRC golden throttle pack.   Cheers      Mike