C&NW turned several switchers into slugs, including turning a TR-2B into a slug, BU4.Front photos show that the radiator was removed and plated over. Does anybody know where to find pictures of the top? I'd like to see what the area looked like where they removed the stacks, and I suspect they plated over the top of the radiator intake too.Thanks.
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
Michael,
About the best I could find, for any view:
http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr0101/cnwbu4.jpg
Three more color pic's...click on them for larger pic. sorry no tops:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locopicture.aspx?id=88794
Take Care!
Frank
Thanks, I've never seen that B&W picture before!The good news is at least nobody can tell me I did it wrong. Except, of course, the day I finish the model somebody will suddenly find a top view picture.
LOL, Yeah You can probably count on the arm chair critics.
I believe You did it correctly, though.
I was browsing through a C&NW book that I own this morning.
Diesels of the Chicago & North Western by Paul K. Withers.
No top side photos of a BU-4, but a nice BU-4 photo nonetheless, and a telling comment.
"The yard slugs that required the least amount of body work were a pair of TR2Bs converted to slug operation in the early 1960s. The only external difference between BU-4 and a stock TR2B is the absence of exhaust stacks on the slug".
It seems pretty certain that since they plated the front, they surely plated the top as well.
Rich
Alton Junction
Thanks!And on the front they just seemed to slap a plate on it. Probably did the same on the top... "Cheap and Nothing Wasted."
Michael, have you tried to contact the Chicago & Northwestern Historical Society with your question?
Yeah, I'm a member.
However, Joe Pierson, our archives person for many many years, recently and unexpectedly passed away.
He was someone I considered a friend, as well.
Michael, sorry to hear about the loss of your friend, Joe Pierson. A loss not only to you personally, but to the C&NW Historical Society as well.
Still, there must be other members of the society who can assist you in this regard. Or, they can put you in touch with some "old timers" who worked on the railroad and recall the BU-4 modifications. No?
Probably, Rich. I just am going to wait a couple months until the archives committee gets itself together. I still have all the mechanism work, DCC installation, and speaker installation to deal with first anyway. I'm going to be using a Kato NW2 for the cow, and a BLI unit for the calf, and I need to put a decoder in the NW2 and tune the two so they run together.I'm also going to put wipers on all 16 wheels and wire them together so both decoders get power from all sixteen wheels. This engine will NOT stall due to bad contact!
CNW went to the trouble of de-cabbing all of its slugs that weren't calves when built, so I think that it is almost certain the top was plated. Also, keeping rain out would have helped maintenance.
Well, well, well.
I was looking at Robert Olmstead's "Prairie Rails" last night, and there's a photo of BU-4 on page 96 that shows the top very well.As we suspected, it's just sheet metal on top now, but it's nice to have confirmation.
I followed this string but had nothing to contribute. I am glad to hear the information was relatively close at hand -- and that your instincts were correct.
Have you considered bringing the model to a CNWHS convention for display? Or submitting photos to the online "Modeler" on the historical society's website?
Dave Nelson
Once they're done... ;)
I'm actually doing them for my freelance Bayfield Transfer Railway. But I haven't decided yet if the BTR repainted them, or just unbolted the heralds and took them off.