CSX uses/used GP 30's and 35's to create road slugs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slug_(railroad)
Hello all,
Just found this on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Scale-Trains-SANTA-FE-GP7-SLUG-ENGINE-SHELL/282889081058?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Hump slugs were made out of many things, specifically including FM TrainMasters (one very easy Athearn dummy locomotive to find cheap). Some railroads with Baldwins found that the cast frame and Westinghouse 370 motors worked nicely in this service ... but those locomotives will be comparatively rare in scale.
Remember that you have to model the special equipment on the slug mothers, too.
Have you looked at the B-units from CMR Products?
I modeled B&M slug 100, a road slug, starting with an Athearm BB dummy GP-9. I removed the cab and dynamic brakes, sanded down the sides to remove all the detail, and covered the sides with styrene sheet after filling the larger holes with styrene, then used body putty around the rough edges . I lowered the whole hood by 3 or 4 feet, and added a light and number board detail. I left the frame as is, after cutting the fuel tank away
BM 100 usually ran with 300 and 301, named by railfans as the slug set
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
"Slugging" didn't realy take off until the mid 1970s as far as I can tell from "X2200 South- The Locomotive Newsmagazine". Seaboard Coast Line was one of the leaders when they ordered their purpose built Mates to be employed with their U36Bs, effectively giving them two !800 hp units with only one prime mover and rotating electrical gear. These combinations were especially prominent in phosphate service in Florida's "Bone Valley". Other roads saw the value of slugs combined with units of varying horsepower in low speed service where tractive effort was more important than speed. Based on your chosen era, slugs would most likely be home built, usually one-of-a kind creations, created from fully-amortized early minority road switchers such as Baldwins or FMs. Another source of slug material would be wrecked units such as Alco RS-1/2/3 or GP-7s. Yard slugs would use the same criteria. Truthfully, there just weren't many slugs of any type in the late 60s but, if you are free-lancing, its your railroad and your story.
Free-lanced late transition era through late 1960s; DC layout; affiliated with GN
Cedarwoodron
My first attempt to build a road slug recently went fairly well. Started by using an old Athearn SD9 and Atlas RS-11 shell.
Loosely modeling an Norfolk Southern RPU6 slug, I think unit number 858.
Turned out good enough for my needs. Learned quite a bit. The next slug will be better.
The old dummy Athearn locos are great for bashing into something interesting. My humble suggestion is dummy Athearn locos.
Hope that helps.
Patrick
Fear an Ignorant Man more than a Lion- Turkish proverb
Modeling an ficticious HO scale intergrated Scrap Yard & Steel Mill Melt Shop.
Southland Industrial Railway or S.I.R for short. Enterchanging with Norfolk Southern.
Road slugs or yard slugs? What era are you modeling?
I have seen photos of prototype and models of both. Most of the road slugs seemed to be from early GP's, but I see no reason that later EMD's couldn't be modified into slugs too. Early SW's seemed to be the basis for the switcher models.
Since most of the modification seems to be the removal of the cab and replacing with sides to match the original loco, I'm not sure it makes too much difference what you use, unless you are trying to match a specific roads locos.
Good luck,
Richard
On my spring to-do list is a yen for building a few diesel slugs. I am thinking of going non-powered, as I can easily wire led lights that feed off the track power and weight them moderately. I know that most real world slugs were of varying vintage, often rebuilt in the railtoad's own shops.
So what I would like is some feedback from those who have built their own slugs - what diesel models lend themselves readily to slug conversion; should I get a bunch of cheap shells as well for "parts"; and what else might be important to consider. I have a show coming up on Saturday 17 Feb and another one in mid-March, so going in with a shopping list is preferable to just winging it.
Thanks for any advice.