Hi I am looking for someone who could kitbash some Athearn SD70ACe locomotives into some B-units and Slugs. Time is not an issue mainly because I haven't purchased them yet!
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
I think most professional painters could handle that project. But why don't you give it a shot yourself? I don't know if there is a prototype example, but if there is you can base your conversion on their photos. There have been conversions of early GPs, 7s, 9s etc. You could use photos of those. You could even pick up a few old Athearn GP shells for practice.
cascadenorthernrr SD70ACe locomotives into some B-units and Slugs
Russell
Is this a 'fantasy' idea? Why would a railroad take a 12 year old(and $3 million) locomotive and cut it down to a slug? Or would the owners(leasing trust) allow this to their property?
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Is there a fourth type of road power because I would like to make a eight unit lash up of two a-units, two b-units, two road slugs, and two c-units(???) .
Yes the point would be the locomotive was in a accident and was damaged beyond repair to original status therefore they converted it to a slug or b-unit. So yes it would be a "fantasy" idea.
cascadenorthernrr Yes the point would be the locomotive was in a accident and was damaged beyond repair to original status therefore they converted it to a slug or b-unit. So yes it would be a "fantasy" idea.
And serve no logical reasoning......can only be used in one way operation....a nightmare...for any road.
Take Care!
Frank
This is the "GENERAL DISSCUSSION" forum therefore please just give me tips on kitbashing not prototype operations thank you.
cascadenorthernrr This is the "GENERAL DISSCUSSION" forum therefore please just give me tips on kitbashing not prototype operations thank you.
I guess You didn't like My ''Smile, Wink, Grin'' Emoticon.
Why don't You give it an attempt in scratch/bashing one? I would be curious as to what one would look like in Your fantasy.
I suppose the goal would be to follow the general lines of the famous BN/BNSF cabless SD40-2 #7199, which lost its cab in an accident but was otherwise repairable. There is a forum thread about it here: http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/741/t/121119.aspx
And the thread includes a pic. Elsewhere on the internet I saw a pic of it painted BNSF. And the Soo Line has or had a similar cabless rebuild, #6450.
Armed with pics of those two it might be an interesting "what if?" project. At the cost of those locomotives, if one was involved in a wreck that ruined the cab but was otherwise repairable, I could imagine a similar home built B unit being the result. So it is not totally out in left field as a concept, even if there is not (yet) a prototype.
Since there is no prototype for what you seek to do, I assume you (or the custom builder if you can find one) would take a powered locomotive and need an extra shell, at least one, or a shell of similar width and otherwise compatible.
Dave Nelson
So could I find a sd70ace replacement shell and chop the back end off then put it where the cab of the other was? Or find a broken sd70ace and use it?
It would probably be easier to start from an SD-70 with a standard cab, as you would need to add in all the walkways for the wide cab versions. I will crack open my Athearn Genesis SD70ACe to take a look at the frame inside to see if the conversion is feasible, ie there may be metal that has to be removed etc.
Sorry to re-iterate the prototype thing (yes it is your RR, do what you wish), but should you later decide to sell this locomotive, you may find it hard to get what you paid for it or even possibly much less. Remember you (or whoever you pay to do it) will be hacking up a $150-200 locomotive. If your fine with that go ahead. They will probably tell you the same thing.
The SD40 thing got me thinking. Would converting a High hood SD40 to a B unit be an acceptable alternative? Those you can get relatively inexpensively, decorated for NS, N&W, or Southern Rwy. You would then just replace the cab section with styrene and build a short walkway past it.
Well I do not think that I would be selling it ever so I believe that would not be a problem.
Well what units have the same width/height as a sd70ace? That's for the hood I mean.
You may or may not realize this, but nothing requires you to use the exact same locomotive for each of the conversions. The cabless boosters could be any model of locomotive.
CSX has a couple of slugs built from old Alco RSD-15s (I think) that were inherited from Conrail. They can be found at Selkirk yard attached to remote controlled SD40-2s.
Here are some photos of the slugs.
http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/misc/miscindex.html
Well that brings us to this. My favorite modern diesel (a transition era man myself) is the EMD SD70ACe and my favorite version is the CN Ex-EMD Demo/Lease units in the blue demonstrator livery and this is because my railroad is the Cascade Northern R.R.
Here's the BNSF unit in Dave's link. If you follow Dav's link, there is also a picture of cabless BN 7199.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=769291
Mike.
EDIT: The link button for typing a reply is not working. I guess you'll have to copy/paste.
My You Tube
Slugs are typically cut down because there is no prime mover (diesel engine) installed inside (it would be a waste of good scrap metal to leave a full height hood, and it makes line of sight slightly better).
cascadenorthernrra transition era man myself
There is a whole thread on this forum that laments that young people dont model the transition/steam era.
I also model the transition era, my favorite is the NYC heritage unit. The lightning stripes look awesome.
mbinsewi Here's the BNSF unit in Dave's link. If you follow Dav's link, there is also a picture of cabless BN 7199. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=769291 Mike. EDIT: The link button for typing a reply is not working. I guess you'll have to copy/paste.
It is something to do with IE and the .aspx in the link. Interestingly you also cannot easily link threads within this forum due to this bug.
I should probably clarify the fact that I prefer to model the transition era but I'm not from it! (I'm 16)
Here's a tip highlight the link using left click drag like you are going to copy/paste then click the link button. Hope it helps!
Wikipedia has a list of locomotives that were produced as B units.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Locomotives_with_cabless_variants
I have in person seen and photographed the GE B30-7s that were on Providence and Worcester until 2015 or so.
Here's the CN #8100.
Here is a SD70ACe B-unit from Jointed Rail for TANE.
And here is a screenshot from TANE of a lashup of two BNSF SD70ACe A and B units and two road slugs.
Well the JR ACB image isn't working so here is a model version.
I remember you recently discussing DDA40X locomotive and thought you might find this interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_DD35
cascadenorthernrrAnd here is a screenshot from TANE of a lashup of two BNSF SD70ACe A and B units and two road slugs.
What is TANE? Im assuming its a rail simulator of some sort.
Also conceptually, the slug units would likely need a mother unit on each side to split the traction motor load between two units.
Thanks!
Ohh I'm so sorry TANE is short for Trainz: A New Era.
Here is a website that has a list of EMD locomotives, each link contains a data page on each locomotive. (In response to your question about hood height).
Edit:
It would be useful if I put the link in....
https://www.thedieselshop.us/DataEMDIndexRS.HTML