I am thinking of kitbashing some athearn blue box GP7s and SW7s to come up with a few CN GS-413, or my own version of them. i do not have the november 1987 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman that had the article, as someone i think may have stolen it from me. My GS-413 would differ from the real ones, as mine would have steam heater ( torpedo tubes) tubes on top of the long hood. and all weather windows on the cab, being that my ficitional railroad leelanau county railway is set in michigan county that in real life gets tons of snow in winter.
The so-called "torpedo tubes" are actually air tanks - they would normally be hung beneath the frame, but road switcher-type locos with steam generators used that space for the water tanks associated with the steam generator. Here's an old Athearn Blue Box loco converted with Juneco parts:
Those rebuilt locos were known colloquially as "Sweeps", a combination of the SW1200RS and Geeps from which they were constructed.Here's a real one, working with an SW1200RS:
It has all-weather windows, but no room on the roof for air tanks and no room under the hood for a steam generator. If you're planning on pulling passenger cars with yours, you'll need a steam generator car - Rapido offered them, but you could also kitbash one out of a covered wagon B-unit or a steam locomotive tender.
The RMC article was by Bob Boudreau, a fine modeller and photographer, and also a Member of this Forum. If you'd like a scan of the article, send me a PM with your e-mail address.
Wayne
wayne sent you a PM with my email address so you can send me scan of the november 1987 article on kitbashing CN GS-413's.