Lightweight GP9 modelling

The lightweight trio leads 4 standard GP9 into the smelter in Flin Flon.  The 70T waits for them to yard the train so it can start its work.

I've been working on a trio of lightweight GP9 for the Hudson Bay Railway.  These were common power on the northern network from the 1960's through 1980's.  They are a bit of a challenge to model as most rode on Flexicoil trucks and had other modifications from standard Geeps.  

I used Rapido trucks from their GMD-1 model along with Athearn Genesis GP9 to build two of my units, while a third kept its factory Blomberg trucks to represent a unit that had its Flexicoils removed.

I substituted a P2K shell for one unit as I had already started modifying it.  I decided it would be easier to use the Athearn drive instead of the P2K drive as it was pretty much a swap out.  I have an extra Athearn CN GP9 for future use.  Maybe I'll put it on a P2K drive.  

I am planning a future post about the details of this build, but figured posting a few photos would be worthwhile.  

CN 4206 rides on Flexicoil trucks and has modified louvers and sideskirting.

CN 4118 had its Flexicoils swapped out for Blomberg trucks in the 1960's.  It was renumbered to 4374 in 1984-85.  It lost its dynamic brake fan along the way and didn't have the cylindrical spark arrestors.  This was the easiest model to do as the louver arrangement matched the factory model.  All that was needed was to renumber the unit.  

CN 4243 has been on my "to do" list for many years.  It had a scorched area under the dynamics from what was likely an engine fire.  I still need to add the winterization hatch and all weather window to this unit.  I used a P2K shell on an Athearn Genesis frame with Rapido Flexicoil trucks.  Quite a dog's breakfast of a unit.  


May 16/22 Update




If you are interested in more information about this build the June 2022 Railroad Model Craftsman magazine has an article I wrote about building these locomotives.  They are relatively straightforward to build using either the Athearn Genesis or P2K model.


Comments

  1. theoriginaltwofoot18 January 2021 at 21:44

    Did you ever put together that post on building these little fellas?

    Thanks

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marc Simpson18 January 2021 at 21:51

      Hi Chris, there is something in the works, it seems to take longer to write something up than to actually build it.

      Delete

Post a Comment

What people are looking at on this blog

CN Boxcars a Plenty

Image
Canadian National had a long lasting fleet of 40 foot boxcars, some of which lasted until 1996 in grain service.  Modelling northern Manitoba in the early 1980's requires a significant number of 40 footers in both grain and general service.   Over the past several years I have been building out my fleet of these cars using RTR, kitbashed kits and resin kits.  There have also been numerous CN painted models done over the years, with some being relatively accurate while others are stand in models - some call these foobies. First Thing To  Do If you want to accurately model any CN steel boxcar your first stop should be to find a copy of Railroad Model Craftsman's August 1993 issue with Stafford Swain's seminal article "Canadian National's 1937 AAR design 40-foot steel boxcars".  It covers the entire range of 40 foot steel cars from 1937 to the end of 40' car deliveries in 1957.  This is "must read" material.  CN Lines has a number of articles on the...
Read more

Tank car weathering

Image
Rapido Model Trains recently released their model of the Procor GP20 20,000 gallon general purpose tank car.  This has long been on my list of "must have" models for the Hudson Bay Railway.  Any photo with a tank car in it from the late 1970's to the 1990's was likely one of these cars.  They were used to haul gasoline, diesel and other fuel to various parts of the northern railway network.  They were used to stock the fuel tank farm in Churchill that serviced the barges that supplied communities along Hudsons Bay.  This required massive numbers of tank cars to travel north.   The model from Rapido is very nicely done with etched walkways and nicely rendered fine details.  They are pretty much ready to go out of the box, however I want to try adding some weathering to the cars to better represent the prototype.   One challenge is that there are not that many photographs of these cars in service in the early 1980's, as much due to the cos...
Read more

Painting wheels for roller bearing and standard bearing trucks

Image
One of my pet peeves is otherwise nicely done models riding on shiny metal wheels - it ruins the effect of all the other work done on the model.  And you should NOT use plastic wheelsets - they seem to attract dirt and grime and gum up your track.  Swap out the plastic wheels for aftermarket metal wheelsets.   Most of my replacement wheelsets are Intermountain, available in boxes of 100 axles.  The wheel profile is not the best but they are readily available and are generally in proper gauge or easily adjusted.  I have tried other brands but they are hit and miss as far as being readily available locally.  I have found that Rapido wheelsets are always too narrow compared to the NMRA, and they are a bugger to regauge.   My process for the wheels is fairly simple and gives good results.  Below are my go to paints: Vallejo Air Black and Vallejo Game Effects Dry Rust If you want to you can first clean the wheels with 99% (or whatever % you h...
Read more