Page Updated:
Jul 19, 2009
Locomotives
Rolling Stock
Maintenance
Scenic Gallery
Modeling
Ref Shelf
CRCyc Home
What's New
Help Out
Site Map
Contributors
About Myself
|
|
Conrail Cyclopedia
Modeling Showcase
|
|
|
Prototype and Freelance Conrail in HO Scale
article and photos by Doug Cockfield
I first became interested in HO model railroading at about eight years old and continued until I moved away to college and did not have a place for a layout. After doing nothing with trains for years, I resolved to build a layout outside under a patio cover, as there was no space in the house. Most of my collection was stock Athearn blue box locomotives and rolling stock. My first venture into modifying and decorating a locomotive was trying to make a Life Like F40PH run right using a Rail Power frame. After that there was no turning back to just opening the box and attaching a few details.
My favorite roads are Conrail, Penn Central, Reading, SEPTA, and Chessie System. I like these roads because I grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia, not far from where these railroads ran. Conrail is special to me because it absorbed multiple railroads and had a very diverse collection of units. The current layout has been neglected as lately I have been collecting various locomotives for my future retirement layout inside a large shop.
Most of my locomotives are Athearn blue box models or ride on Athearn blue box mechanisms. The reason is primarily economic, although uniformity of starting voltage and interchangeability of parts are useful. Bodies include Athearn blue box, Athearn RTR, Atlas, Atlas classic (Kato and chinese), Kato USA, Rail Power and Proto 2000. In some cases a model does not exist so is made from existing parts by cutting and splicing. All models are HO scale.
With a few exceptions, all locomotives were detailed, painted and decorated from bare bodies using photographs for guidance. Paint is mostly Floquil applied by airbrush or hand brushed. Base paint is Conrail Blue with Engine Black for walkways and pilots. Cab interior is Primer grey. Mechanisms and sideframes are a mixture of Engine Black and Oxide. Grime and rust color are Engine Black and Rail Brown. Weathering is applied in a thin wash with a paintbrush and excess is removed using solvent. This process has a risk of dissolving the base paint and ruining the paint job. However, each model is unique and certain results are "accidental", which can be very rewarding.
Decals are the usual Conrail set from Micro Scale. Sometimes details were guessed at or incorrectly interpreted before a photo or authority such as the Conrail Cyclopedia could be consulted. Other times it was right there in the photo and I missed it. Mistakes like these are left as is to "test your knowledge" and tell their own story as I learn to improve my modeling skills. I learned a lot from various books and web masters, too many to list here.
In most cases stock Athearn railing kits are used with certain pieces done by hand to match photos where the stock piece is a poor match or another type of body is being adapted to the Athearn frame. Plastic railings have usually been replaced with steel wire railings and Athearn stanchions. Plastic is unsatisfactory because these trains get handled, and Conrail blue and white paint does not stick to the slippery plastic. I prefer to compromise realism for the sake of ruggedness and uniformity.
Standard procedure for an Athearn blue box body is to modify the unrealistic front and rear pilots to accept castings. Holes are drilled by hand for the lift eyes and hand grabs. On the EMD models the air reservoirs under the walkways are replaced with three dimensional plastic tanks. The usual detail parts added include hand grabs, lift eye bolts, horn, bell, air filter set, MU boxes, drop steps, Sinclair antenna, snow plow, tank gauges and the ubiquitous control box as needed. The frames are modified for gauges and tabs cut, drilled and filed to pin the coupler boxed to the bodies with a through bolt. I prefer using Kadee metal couplers with plastic coupler boxes. One Conrail feature on EMDs is to relocate the hand grabs on the engineer side of the nose to the conductor side to make room for the control box, although a few locomotives did not have them relocated. Also Penn Central style coupler release bars are sometimes found on Conrail units.
Certain locomotives are bogus models and were built just for fun.
Photographs were taken on my outdoor patio layout using natural overcast light. The camera is an older 4 Mpix Nikon Coolpix without telephoto capability, handheld, with normal jpeg compression. 
|
CR 1928 B23-7
|
|
|
Shell: Rail Power B23-7.
Mechanism: modified Athearn GE-B blue box.
Details: Front anticlimber. Athearn GE-B handrails + stanchions.
Special details: Replaced inaccurate radiator with piece cut from Athearn U36B. Added washers to trucks.
Problems: Radiator casting. Overall body casting quality. Athearn GE-B frame sits too low.
Weathering: medium-heavy grime and rust.
Why this one? Rail Power bodies are unique.
Comments: Lots of opportunities to improve this body shell - the spirit of modeling.
|
CR 2231 GP30
|
|
Shell: Rail Power GP30.
Mechanism: modified Athearn GP35 blue box.
Details: I opened the larger fan pods and set Plano grilles on top. I sculpted the steps to the cab slightly. Steel wire handrails + Athearn stanchions.
Special details: 12 tabs on the hood. Special horn assembled from a generic kit.
Problems: Extended style cab does not match Conrail. Air tanks hung too low. Cab steps are missing. No window glass available. Awful blue box GP35 gas tank slot.
Weathering: Medium grime and rust.
Why this one? A "Lionel" HO body is intriguing, plus reuse of retired Athearn GP35.
Comments: Joe advertises this shell as Lionel, but it looks like a Bachmann to me. Proto 2000 is more accurate, but this model is unique and a fun project.
|
CR 3408 GP36 "Freelance"
|
|
Shell: Athearn GP38-2.
Mechanism: Modified Athearn GP35 blue box.
Details: Wire handrails and Athearn stanchions.
Special details: Sawed a GP38-2 and re-glued it to create this 'joke' engine. I used Atlas GP40 parts to create the "mini-SD45" style radiator.
Problems: Experimental.
Weathering: Heavy grime and rust.
Why this one? Sense of humor, challenge, left over parts and GP35 "fatso" blue box locomotives.
Comments: Wanted to try a shop Frankenstein of rebuilt GP35.
|
CR 3637 GP35
|
|
Shell: An older Kato GP35.
Mechanism: Modified Athearn GP35 blue box.
Details: Mostly stock Kato body. Steel wire handrails and Athearn stanchions.
Special details: None
Problems: Air tanks, blue box GP35 gas tank slot.
Weathering: Medium grime.
Why this one? Sale on Kato bodies plus re-use of a retired Athearn GP35.
Comments: This body has better detail than Rail Power, plus cab glass. I should have replaced the fans but did not know how when this was done. Athearn RTR was not available at the time.
|
Copyright (c) 1998-2009 Robert S. Waller. All rights reserved.
Photos for personal use only. All rights reserved by original owner of image.
Reproduction or redistribution in any form without express written permission is prohibited.
The use of Highslide JS is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.
|
