KCS Ghosts!

For a long time I've always wanted some White KCS Deuces, meaning SD40-2's.

Back when I went railfanning a lot in the late 80's there were a couple sets of coal trains that usually had several KCS white deuces which we affectionately referred to as "Ghosts".  These trains were generally powered with a trio of SD40-2's

Here's a few examples of those trains.

Over the years I was lucky enough to pick up a couple of them.  An SD40-2 Snoot from eBay and an SD40 from a friend.  But I've always wanted a third one to go with the other two.  Well I finally decided to build the third one.

At some point I either seen an illustration or read about someone doing it.  KCS SD40-2's were numbered in the high 600's and one was numbered 666.  I pulled up CorelDraw and made quick drawing of a pentagram and added the wording "The Beast" so that I could add it to one side of the long hood.

In the process of gathering up everything I needed for the build, I remembered a guy on one of the forums who models KCS and how he always wished some manufacturer would release a white KCS SD40-2.

So I contacted him and asked if he'd like to have one?  Of course he said, so I decided to build two of them.  Mine would be a standard SD40-2 and his would be a snoot version, both of which KATO made in N scale.  

Unfortunately I did not get a lot of pictures as I was building them, because I was planning to use washes this time and I was thinking more about that than pictures.

Instead of using Pan Pastels this time around as I have on most of my recent Rock Island locos, I decided to give some commercial washes a try this time, primarily due to the fact that the locos were white.  I think the pan pastels would have or could have gotten them too dirty too quick?

These were made by MIG AMMO from their Rail Center line of washes, powders and paints.

There wasn't much for detail parts to add:  Three Firecracker antennas, a beacon, a horn and instead of a plow, they used what others have referred to as a "Rock Kicker" plow.  Here you can see what they look like.

I started out with TCP KCS Off White.

With the basic weathering done it was time to apply the washes.  I started out using one called "Aged", a very light gray, then I used another one called "Old Streaking Dust".  By the time that was applied it was getting kind of dark so I stopped.  But on the one for my friend, he said he wanted it rather dirty as he was modeling a later time period, so I added a lot of soot to his as well as some rust stains and burn marks.

This is how they turned out.

The 683

The Beast

I was pretty happy with how the washes worked out, now I have another weapon to add to my arsenal.

GP7 #439

Following close on the heels of the 434, I put the finishing touches on the 439.  Mainly had to work on the distressing the decals a bit.  Other than that, I used the same methods as I did for the previous units.

Applied the major detail parts, paint, applied the major weathering, decal application, minor details and sealed it.

Unlike the 434, the 439 was one of the unlucky GP7's that never got rebuilt during the CRP and soldiered on until the shutdown wearing this early maroon scheme.

One thing I still may add to the 434 & 439 are the all weather windows.

While I still have several more version of GP7's to add to the roster, these two will be the last major locomotives rebuilds for a while.  I had some unexpected time on my hands for the last three weeks and took advantage of it, but I really need to get back to the layout and work the scenery.

GP7 #434

Since the 1299 didn't take very long to finish, I decided to push myself to get two more older GP7's done. These were two of the original 12 GP7's that The Rock received in July and August of 1950 and were numbered in the Fearsome Four Hundred series. The first one is 434.  

The 434 it did not last until the shutdown.  It was slated to be rebuilt and renumbered to 4495 but instead was traded to PNC (Precision National Corp) during the CRP (Capital Rebuilding Program) that was initiated in 1974, a program to rebuild the large majority of Rock Island's aging GP7's, which also included GP9's and GP18's.

But it will continue to run on my layout...

Again, I followed the same method of painting and weathering as I did on the previous GP7's and GP40's, I painted them, then did the major weathering followed by applying the decals.

I did not add much for details as it was pretty plain.  The the spark arrestors are a new product that I found on Shapeways designed by Wutter, these are 3D printed and turned out very nice.  I'm trying to decide if I should an All Weather Window on the engineers side? I have a JNJ kit, but it has 3 panes and not two.

One interesting tidbit I noticed when I was applying the number boards, is how the 3 digits are offset to the outer edges and not centered.  Every image I could of the 400 series of GP7's were done up like this.

 

The 439 is just about finished...

 

 

GP7 #1299

I just can't seem to help myself...

I just received this new Atlas GP7 a few days ago and I found myself with a little time to kill.  Knowing this wouldn't be a full on paint job since the loco came in the right paint scheme with no details to add, I decided to pull the trigger.

I have a long list of paint schemes to apply to my fleet of GP7's, two have been checked off my list now: the previous GP7 #1201 in the red and yellow and now this one.  

The #1299 is kind of an odd duck, as it's in the maroon and yellow scheme of the late 60's, but yet it carried the speed lettering that was common in the early 70's with the red and yellow scheme.  I did find a few more GP7's with this scheme as well as a few other models like the GP40's, U25/28b's and the U33B's.  Along with the lettering, this unit is still sporting the "Torpedo Tubes", a telltale sign of it's previous life, that  being in passenger service.

This is how it finished out.

 

 

GP40 #4711

GP40  #4711 is now on the roster.

As done before, I followed the same process that I did for the #1201 & #389. It'll be nice to have some more RED mixed in with the collection of Maroon units.  Before these and the one GP35, I had a couple of SD40-2's, a U30C and a U25B.  

My roster and yard is starting to look more like a Rock Island engine facility in the late 70's...

The pair

And the Trio

Though I made some good progress over the last couple years adding to my roster, I am far from being done.  I still have the GP7/9's (which will have multiple paint schemes.)  I still want to add several schemes to my fleet of GP40's, U25B's.  Then a couple more U30C's and at least one more GP18.  

So that should keep me busy for awhile?

GP40 #389

GP40 #389 joins the fleet today.

I pretty much followed the same game plan that I did to the GP7 #1201 

One more red GP40 to go...

The Winnfield local with the 1201 on point

 

GP7 #1201

The GP7 1201 joined the fleet today.

I applied a few more battle scars to my version since I'm modeling 1979.  The image of the proto that I used was dated 1976, which was three years earlier and the paint was probably two years old.

I used Tru-Color Rock Island Red and Yellow then toned it down with some Pan Pastels so it wasn't as vibrant and sealed it.

I added Sun Shades, Spark arrestors, a typical 5 chime horn, 1mm jewels for the marker lights and Micro Trains 1015 couplers.  A Digitrax DN163A0 was installed and I added a surface mount 804 LED for a brighter front headlight as I have done with the GP35's and the U33B's and the refurbished U25B's in the past.

Weathering was done with Tamiya black panel liner and several colors of Pan Pastels, along with some brown oil paint for the rust marks.  Decals were Micro Scale. 

Here it is sitting next to one of the maroon GP35's for comparison.