Model Railroading > IAIS's West End - UP (Ex-CNW) SD40-2s

This morning I finished weathering my first two Intermountain SD40-2s, ex-CNW units that became UP 3034 and 3053.  Details added to both units include cab roof vents, EOT antennae at the left rear of the cab roof, Sinclair radio antenna, a numberboard grab iron, and gong bells.  I also added a waste fluid retention tank to the rear of the fuel tank on both, scratched from styrene, relocated the right side cab vent to the rear, and removed the class lights.  Weathering on both is primarily PanPastels, with a bit of oils to simulate the marks on the left side of 3034's cab.  Yellow touch-ups were done with Tru-Color UP Armour Yellow, while the gray was done with Floquil UP Harbor Mist Gray.

Photo 1 - Andy Brown photo of UP 3034-3053 leading an eastbound UP detour over the IAIS on May 5, 2005 at an undisclosed Iowa location. ;-)
2 - UP 3034 front view.  Primary differences between this unit and the 3053 are the silver gong bell and horn on the 3034.  SPF 15 recommended for prolonged exposure to Intermountain's lights. :-o
3 - Top view.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

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4 - Andy Brown prototype photo of UP 3034-3053 on the same detour at Wilton, Iowa. 
5 - Hood lettering placement was less condensed than on the 3034, so I removed the factory lettering and added new Microscale decals applied alphabet-style.  
6 - Front view of 3053, with the standard gray horn and yellow gong bell.  

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/15 15:38 by iaisfan.

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I like your approach, very similar to Bob Rivard's in that you're taking actual units/freight cars/MOW equipment and including them accurately on the layout.  Very cool!

Martin
AH, CA

Like your trackwork.  Track is a model too.

Thank you both!  I really appreciate your comments.

Martin wrote:
> I like your approach, very similar to Bob Rivard's in that you're taking actual units/freight cars/MOW equipment and including them accurately on the layout.

Thanks Martin.  Bob is actually one of my biggest influences in the hobby.  I always liked the way he modeled prototype scenes so faithfully, right down to the equipment in photos.  I couldn't go to the extent that he has (e.g. adding multiple duckunders in order to keep scenes 100% accurate), but I'm doing my best to replicate his style.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

Well, imagine my pleasant surprise to see some of my photos so prominently displayed!  Now if only I could go back in time and provide something much less crappy...  I must've shot those with one of those throwaway plastic film "cameras."  The units look great Joe!

Andy

Andy wrote:
> Well, imagine my pleasant surprise to see some of my photos so prominently displayed!  Now if only I could go back in time and provide
> something much less crappy...  I must've shot those with one of those throwaway plastic film "cameras."  The units look great Joe!

Thanks Andy!  You won't ever catch me complaining about your pics.  I've been super grateful for them!

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

Joe, as always, stellar work here!  Nice to see these two up and running!

~RGDave
www.onondagacutoff.blogspot.com

Thanks Dave!  I guess I wasn't done with them after all.  After viewing my pics above, I decided to pull these two back in the shop and rework their "UNION PACIFIC" lettering.  Intermountain's lettering was a couple inches too tall, but I think the black border on it was also too thin, meaning the red letters were even taller.  UP 3053's right side already had the road name replaced with Microscale decals because the lettering was much less condensed horizontally on that side of this prototype than many of the other prototype units.  Once that was done, though, seeing 3053 MU'd with 3034 made the lettering difference really stand out to me, as shown in the "before" photo below.  

So, I removed the factory lettering from the left side of 3053 and both sides of 3034 and replaced with Microscale decals.  It was a really quick process - maybe 10 minutes per side - and they already look MUCH better.  Once the decals are dry, I'll dullcote, touch up the weathering, dullcote again, and shoot an "after" shot for comparison.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

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As mentioned, here's the "after" shot showing UP 3034's new long hood lettering.  Comparing to the photo above, personally, I think the improvement was well worth the small amount of time it took.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/15 20:42 by iaisfan.

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Great work Joe they look very nice Eric.

Thanks Eric!

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd