Model Railroading > History of this "Rent a Wreck"

Saw this unit on the Sandpatch webcam on Sunday. Trailing unit on Q-217:




Does anyone know the heritage of the HLCX 6429 and what it was built from? It looks like a modeling challenge.

TWL

looks like a sd45-2, at least some where in their.

mike

It looks like a former ATSF SD45-2, it has the right antenna configuration as well as the plate where the A/C was on the roof. If I remeber correctly, the Santa Fe units were one of the few that didn't have the lower nose headlight, ATSF also had a habit of ordering it's hood units without number boards on the long hood end. That's all I know, maybe someone else can come up with a road # for ya soon! - Chris

Definitely ex. ATSF/BNSF SD45-2 - the cab roof antenna planes, etc. and rebuilt electrical access doors behind the cab on the engineer's side scream ATSF heritage.

It has 40-series radiator grilles and cores transplanted in and matching closely-spaced radiator fans suggesting it's been rebuilt with a 3000 HP 16-cylinder 645. Hard to tell if the long hood aft of the dynamic brakes is original, transplanted from another unit, or scratchbuilt - it's missing the Dash 2 sight glass for one thing.

Concur with the general opinion that this is a former Santa Fe SD45-2. It appears to me that the fans if not the whole back end (the aforementioned lack of the water level sight glass is an indicator) appear to be from an SD35 ... note that the center fan seems to be a smaller one.

Regards,
Burlington John

Upon inspection just smaller in height, not diameter. That makes it a low-profile 48" fan, could have come from any one of an ex E-L SD45/45-2, CR GP38-2, CN GP38/40/SD40 (and Dash 2s thereof), AMTK F40PH and maybe one or two others.

A badly need part, Mr. Cannon :) !


burlingtonjohn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Concur with the general opinion that this is a
> former Santa Fe SD45-2. It appears to me that the
> fans if not the whole back end (the aforementioned
> lack of the water level sight glass is an
> indicator) appear to be from an SD35 ... note that
> the center fan seems to be a smaller one.
>
> Regards,
> Burlington John

This is ex-ATSF "SD-CAT" 5855. The radiator configuration was altered when Santa Fe dropped a Caterpillar diesel into it in the 80's. It later went to Utah Railway, lost its Cat for a regular EMD engine, and has now gone to Hel(m).