Model Railroading > BN GP-50 5-man Cab

How D! I'm searching for information about the BN GP-50 with the 5-Man cab. These are the units that had the fron cab wall extended 23" to the front, which gave it a stubbed-nose look. If there are any articles in MR, Trains, RMC, Etc, that would be a major help.

Thank you in advance,

Joel

There is a book called:

"Burlington Northern into the 90's" by Joseph W. Shine. The book covers motive power for the BN. Has a section on the GP50's with lots of pictures. A real BN bible.

The 1980-1991 annual by Del Grosso has a couple of pics. One is a close up of the cab. The book says there were only five, 3158-3162. The front of the cab was moved forward, or the nose shortened, but the addition was to the rear of the cab.

However long ago it was that the orange tiger stripes were new, I made a GP-50 with the extended cab and it wasn't all that difficult. You only need an extra cab. Remove the cab and then cut 23" off of the rear of the nose. Cut as little as possible off of the rear of one cab. Cut just a little more than needed off of the rear of the second cab. Have a perfectly flat surface and a sheet of sandpaper. Do ONE stroke and test fit. If you do two strokes and go too far you gotta get another cab and start over. (I know, I cut it off twice and it's still too short!!!) I form my own handrails, but if you are careful you could use the stock ones and just shorten them the proper amount.

After I got the project completed, I didn't (and don't now) have any admiration for the model. The proportions of the cab just don't seem right to me. At the same time I did a second GP-50 with a regular cab and then a 10,000 gal fuel tender, BNFT 2. The three unit set is more pleasing to me than just the extended cab model.

jb

In the past week I have seen the 3158, 3159 and 3160 in Seattle. I built the 3158 as my very first superdetailed model. It turned out well but is currently listed as stored, possibly for sale.

Model Railroader published an article covering both the 5-man cab and the tiger stripe paint scheme. I believe it was back in 1987?

January 1987 issue of MR - Paint Shop section. I always liked that scheme and those funky cabs - I wish CBNS had acquired a few of these when they got their ex-BN GP50s!

B-Dubya out -

Overland did at least two runs of these....unpainted and painted in Tiger stripes and white face schemes....was gonna build a few, but recent auctions for painted examples on ebay were much too tempting. The later run (2/99) used painted lettering instead of decals....very nice!

Don't forget....early on they had marker lights, later they were plated over...a few eventually got the ditch STROBES common to the regular cab 50's. My shots over the years should quite a variance. Also, the exhaust 'hatch' varied, some had the exhaust in the forward half, some in the rearward....and the hatch was even painted silver at one point. You really need to focus on a certain road number and date if you want accuracy. They did change a lot during their stint. BTW, saw two unpatched 50's in Clyde over the Holidays.....

Found this at trainpix.com, I was going to build a GP-50 with a whiteface. This looks like a neet engine to build.

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I built one in 1990 based on the MR article. I've still got that magazine if you wanted the article let me know. Also got a pic of one in BNSF H1.

Great! I'm getting the January 1987 article this evening! Thank you guys for the help!

YM

I just have a little more sanding and drilling for grab irons and it will be ready for the paint shop.

Shot this @ &%$#+ or (the place formerly known as the Stockton Tower)
How UgLYYYYYY!!!!!!

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TehachapiKid wrote:
>
> Shot this @ &%$#+ or (the place formerly known as the Stockton
> Tower)
> How UgLYYYYYY!!!!!!

That H1 paint, or even the H2 paint for that matter, just doesn't look right on the ole BN!!

YM