The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[davefoxx]

I got the first of the SAL GP40s relettered/renumbered today.  This one didn’t go as smoothly as the SDP35 last week, but SCL No. 1540 (former SAL No. 625) is finished and turned out okay (shown here with sister No. 1539 that’s already in SCL’s official black and yellow scheme.



DFF

[Chris333]

Those depot shingles give me HO envy...

[davefoxx]

Those depot shingles give me HO envy...

Hard to believe, but it’ll be ten years next spring since I migrated to HO scale.  No regrets.

DFF

[davefoxx]

I started the relettering/renumbering of SAL No. 619 this weekend, to change it to the post-merger SCL No. 1534.  I’ve got the process down for removing the factory lettering from these Atlas engines: the lettering is a 45-minute soak in MicroSol on a paper towel scrap and the numberboards are a 20-minute soak.  If the paper towel pieces are kept wet with MicroSol during the soaking time, the lettering practically lifts off without having to scrub, which prevents marring the underlying paint.



All lettering has been stripped off as of this morning, and I hope to get to the decaling soon.

DFF

[davefoxx]

I like my Georgia RR GP40 (remember that the GA was a subsidiary of the ACL and then the SCL), but the yellowish lighting has always bothered me.  So, I ordered some warm white LEDs from Amazon, since I was out of the Digitrax T1W Warm White LEDs that I prefer.  The new LEDs turned out to be the same yellowish color as the OEM LEDs (see Photo 1).  D’oh!

So, I ordered a second set of LEDs and landed on ones just described as “white.”  Well, they’re not expensive, so I gave it a shot.   Better.  Maybe a little bluish for my taste, but the numberboards look 100% better (see Photo #2).  I’ll probably live with this for a while and see how this Geep blends in with the rest of the fleet.  I can always order some Digitrax LEDs, if it really bothers me.  They’ll just take a longer delivery time.

Photo 1:



Photo 2:



I wish I could do something about the light leak around the numberboards, but that’s way too invasive for me to try today.  They’re buried in the cab roof.  I did pull out the rear numberboards/light diffuser and “painted” it with a black Sharpie to address the similar problem on that end of the locomotive.

DFF

[Philip H]

My first thought was “ultra fine Sharpie and an Optivisor” to carefully blackout around the number boards likes a gasket.

[davefoxx]

My first thought was “ultra fine Sharpie and an Optivisor” to carefully blackout around the number boards likes a gasket.

If only it were that easy.  That light leak is actually the sides of the numberboards that are poking through the shell, so there’s nothing there to darken on the face of the numberboards.  To fix it would be to pull the light tube/numberboards part out and color the sides, which is exactly what I did to the rear numberboards.  Unfortunately, the way that the Atlas shell and cab are constructed, it’s invasive to get in there.  Maybe someday, but, for now, I’m leaving it alone.

DFF

[sizemore]

If only it were that easy.  That light leak is actually the sides of the numberboards that are poking through the shell, so there’s nothing there to darken on the face of the numberboards.  To fix it would be to pull the light tube/numberboards part out and color the sides, which is exactly what I did to the rear numberboards.  Unfortunately, the way that the Atlas shell and cab are constructed, it’s invasive to get in there.  Maybe someday, but, for now, I’m leaving it alone.

DFF

Wonder if you can use a black pin wash and let it flow around the number board, similar to how plastic modelers use a pin wash to bring out panel lines on aircraft and ship models.

The S.

[John]

Hard to believe, but it’ll be ten years next spring since I migrated to HO scale.  No regrets.

DFF

If my layout looked like that I would have no regrets either

[Mark5]

Hard to believe, but it’ll be ten years next spring since I migrated to HO scale.  No regrets.

DFF

It's been 56 years since I migrated from HO scale. No Regrets. 

[davefoxx]

I finally finished the decals on this second Jolly Green Giant (SCL GP40).  It’s been sitting vertically in a coffee mug for weeks while I started, but then ignored, the decals on the ends of the locomotive.





Like the prototype, SAL No. 619 is now SCL No. 1534, and SAL No. 625 is now SCL No. 1540.  Perfect for the early-1970s-era on the layout.



DFF

[Iain]

I like my Georgia RR GP40 (remember that the GA was a subsidiary of the ACL and then the SCL), but the yellowish lighting has always bothered me.  So, I ordered some warm white LEDs from Amazon, since I was out of the Digitrax T1W Warm White LEDs that I prefer.  The new LEDs turned out to be the same yellowish color as the OEM LEDs (see Photo 1).  D’oh!

So, I ordered a second set of LEDs and landed on ones just described as “white.”  Well, they’re not expensive, so I gave it a shot.   Better.  Maybe a little bluish for my taste, but the numberboards look 100% better (see Photo #2).  I’ll probably live with this for a while and see how this Geep blends in with the rest of the fleet.  I can always order some Digitrax LEDs, if it really bothers me.  They’ll just take a longer delivery time.

Photo 1:



Photo 2:



I wish I could do something about the light leak around the numberboards, but that’s way too invasive for me to try today.  They’re buried in the cab roof.  I did pull out the rear numberboards/light diffuser and “painted” it with a black Sharpie to address the similar problem on that end of the locomotive.

DFF

The SCL Modeler, vol 2 no 4 has the first article in a multi part series on Georgia GP40s

[davefoxx]

This is why I’ve moved the layout to the early 1970s.  On the Seaboard, first generation gems such as F7s, FP7s, GP7s, GP9s, and GP18s were still out there on the rails, and second generation power (e.g., 30- and 40-series Geeps and SDs, as well as all sorts of U-Boats) was not even ten years old. 

On the SCL, F7A No. 405 remained on the roster until February 1971, and F7B No. 399-B was retired in June 1971.  CRR F7A No. 813, based upon photos posted online, also survived until at least 1972 or ‘73.



For the record, the Clinchfield RR was leased by the ACL (later SCL) and the L&N, so this could have happened.  Maybe.

DFF

[davefoxx]

I finally bought a Decoder Buddy and yet another set of LEDs, and, this time, I gutted the electronics of Georgia GP40 No. 751, which fixes a few things.  Yes, the color of the LEDs is improved, but this also deletes the OEM motherboard that consists of a bunch of plugs.  The plug to the rear headlight had failed, taking out that light.  Fixed.  I used a scrap piece of 0.060” black styrene to build a platform to which I could mount the Decoder Buddy.



DFf

[davefoxx]

I actually bought not one Decoder Buddy Mini, but two!  The second has gone into CRR F7A No. 813.  You saw this locomotive on the layout last week, but I cheated to do that.  I have two SAL F3As that are now anachronisms, since the SAL traded in the F3s around 1966 or so.  Since they’re shelf queens, I borrowed the mechanism from one of the F3s to get No. 813 running quickly.  I did have to tear out the headlight that was glued to the shell of the F3, but that wasn’t a huge issue.

So, in addition to GA GP40 No. 751, I also gutted the electronics from this F7 this weekend.  This locomotive will eventually get a Scale Sound Systems speaker, but, for now, I just recycled a surplus ESU speaker.  I’ve already restored the SAL F3, so it’s whole again, including repairing its headlight.



When this glue dries, I’ll slap a coat of black paint over it to stop any light from leaking into the cab.



DFF