Conrail Ballast Express C32-8 kitbash Project

[Lackawannae8]

I believe a guy in one of my clubs is making these 3d resin print... I can find out

[u18b]

Ed do you have a timeline for the CR/CRQ/CRQBE schemes? I remember they were in CRQ for only a short time before the 10 unit fleet was repainted.

I'm throwing my hat in and offering to cast the master. Maybe we could make this into an old fashioned group build off!

For trucks, I think the Atlas C40-8/8W would work. I believe they use the same gearbox as the Kato SD40, and should swap in. Maybe we can pink someone at Atlas to see if they have any DOA engines we can pull parts from as they are not listed in stock on their site.

Yes.  The Atlas dash-8 sideframes are exact.

Not sure yet if they will fit in the SD40 chassis.
But I can try to see.

[u18b]

I'm throwing my hat in and offering to cast the master. Maybe we could make this into an old fashioned group build off!

This could be a great group project.

Jesse has already designed decals.   I asked him to make one unified sheet for Conrail, CSX and Norfolk Southern.
Not sure of cost yet, but looks like they can be done.

[u18b]

I think they are close enough to show now.

These are the decals that @Jesse6669  designed.



I still have to do some measurements on my C39-8 shell, but I think these are very close already.

Thanks Jesse!

Everyone notice that these decals will be good for THREE different roads:   Conrail, CSX, and Norfolk Southern    all in the gray Ballast Express scheme.

[u18b]

The year was 1984, and GE had been testing various components as they were transitioning from the DASH-7 line to the DASH-8 line.

The C32-8 was the first locomotive released as a true DASH-8 locomotive (vs a souped up experimental DASH-7 loco).   GE built 10 and hoped they would serve as demonstrators to generate more sales.  But alas, only Conrail bought them (though later, CSX invested HEAVILY in the C40-8 by buying hundreds).





In this DASH-8 line, GE followed their long standing practice of offering the locomotive in a 16 cylinder version and a smaller 12 cylinder locomotive.   Visually, the main engine compartment either had 8 tall doors (16 cylinders) or 6 tall doors (12 cylinders).

(and yes, in the old days, they offered locomotives with 8 cylinders and only 4 tall doors- like the U18B).

Sometimes, the 12 cylinder and the 16 cylinder variations were the same overall length (think U30B and U23B).   But in this case, the C32-8 was about 3 feet shorter than it’s stronger cousin the C39-8.

Here is a C32-8
https://www.trainiax.net/drawings/36-ge/c-8/36-ge-c32-8.GIF

And here is a C39-8
https://www.trainiax.net/drawings/36-ge/c-8/36-ge-c39-8-cr-a.GIF


So when Scale Trains offered the wonderful C39-8, I knew a C32-8 would be possible.   I just have to shorten this:

[u18b]

My interest in this rare and unusual locomotive is because after the Conrail breakup in 1999, CSX acquired 4 of the C32-8s.   Norfolk Southern got the other 6.    CSX only kept them for a few years and then got rid of them- selling some of them to NS.  Since I model all things CSX, I wanted a C32-8, not only because CSX owned some for a while, but also because I model all paint scheme variations- and Conrail gray is a unique scheme on CSX!




The gray scheme survived to both CSX and NS.  So CSX and NS C32-8s looked the same except for the painting on the cab (and obviously the road numbers).


So from a modeling perspective, here are the options for this locomotive.

1.  Conrail blue.  As delivered.   I’m not as concerned with this variation, but Conrail fans might be.
2.  Conrail Ballast Express in the gray scheme.
3.  CSX  Ballast Express
4.  Norfolk Southern Ballast Express

[daniel_leavitt2000]

6615, 6619 also made it to CRQ in blue.
6616 renumbered to NS and then bounced around a few short lines and leasing companies in the early 00's.

[Jesse6669]

If you wanted to make a version with a blanked-out nose headlight:  https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7278174

[u18b]

Made some progress.  Ready for posts.

So comparing facts.
Scale Trains has made a C39-8.
We are making a C32-8.

This shows that on the prototype, there is less than 3' difference.



That means that the removal of two doors in the prime mover section should be just right.

Now, according to the Diesel Spotter's Guide, here are the truck centers.



My preliminary plan was to use the Kato SD40 chassis.

[u18b]

I purchased a pair of trucks for a U30C/C30-7.

They are very similar in design to the SD40 trucks.
They are not interchangeable (rats).   If you study the following photo, you can see some differences in height at the geartower.   So you cannot simply place U30C trucks on and SD40 mechanism.
 
However, you can pop off the EMD sideframes from the SD40 trucks and place the U30C sideframes on the SD40 truck!   



The sideframes are not perfectly accurate.    The U30C sideframes are accurate for that locomotive with two shock absorbers (snubbers) on the outer axles.    The C32-8 has  a single snubber on the center axle. 

But if I wanted total accuracy, I could splice on sideframes from other locos (for example, Scale Trains might have a few extra sideframes.  Also, the Bachmann DASH-8 sideframes are correct.)

[u18b]

Having confirmed that U30C sideframes will work on an SD40 truck, Aaron expressed a good concern.

The SD40 truck centers on the prototype are off by 7".
While some might want the C32 kitbash to be exact, for me, I live more in the "what is close enough" world (not everybody does).

My thinking is:  7 scale inches is split between the two trucks.   Therefore, each center axle will be off by only 3.5".   I can live with that.

But, after Aaron's concern, I got my scale ruler out.  And according to it, the Kato SD40 is over scale slightly.    I measure the truck centers at 40 and 3".



Now we are only off by 2 N scale inches per side- which is very small.   This is great.  The SD40 chassis is definitely the way to go.

 

[u18b]

I believe a guy in one of my clubs is making these 3d resin print... I can find out

@Lackawannae8 ,   
I would love for you to check to see if shells are already available.

[u18b]

Here is my first simplest idea.

Remove the two middle doors (just forward of the horn) and splice back-together.

Here is the stock shell.



Remove two central doors.



The end result would look like this (ignore the handrails and the Conrail herald.  My only concern is splicing the body shell).




This is called virtual kitbashing.   Photoshopping cuts to see if it can work.

[u18b]

I received the extra C32-8 shell from Scale Trains.



I ordered a shell and a fuel tank.   They also threw in couplers and some screws.



The scale Trains order (including shipping) came to $60.   I spent about $40 for the Kato U30C trucks.
I think I did warn you that this was a difficult and expensive project.  Yikes.   I'm already $100 into it.  Plus a surplus SD40 I had in a drawer.




Castings were discussed earlier in this thread... and I have some doubts.   It cannot be cast As-Is.   Because the radiators have a plastic grill that is separate... and you cannot get extra parts from Scale Trains.



If we decide to cast my master, then I may need to explore cutting these radiators out and replacing them with Atlas C40 or B32 radiators.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

The radiators have two etched parts attached to the plastic sub assembly if I remember correctly. I have a few B40-8 radiator sections in my parts supply that could replace it.

I'm going to experiment with some Atlas C40-8 trucks and an SD40 chassis. I'll get back to you with my findings.