kingj63

Oh Canada!

For your consideration I have here a N scale CN Dash 9. Not the stock Kato stuff but a heavily altered to correct Dash 9-44CWL specs. I could list all the changes one by one but those who know this engine will spot them all. For everyone else the main change is the swap of the Kato GE style cab for a Kaslo CN style cab. That part is pretty easy and anyone can do it as it does more or less just snap in place of the Kato supplied cab. There is one glaring error the rivet counters may howl about. Ditch lights. To do this correctly one MUST use a early Kato Dash 9 of the 5 step frame variety. That model comes with pilot mounted ditch lights. I added the deck mount lights as a non-working detail but the wrong lights are still there for effect because they actually do work. Other than that you can walk around this engine and find most everything else modified to be correct. I hope you all like it. Comments please?

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Oh Canada!
kingj63, Oct 8, 2008
    • jsoflo
      fantastic work, did the Kaslo kit come with the wipers etc?
      awesome looking work!
      Oct 8, 2008
    • kingj63
      Thanks! The Kaslo kit is complete enough that it will snap in place of the Kato cab and use the existing light pipe. What comes with the kit is your choice of two front door styles, one with and one without a window. A bracket and bell for the cab face. Sunshades, and some pretty decent deck mount ditch light housings.
      The only parts Kaslo supplied used by me othet than the cab itself would be the ditch light housings. Everything else is a photo etched part or cast metal part supplied by me. FYI, the Kaslo cab kit was ONLY fifteen dollars so it isn't expensive.
      The other big issue which you may or may not have recognized is the cab is designed to fit the as delivered Kato Dash 9 which means it has a notch to fit the model which has a tall utility cabinet behind the cab on the left side which neither CN or BCR engines had.
      If you wanted to make it more accurate like my model there is some level of cutting and adjusting to the Kato shell and a fill strip needed for the cab left back side.
      It isn't intensely hard work to accomplish but if you want it to look right this is something you should do. That hardest part of the alteration is lowering the handrail and then joining it back together. I used a small brass sleeve which is almost prototypical as the real engine has a horizontal brace where you will make the splice on the handrail. The sleeve allows you to glue the Delrin plastic handrail back together and it is quite sturdy.
      Quite important is this cab will only replace the Kato cab on one of the two versions of the first run of Dash 9 engines. Kato changed the cab structure significantly on the new run. It could probably be adapted but would be a huge amount more work to do so and it would not be accurate anyway as all new Kato Dash 9 engines have 6 step frames.
      Oct 9, 2008
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