DRGW SD40T-2 nose length

What is the proper nose length on the Rio Grande tunnel motors? I bought some of the brand new ones from Athearn They are listed as having an 81" nose.

I was doing some research in an issue of Diesel Era magazine trying to figure out what additonal detail parts to add to these models and it listed all of the protoype tunnel motors as being equipped with the standard 88" nose, The later units being equipped with a brake wheel istead of a lever. Who is right here? Most of the GP-35's and 40's were equipped with the 81" nose. I could really use some input on this to clear up the confusion.

 

The 88 inch nose is correct for D&RGW's tunnel motors. Espee had SD40T-2's that were originally equipped for Locotrol Master/Remote service that had 118 inch noses to house the Locotrol equipment. Espee also had SD40T-2's with 88 inch noses.

 

From the UtahRails.net site.
D&RGW 5341-5373 (33 units) were fitted with the earlier 81-inch short hood and ratchet hand brake; D&RGW 5374-5413 (40 units) were fitted with the later 88-inch short hood and wheel hand brake. D&RGW 5357 was fitted with an 88-inch nose after wreck repairs in October 1979.

 

Thanks, That is the answer I was looking for. I had to wonder if the 88" nose was used with the wheel style brake. Time to get some Cannon parts from the hobby store. I did order a couple of undecs with the 88" nose The only part I am not looking forward to is installing a Details west Gyralight in the new hood.

 

Fellas,

The nose modification is not that bad. A couple of hours and man it looks good. You could also do the box with the light that the third order with 88" noses had. I am at work but seems like 5385 to 5395 had the box on the nose, check utahrail.net for exact numbers or I can post them when I get home.

 

Tunnel motors

The Espee had the light show in the nose on all the Tunnel motors SD40T-2 and SD45T-2. I did use the 88 inch nose model from Athearn and added the light housing to the nose. Like Grande Guy says it is only a couple of hours work and if doing it carefully adds the correct detail. Pilot plows are another required detail. This will require a long shank coupler on the front as well.
Go to John Barnhills site ncespee.railfan.net and go to the Rio Grand photo roster page. There is a photo of 5374 that has a great detail shot for the nose of a D&RGW tunnel motor.

 

7" in N Scale.............

Hemi,
I can't even see that without magnification, (and I'm not talkin' Bi-focals, dude!!) I won't be losing any sleep.

2slim

 

7" is 1.11125mm in N... and it's very noticeable as that extra length is directly in front of the handbrake.

 

I keep forgetting most of the Rio Grande fans here are N scalers!

Athearns first run of SD40T-2's in D&RGW are 81-inch nose but surely they will be running the latter 88-inch nose series in the near future. I'd expect an announcement soon.

 

Here are a few other things to keep in mind.
5386-5397 had an unusual mounting for the Gyralite light.
http://www.sd45.com/riogrande/pages/5393.htm
5398-5413 had silenced exhaust and late phase dymanic brake housing.
http://www.utahrails.net/gallery2/v...0_2_exhaust_silencer_top_down_on_600.jpg.html

 

Yeah if I was doing N scale I could get away with a lot more than I can with HO. N scale would really give me some cool scenery and 50 car coal trains. Not to mention #8 turnouts too!

 

Extended-range dynamic brakes... units without ERDB do not have the bulge (though the hatch is still diffferent account the exhaust silencer causing th grids to be relocated rearward)

There's a slew of other changes, all phase related... most visible to non-rivetcounters would probably be the welded vs bolted cab sides (black paint tends to highlight that detail better than other colors)

 

No doubt, scenery is a huge advantage in N. But if you had to buy 50 coal cars it would be expensive? I'm shooting for about 25 cars which should give a longish look in HO.

Regarding the box on the nose #5386-5397 units, I'm saving a couple of my old blue box tunnel motors to try that on. They would need some other upgrades to fit in with the new engines tho - see thru grills and roof fans for starters. Could use the chassis of the new ones to pop the shell onto to get the drive and fuel tank.

 

As noted above, DRGW had 81" and 88". And the SP, well, not quite... The first 14 8300s from 1974 (8300-8306 and 8350-8356) had 116" noses. The remaining units (8307-8341 and 8357-8391) had the arrangement of radio control equipment and toilet area modified which resulted in a longer 123" nose (same as the Santa Fe units). All of the Union Pacific R/C "snoot" SD40-2s also had/have 116" noses like the first SP's, but are yet another configuration of R/C gear inside the hood, unlike the SP 116" noses.

This, from over 200 hours of measuring and drawing I've personally done on many different SP and Rio Grande 40T-2s for scratch building my own 1/24 scale models... so I can guarantee the accuracy!

Mark

 

Hi, guys... thanks for the welcome. I'm just beginning to build some parts here and there, like fan grilles (each soldered together from 30 separate pieces of .010" wire, just like the prototype's 30 pieces of 1/4" round steel rod.) and some frame parts. I'll be starting on tooling and patterns soon for the HT-C trucks. They'll be investment-cast stainless steel, and hollow just like the prototype. I also plan on "dissecting" an actual D87 traction motor, making complete construction drawings for building my own 1/24 scale versions... identical inside and out. Crazy, I know. Should have something worth photographing by the middle of this coming year (still just parts and sub-assemblies then). My time is spread thin since I'm also researching/building for SD38-2,40/45 and SW1500 (all will be SP).

Mark