Up this round is an Atlas B23-7. Santa Fe had quite a few of these locomotives, so I found alot of pictures on the internet to work from. I chose this particular number since the prototype had an AC unit and AAR-B type trucks. I really like these trucks over the FB-2's. I knew this was going to be a bit more difficult of a detail job than the rest, mostly because the B23-7's have a rounded roof, which makes adding an AC unit a challenge. The first thing I did was change out the cab for one that has the 2 small windows covered up. Good thing I have quite a few other B23-7's and B30-7's to steal from! After studying alot of prototype pictures, I still wasn't sure how far down the AC unit sat on the roof, so I made an educated guess and started sanding the roof. I think I went a little too far, as I sanded down more flat area than just what the AC unit would sit on, although it seemed to look ok after I painted it. Atlas supplies sunshades with these locos, but they look like something other than a sunshade, so they came off, and correct one's went in. I also moved the horn up to the front, above the lights. The numberboards were a big challenge also, since Atlas decided to make the numberboard holes too small for the correct size numbers. Luckily, I keep my old BLMA detail sprues, and the one that the AC unit came on was the correct size to fill in the numberboard holes. So after cutting them to size and gluing them in, I painted them black and added some Shell Scale decal numbers.
Once the cab was finished, I moved down to the pilots, and hit another challenge. The GE style cut levers from BLMA are designed for the newer GE locos, so they were much too short to fit on the front. Well, I still wanted to have separate cut levers, so I cut the middle "C" out of the front one and glued it in above the coupler. I then added the rest of the cut levers at an angle down to the coupler pocket. Although there is a gap in them, it is hard to notice. With the rear, the cut lever is straight across instead of at an angle like the front, so I took the cut lever and "stretched" it out some so it would fit. And it just barely did. Once I painted all the detail parts, the loco got a blast of weathering chalk and was set aside untill I finished installing the decoder. The LED that comes with these locos is the older, not-so-bright kind, so I replaced the front LED with a super bright one. I also cut the rear of the circuit board off and mounted it upside down above the decoder so it would fit in. Once the decoder was speedmatched to the rest of the fleet, I put the shell back on and ran the loco around the layout.
Details added:
Renumbered using Micro Scale decals on the cab sides, and Shell Scale decals on the numberboards
BLMA MU hoses
BLMA cut levers
BLMA beacon stand, antenna stands and antennas
BLMA sunshades
BLMA AC unit
BLMA air hoses
BLMA windshield wipers
BLMA rear view mirrors
Sunrise Ent. snow plow
Atlas Bell
Relocaded Horn
Modified numberboards
Single side window cab from a B36-7
Changed trucks to AAR type B
Misc. painted parts
Digitrax DZ123 decoder
Z scale couplers
Weathered using chalks
Another superb locomotive ready for service on the Owens Valley Sub!
Stock
Detailed
Detailing in progress shot
Decoder install
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