Oh no! It's the dreaded Life Like/Walthers Proto GP38-2! Why these locos were bagged on and made fun of, I just don't know. Minus a few things that are pretty much non noticeable, they are as good as my other manufacturer's locomotives in both looks and operation, and they are a unique model at that. Now on to the important stuff...
Santa Fe aquired 11 GP38-2's from the TP&W, and they all came without Dynamic Brake units and all had the shorter fuel tank. I found quite a few pictures of these units on the 'net to reference to while I worked, and one good picture of #2380. I started with the normal stuff on the pilots, MU hoses, air lines, cut levers, and in the front, I used the stock plow with the HUGE grabs filed down some. Then came some Z scale couplers and the sill/pilot was put to the side. The stock number, #3570 was correct for this unit up till about 84/85 when all 11 Geep 38-2's were renumbered. First thing I did was erase the cab numbers with an eraser and blacked out the numberboards with paint. On the rear, I painted over the numberboards with SF yellow, like the prototype. New numbers on the cab side and in the numberboards, and that task was completed. On to the cab roof, I added an AC unit, antenna stand with antenna, and mounted the horn up front, above the lights. One thing that stood out in the picture of #2380 was the addition of a pedestal were the flashing beacon went. So that was another item to add to the roof. Along with some sunshades and rearview mirrors, that pretty much completed the project. As with the GP60, Life Like has the windshield wipers molded on to the glass inserts and painted, which is a nice touch. I had already added the decoder previously, so all that was left to do was paint the parts and weather the loco.
Another great running loco ready for service on the OVS.
Stock
Detailed
Detailing in progress...
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