I recently visited Maine and Vermont this summer. Doing some research about railways there, I stumbled upon a nice picture of a CV GP9 still sporting the old CNR green & gold paint scheme from the 1950s as late as 1978. It gave me the idea to model one based on this photo from cnrphotos.com:



Since I didn't want to spend too much money on the project, I purchased a Bachmann GP9. I've used this model for kitbashing a few years ago and liked its sturdiness. Not the best model on the market, but definitely an honest foundation.

I had to make several modification to the shell since Bachmann GP9 is a Phase II model while CV GP9 #4450 was of a later design with a smaller fuel tank and different skirting. Some louvers had to be removed. New ones by Archer will be added prior to painting. I also had on hands a few Cannon & Company EMD 36" fans from a previous bash. I thought it would look better than keeping the quite shallow cast on details. I also added new horns, bell, winter hatch, sinclair antenna, sunshade, lift rings, air and mu hoses and grabirons. Didn't cost a lot because I had all these details in my part box.

I know I could have used an Athearn Genesis, a Proto 2000 or even an Atlas locomotive, but since these locomotives aren't cheap and most would need to remove a lot of factory details, I felt it would be more fun to improve a less than perfect model. Maybe I'm crazy, but I kind of like to work with cheaper model. Doing something nice with my own hands is more satisfying than just buying stuff.

And now, some pictures... 













Matt

Very nice work. Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

Tom