12-19-2008, 12:52 PM
Josh, it is available in brass. I saw an ad in Model Railroader either this month or last month. I think Overland is making it. I think for plastic currently, it will be a scratchbuild rather than a kitbash. The long hood looks to be as low as a typical sw rather than the height of the conventional long hood on road switcher. It does look like the updated locomotive has a bit taller long hood than the original version show in the thumbnails at the bottom of your link. The short hood looks like it is shorter and has more angles to the front than any other locomotive I've ever seen. The short hood slopes to the front like a Gp20, but it also appears to be a 1/2 of a hexagon when viewed from the top straight down. I saw the prototype in operation on the Pacific Harbor Lines when I was still working before retirement. I think the wheel base is close to that of a Gp7 or 9 with Blomberg type "M" side frames like on the Athearn Gp38-2, 40-2, or 50. You might be able to find suitable doors for the long hood from Cannon, but they may need to be shortened a bit since Cannon makes their doors for the taller long hoods on typical gp and sd type locomotives. I think the cab will be a total scratch build. I don't think I've ever seen a cab like that on any other locomotive. If you do a scratch build of one starting with a suitable Athearn gp chassis, take lots of construction pictures, and contact the Model Railroad mags to see if they are interested in running an article on building one. If you don't want to go to all of the trouble of scratch building one of those locomotives, I would not be surprised to see one produced by one of the model manufacturers within the next year or two.
You can find more pics at the So Cal Railfan Forums <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.socalrailfan.com/forums/index.php">http://www.socalrailfan.com/forums/index.php</a><!-- m -->? You will need to register if you have never been to the site before, but they have a lot of pics of prototype railroad equipment from Southern California. The pics of the "Green Goat" and other Gensets will be in the shortline forum.
You can find more pics at the So Cal Railfan Forums <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.socalrailfan.com/forums/index.php">http://www.socalrailfan.com/forums/index.php</a><!-- m -->? You will need to register if you have never been to the site before, but they have a lot of pics of prototype railroad equipment from Southern California. The pics of the "Green Goat" and other Gensets will be in the shortline forum.