GEC's roster thread

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Late Era Conrail Equipment

This is the remainder of my current Conrail roster. These locomotives all were either delivered during the later half of Conrail's existence, or represent their appearance in the last days. By now, much of the "classic" power is gone, but the big impressive Wide cabs and GE Dash-8s begin to appear.

First up

Conrail C32-8 "Ballast Express" #6614

Genera Electric's C32-8 represents the First of GE's "DASH-8" line of locomotives, and were the harbinger of GE's eventual over throw of EMD as the nation's top locomotive producer. Only 10 were built as pre-production test beds for the DASH-8 technology, all for Conrail. Delivered in 1986, these 12 cylinder 3,150 HP locomotives featured all sorts of microprocessor controls and other hi-tech gadgetry meant to make these engines more efficient. However, as is the case with most "new" designs, the C32-8s were failures. They were incredibly unreliable, with blown engines, oil leaks, and a particularly vulnerable electronic system (I was told the wires were made of aluminum as opposed to copper, and as a result would corrode or break easily). Crews hated these locomotives. In one photo, a crew member wrote "Nice piece of JUNK" in the grime (see it here- <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/ge/8c32/cr6612tankbe.jpg">http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/ge/8c32/cr6612tankbe.jpg</a><!-- m --> ). Because they were so unreliable even when new, they were often neglected in favor of keeping "better" engines on the road. As a result, they were seldom repaired, and i don't think they were ever over hauled.

Despite their unreliable reputation, a few of these locomotives were loaned to the Southern Pacific. They retained their Conrail livery, but featured a red "L" on the side to show their leased status. all the units that were leased to SP were returned.

In the twilight years of Conrail, all the C32-8s were repainted into the gray and black "Ballast Express" Scheme, but once again, were not rebuilt or over hauled. the "new" paint did not last long, and most were covered in oil not a few weeks after leaving the paint shop. At this time, Conrail was about a year away from the NS/CSX split of Conrail. Despite their "Ballast Express" markings, you could still often find these GEs pulling regular freight trains just as they did before. Most were scrapped not long into their careers with NS or CSX. At least one went to Brazil. Another ran a little while longer on an industrial line in Georgia before being scrapped. None are known to exist in the US anymore.

Railfans on the other hand have always liked the odd ball locomotives. Though considered quite ugly due to their "hump backed" appearance, the units had character that earned them popularity.

My model is a Heavily modified Rail Power Products shell, and is in the final stages of completion. The only thing left for me to do is to finish superdetailing the frame (including air tanks, piping, rigging, brake chains), and to add lights. She should then be ready to hit the road, hopefully more reliable than the real thing! If anyone wants to make one of these engines, the two things they must do is add the right-sided hand brake, and replace the cast radiator screens with detail Associates photo etched parts. Other than that, the Rail power parts should be a good match!



Conrail GP38 #7868 "Conrail Philadelphia Division"

#7868 was a former Penn Central GP38. It was repainted with a "Conrail Philadelphia Division Safety" logo sometime in the early 90s and was on display at Steam Town for a while. a former Reading SW1001 also got a similar paint job. I wish i knew what the occasion was about, but i haven't found any details yet. This unit kept it's paint scheme until Norfolk Southern rebuilt the unit in recent years.

As a model, it is one of my earliest locomotives, and until i started to be able to afford nice Atlas engines, was one of my primary locomotives. Unfortunately, there appears to be something up with it's motor, and it hasn't run right ever since i installed DCC in it. I've discussed it with others, and we suspect the motor has a loose winding in it.

It was also one of my earliest super detailing attempts, and these days the engine is looking as beat up as the prototype did at the end of Conrail! The model was part of a Special edition that came with a GP38-2 and an SW1000 painted to match the real GP38 and SW1001. While i do own the athearn #9402, i don't typically count it in my rosters, not only because its a dummy, but because Conrail didn't even own an SW1000. I've considered kitbashing it into an SW1001, but i haven't drawn up and detailed plans yet. If i ever do, it will appear on the roster here.

the GP38 model itself had to be "downgraded" from the Dash-2 version, which meant covering the "sight glass" on the side, among other things. In the future, I hope to really repaint the hand rails, and upgrade the pilot details. Nothing is stopping me from adding number boards, i ought do that. It needs some general repairs anyway.



Conrail GP40-2 #3401

Conrail began painting engines in its "Conrail Quality" scheme sometime in the early 90s, or late 80s. #3401 in particular started out as a Conrail locomotive, being one of the very last units of the very last batch of Conrail GP40-2s. The protoype was considered an "Phase III" unit. It has many interesting features, such as "bug eyed" commuter style marker lights on the nose, recessed red markers on the rear hood, and a different arrangement of electrical boxes behind the cab. At some point, however, these markers were replaced with the regular sort, and some of the boxes behind the cab were changed again.

This model represents a typical Conrail switcher in it's later days. Its actually a "new" model. I bought it several years ago, but like the GP38 above, this Athearn RTR hasn't been able to run as well as I'd like it to, but as soon as i work the kinks out, its definitely going to be a target for some weathering, if not a major detail overhaul. The pilot "hole" has got to go! I just need to find some other recent photos of it that AREN'T grainy.



Thats it for tonight, more tommorow!