Bachmann GG1

[jwb]

I avoided the Broadway Limited GG1 and haven't looked at the MTH version. I have a Rivarossi stashed away someplace waiting for decals, but I don't think it will ever be anything but a static model in a motor storage facility. I also have a Lambert brass one that I haven't even test run and will be a bear to paint if I ever get around to it. However the introductory discount prices on the Bachmann version were something I couldn't resist, and I ordered one in the single-stripe. This was a feature of my earliest railfanning days, as I was younger than 10 when they started repainting them from the 5-stripe. I saw them growing up in NJ and then rode behind them when I got older, eventually commuting the whole length of the NEC back and forth to college. I especially remember them accelerating southbound out of Newark, although I think the AEM-7s were even quicker.

The first thing I did when I got it out of the box was take off the body (4 screws over the power trucks) and spray the chassis with a mixture of Floquil Rust (last of my last bottle, I'm afraid) and flat finish:

   

(The masking pulled off some of the black paint on the frame, no biggie.)

The guts are easier to get to than on the E33 (GEC/Chris, do you know how to get the body off those? @#$%%&!!!) Here is the DCC plug and a switch for the catenary pickup:

   

One thing I'm finding harder than I expected in installing DCC is that while the plugs are sorta standard (except some want 9-pin), but the places you can mount the decoder definitely aren't. Bachmann has left good room in the body/chassis here. I'm using a Digitrax with the short 8-pin adapter. It looks like it can just flap in the breeze.

   

Here are the LEDs lit with the body off. At least with the Digitrax (I don't know if this is a Bachmann or Digitrax feature, or whether this can be configured with CVs), the headlight is dim in reverse, full in forward:

   

And here it is, chassis weathered, body back on, headlight lit:

   

A comment on another site says the keystone lettering should be white instead of yellow. I've been checking color photos and so far have seen both PRR and border white, or PRR white and border yellow. Jury is still out as far as I'm concerned, but this is an easy fix with a decal if you want to do it. So far, it seems to run very well.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

I'm thinking about grabbing a few of these to cut them up into the "high intake" type. I'm hoping the plastic body shells make it easier. Though other manufacturers offer the GG1 in this paint scheme, these modifications look like they might not be so hard to do, especially if I can get good measurements.

The real question is if these can be made to run with the BLI and MTH GG1s.

[jonte]

That's a neat weathering job on those trucks/underframe, jwb.

Nicely blended and a good representation of dust, grime and rust.

Just hoping I can attain similar results when I'm let loose with my new airbrush!

jonte