Big Blue has inspired some purchases
New day....  new..... challenges....  (my preference instead of the word.... "PROBLEMS").  I still haven't done the touchup painting, so excuse the temporary sloppiness.

Snowplow arrived today.  If you recall, the front pilot of this shell I bought (sometimes you really do get what you pay for...) had endured either heat or a drop that resulted in permanent structural deformation.  It made finding the hole locations for the snowplow even trickier, but installing the plow would permanently obscure the front end damage, so it was imperative that I install the plow (all of the Conrail SD40-2's had one on the front).

   

Installing snowplows is always a bit of a challenge - you're trying to remain prototypical in terms of how high off the rails you want it to run (and still meet the quirks of a model railroad in which there may be much more drastic changes in track pitch than you'd ever encounter on a real railroad line.  You're also trying to locate the insert pins in an area of the pilot that's beefy enough to drill through and accept the snowplow.  You also have to consider the coupler movement and ability to install and remove the coupler once the shell's attached to the chassis.

The pilot on these old Blue Box Athearns allows for pulling the shell off the chassis without removing the coupler assembly, so there's a big portion of the pilot missing in the middle (hence the reinforcements on the inside of the pilot that I had to remove to allow the Intermountain chassis to fit.

Ground off the step on the base of the pilot with my Dremel because I knew the hole for the pin was going to be located right around the top of the step.  I then played around with the coupler pocket and located the hole on the left side pilot by taking a straight pin and establishing a starting point for my pin vise.  

   

The instructions from Details West call for a #55 drill bit (of which I have none).  The closest I had without going over was a #61, which after I drilled the holes I enlarged (by hand) with a Dremel variable diameter reamer bit and test fitting often.

   

Here's the rough draft.  I think once I get the plow painted it'll be easier to ignore the slight slant of the plow away from the engineer's side of the cab.

       

I think I may have a set of MU hoses in the inventory, so I might be able to drill the holes for those tomorrow.  Supposed to also get the decals in the mail in the AM.
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows
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nice save with the plow.
Jim
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Good job overcoming a bunch of annoying unrealized issues with this project. You definitely have more patience and creativity than me. By this point I might have chucked the shell against the wall.
Tom
Silence is golden but Duct tape is silver
Ridley Keystone & Mountain Railroad
My Rail Images Gallery
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It appeals to my inner desire to rescue the mutt - after all, I have my own large supply of imperfections. Doesn't always work out - example 1a is that brass RS2....
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows
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Last night I hit the plow with a coat of paint, tonight was number board install night.  Arial 8 point white numbers on a black background and printed onto some CD labels and then sliced to size with my Olfa knife.  I made about 10 of the number selected, and most of them were two attempts per board trying to get the right size of sticker.  Still haven't done my paint touchups.  Decals did come today - might get to them tomorrow night.  Starting to look like something.  As much as I like Alcos, I've also grown to like the angles and furrowed brow of the EMDs of this era.  The big porch SD40's also a pretty cool feature.  I bet the engineers at the time looked at this new Conrail power and thanked their lucky stars after their early struggles trying to keep the old fleets running.

       
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows
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Started decals on this unit this evening.  The Conrail "double rail" decal was really hard to put in place on the long side with the railing still in place.  Took me two attempts, but (fortunately) the second time was the charm.  I didn't really want to buy another decal sheet if I didn't have to.  As usual, I pre-coated the model where each decal was intended to go with Micro Set, and then periodically added coats of Micro Sol to get the decal to fold into the plastic crevasses.  You can see the drying Micro Sol laying around the number and "CONRAIL" decals in the photo.

   

In addition to the decals in the photo, I also added the "SD40-2" and "F" decals on this side.  I've also done most of the painting touchups.  Getting closer to getting this unit into circulation on the layout.  I ended up liking this blue a lot better than the original, so I'm actually quite glad to have repainted it.
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows
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Looking great Todd.  

I have better luck with the decals if I use plain distilled water, that allows me to slide them around to their proper position, then I use a Q tip to suck up the moisture. Then I use a brush and carefully apply the decal solvent in light coats (careful not to move the decal ) and let it do the job. It makes it much easier because the decals soften so easily. A little wrinkle in the decal flattens out as it sets. 

Charlie
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Yep, Charlie - I'm also a firm believer in sliding them on with a good amount of water and softening them.  My error was trying to side the whole decal while trying to fit the thing under the railing.  Because it was soft it ended up breaking in a couple of places and got irreparable.  Good "tip" on the Q-tip - I have plenty of those!

Decals are finito - here's a shot of the other side of the beast.

   

I'll probably wait for everything to dry and set up nicely before hitting it with a coat of Dullcote.  Still have to add some LEDs to the lighting harness - hope to get to that tomorrow since I'm off from work.
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows
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Did a little trial and error with the lighting harness and got front and rear LED lights installed in the beast and put her together for what I hope is the final time.  I also took Jim's recommendation and lopped off the bottom of the frame-to-chassis lugs leftover from the Athearn Blue Box attachment mechanisms (pin in hole).  The left side number box is not that bright, it's just the glare off of the overhead lighting.  I love the Intermountain drivetrain - smooth as silk.  This is the first representative of new Conrail power in the gorge.  Merry Christmas to all - this one's been a bit of a present to myself.

   
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows
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looks great and I think it still looks better without the mounting lugs.
Jim
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Sweet. Great job!
Tom
Silence is golden but Duct tape is silver
Ridley Keystone & Mountain Railroad
My Rail Images Gallery
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