Empire Belt GP30s

Empire Belt GP30s
The EBRR GP30s round a curve on the Empire City Belt Line.

Thursday, December 13, 2018

PC EMD GP7 #5699

Greetings All,

 I recently undertook a very cool Penn Central GP7 #5699 project with a little help from a friend. In November 2018 fellow modeler and blogger John Bruce sent me a project box consisting of some really cool older engine shells that he modified and detailed.

One of those shells was an Athearn BB GP7 shell that John had modified by removing the horns and passenger boiler protrusions on the short hood. He then upgraded the shell by adding wire grab irons and prototypical stanchions. 

 Seeing the work John put into the shell I really wanted to do it justice and get it as close to a prototype Penn Central engine as I could. After doing some research I settled on building this PC 5699.

 Penn Central #5699 started out as New York Central 5699 that was built in March / April 1952. It was one of a few NYC engines that were equipped with dynamic brakes. Here's NYC 5699 in 1967.

 Here's my Penn Central 5699 just out of the N.Y.C.T.L. Shops
 The 5699 with newly painted and lettered PC 2189.
 Both units are old BB models. The GP30 is really old!!!
The 5699 comes into Terminal Yard pulling a bulkhead flat that I recently picked up at my L.H.S.. Note the stanchions and grab irons John added. I added the m.u. receptacle and all weather window to mimic the 1:1 PC 5699.  I need to find the bell that goes on the nose of the long hood!!! Anybody know where I can get them?
A close up of the short hood. I added the panel where the boiler stacks used to be, NYC style horns and all weather windows as per the prototype. You can really appreciate the details John added in this photo. He even drilled out the signal line holes! 
I really like the way this engine turned out and look forward to seeing it in service on my layout.

 John's moved away from this sort of work but continues his fine modeling on a myriad of HO and N scale projects. I invite you to check in on his blog site regularly as it's filled with HO scale projects, N scale projects and prototypical photos and information. It's Model Railroad Miscellany!
Thanks John!!!

 Stay tuned as I'll be posting the finished Terminal Yard Engine Facility Additions tomorrow.
Followed up by the conclusion to P.C.C.M. 53 on Saturday.
Thanks for reading!!!! 
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10 comments:

  1. ATJOE1972December 13, 2018 at 7:53 AM

    Very nice looking PC GP7 project! You and John B. did a nice job on the various parts of the project. Nice touch with the prototypical NYC horns and cab window. Details West makes some nice bells. I’m working on a BN GP7 that needed a bell and a CN GP35 that needs a bell for the cab. I’ll look into your bell question. Another fine project from the Patti-O mechanical and paint shops. 😉

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    1. John R.December 13, 2018 at 8:26 AM

      Thanks Brian!!! John B did a great job with the shell and I'm happy to get it looking layout ready. Please let me know if you find that bell!!!! Thanks for looking into it!

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    2. ATJOE1972December 13, 2018 at 8:39 AM

      You’re welcome! The closest bell I could find from Details West was either BE-129 or BE-135. I went with BE-129 for my CN GP35. It has a similar cab mounting as 5699. Not perfect but close enough. I really can’t think of anyone else making that type of bell.

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    3. John R.December 13, 2018 at 9:26 AM

      Thanks Brian!! Next question is who actually has the bell in stock? I've run into some issues finding certain detail items in stock lately. Any leads you can provide would be much appreciated. Thanks again!

      Delete
    4. ATJOE1972December 13, 2018 at 11:31 AM

      I’ve been having good luck finding my details at Arrow Hobbies. Just did a big order with them in November. I had to get my BN GP7 bell from evil bay. No one else had it in stock. ☹️

      Delete
    5. John R.December 13, 2018 at 12:14 PM

      Thanks for the follow up Brian! Good luck on your projects!

      Delete
  2. John BruceDecember 13, 2018 at 10:47 AM

    The bell I use for this kind of thing is Custom Finishing 247-246, in stock at Walthers https://www.walthers.com/high-hood-mount-bell-gp7s-gp9s I have some projects that need this myself.

    Detail Associates has been running down for some time. Several of the original partners passed away -- I knew one of them, who was involved in several small model railroad businesses. Also, a lot of their casting work was done by Grandt Line, also now defunct.

    That GP7 looks very, very good! The PC black and simple paint really hide the wide hoods. I'm glad I've passed things on to you -- I don't think I'd done much on that one for 30 years, once better GPs came along, I lost interest. But you should be warned that while you may have a Purgatory Box, I have a Send to John R box that fills gradually until it's full enough to take to the post office!

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    Replies
    1. John R.December 13, 2018 at 12:28 PM

      Thanks for the link for locating the bell!!! This project has spurred on a new look at my two 'freelance' painted BB NYC GP7s that I added grab irons to. I'm seriously considering repainting them now and continuing with adding additional more prototypical details.

      Thanks for the info on Detail Associates / Grandt Line. Finding some of their products still available has been troublesome. Now I know why.

      Thank you so much for the compliments and your generosity!! Your 'Send to John R box' has become my 'Project Box' I hope to have a bigger item ready for service in the upcoming weeks.
      Thank you again!!!

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  3. PCRalphDecember 13, 2018 at 6:40 PM

    Great looking Geep! The combined efforts of John & John set this model up to eventually be a very nice rendition of the Penn Central unit!

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