B&O GP35 #3508 Joins The Fleet

Greetings All,

As seen in a previous post this recently purchased Athearn BB B&O GP35 from ebay has arrived at the NYCTL. The engine has been taken apart, cleaned up and is being tested with a B&O Athearn BB SDP40.

The GP35 was given to my youngest son, now a US Marine, who has been a BINO desul man since he was little. This framed report graces the walls of Terminal Yard.

Coming out of the shop the 3508 has received numberboards cut from a Microscale decal sheet and a spraying of Testor's Dullcote. I recommend applying the dullcote prior to painting the handrails so the metal is protected with a laquer.

The handrails are painted blue and yellow like the 1:1 B&O 3508

 I popped off the trucks and painted them with rattle can flat black. After cleaning the wheels I brush painted the wheel faces with burnt umber acrylic hobby paint. 

With the shell pretty much done I turned my attention to the drivetrain removing the Athearn metal strip and soldering a thin flexible wire in it's place.

Make sure the wire is flexible enough so the trucks swivel freely. While I was cleaning and prepping the parts for soldering I also cleaned the armature with an alcohol prep pad. For us DC guys that's pretty much all the electrical work that's needed to make this a very reliable running engine.

The B&O had a total of 41 GP35s according to this GP35 roster. The 3508 was part of their first batch of 20 built in March and April 1964 that were numbered 3500-3519. A second batch of 20 numbered 3540-3559 arrived on the B&O between July and September 1964. A lone GP35, #3581 arrived in December 1965.

The BB 3508 joins my son's expanding B&O fleet and is one of about a half dozen Athearn BB GP35s on the overall NYCTL roster.

Here it is with another Athearn BB B&O GP35 in Chessie System paint.

Over the years the Athearn BB GP35 has been referred to as a fat body or wide body as the long hood is wider than the prototype to accommodate the Athearn motor. 

On the NYCTL the Athearn BB GP35s have proven to be fine running engines. Their short wheel base works well on the small radius curves and their hood unit style gives them a modern look for a mid 1960s thru 1980s layouts. 

Thanks for reading!!!

See ya  Soon!!!