John's Loco Workbench - More Projects Begin...

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The postman arrived earlier with a parcel, a cheap Blue Box GP40 I acquired off ebay from a charity who presumably have acquired a deceased persons estate for resale to raise funds.

I have to admit I was not expecting what I found inside the box:
20250322_183554.jpg


It's been detailed, painted, fitted with lifting rings, separate hand rail grabs, plough, the lot. There is even a crew in the cab.

There was a drive shaft part loose in the box so I lifted the lid and found that the chassis was another surprise:
20250322_184015.jpg


Remotored with a Masima motor no less.

Just needs a bit of tidying up (the state of the box suggests its been out of use for some considerable time) with number boards, refixing the motor which is currently loose and some tidying up of the truck sides.

It is ideal for a new project I have in mind when I move house...
 
The postman arrived earlier with a parcel, a cheap Blue Box GP40 I acquired off ebay from a charity who presumably have acquired a deceased persons estate for resale to raise funds.

I have to admit I was not expecting what I found inside the box:
View attachment 214960

It's been detailed, painted, fitted with lifting rings, separate hand rail grabs, plough, the lot. There is even a crew in the cab.

There was a drive shaft part loose in the box so I lifted the lid and found that the chassis was another surprise:
View attachment 214961

Remotored with a Masima motor no less.

Just needs a bit of tidying up (the state of the box suggests its been out of use for some considerable time) with number boards, refixing the motor which is currently loose and some tidying up of the truck sides.

It is ideal for a new project I have in mind when I move house...
I love getting those kind of surprises.
 


The postman arrived earlier with a parcel, a cheap Blue Box GP40 I acquired off ebay from a charity who presumably have acquired a deceased persons estate for resale to raise funds.

I have to admit I was not expecting what I found inside the box:
View attachment 214960

It's been detailed, painted, fitted with lifting rings, separate hand rail grabs, plough, the lot. There is even a crew in the cab.

There was a drive shaft part loose in the box so I lifted the lid and found that the chassis was another surprise:
View attachment 214961

Remotored with a Masima motor no less.

Just needs a bit of tidying up (the state of the box suggests its been out of use for some considerable time) with number boards, refixing the motor which is currently loose and some tidying up of the truck sides.

It is ideal for a new project I have in mind when I move

The postman arrived earlier with a parcel, a cheap Blue Box GP40 I acquired off ebay from a charity who presumably have acquired a deceased persons estate for resale to raise funds.

I have to admit I was not expecting what I found inside the box:
View attachment 214960

It's been detailed, painted, fitted with lifting rings, separate hand rail grabs, plough, the lot. There is even a crew in the cab.

There was a drive shaft part loose in the box so I lifted the lid and found that the chassis was another surprise:
View attachment 214961

Remotored with a Masima motor no less.

Just needs a bit of tidying up (the state of the box suggests its been out of use for some considerable time) with number boards, refixing the motor which is currently loose and some tidying up of the truck sides.

It is ideal for a new project I have in mind when I move house...
Got something similar for 40 bucks on ebay, an Espee locomotive, no masima motor, but same level of detail, found it labeled for parts of repair, only thing wrong was a drive shaft unhooked.
 
Whilst waiting for the primer to dry on SP 5010's handrails, CRIP 347 has received a little attention:
20250323_140115.jpg

Surprisingly given the excellent detailing job done on it, the side hood mounted bell was missing, fortunately I had one in stock. The number boards have been blackened and numerals applied, not quite right but close enough for now.
 
Whilst waiting for the primer to dry on SP 5010's handrails, CRIP 347 has received a little attention:
View attachment 215027
Surprisingly given the excellent detailing job done on it, the side hood mounted bell was missing, fortunately I had one in stock. The number boards have been blackened and numerals applied, not quite right but close enough for now.
I don’t know how much you know about the Rock, but a lot of what they did was “close enough”.
 


GP30 SP 5010 is finished and now looks a lot better than when it was first unearthed from the pile of demic wrecks I have accumulated:
20250327_003414.jpg

I kept its original number but did redo the number boards as the Proto 2000 factory version didn't look quite right to me.

I am moving house soon and all sorts of stored bits and bobs are being discovered.

Also from the pile now comes this untouched Athearn Blue Box UP tunnel motor with the classic yellow paper envelope of bits still sealed.
20250327_003428.jpg

Let's see what I can do with it...
 
The yellow tunnel motor has been unpacked and inspected:
20250327_181544.jpg


Definitely never been used, probably been sitting on a shelf for twenty plus years waiting for the call...
The chassis is as you would expect for a Blue Box:
20250327_182239.jpg

Hard wiring and eliminating the top metal strip is an option here.

Ah, the classic Blue Box little yellow paper envelope:
20250327_181546.jpg


Which contains all this lot:
20250327_182719.jpg


Curiously there are two sets of truck side frame parts, one in black, the other in silver. As they will be attached to the truck side frames when they get repainted grey, this won't be a problem.
20250327_182724.jpg
 
The SD40-2T is on hold, it needs to be renumbered to an ex DRGW example in order to avoid too much surgery on the lights which would have meant a full respray, therefore it is now stored awaiting parts

Attention therefore moves to the long delayed overhaul of my Atlas SP Alco RS-32, the original plan was just to change the lights to something more Espeerian but now I have decided on a complete respray so it has been taken apart:
20250330_133946.jpg


One area that needs major surgery is the utterly fictional dynamic brake part which fortunately is a separate piece and came off easily:
20250330_134000.jpg
 
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I decided to go the whole hog and do the grab irons on the RS-32 as well!!!
20250405_183059.jpg

20250405_183051.jpg


The parts that require only grey are done, such as the cab:
20250405_183038.jpg


The main body has had the red ends painted, masking and grey paint is next:
20250405_183102.jpg


Meanwhile, the postman has been again, delivering another casualty in need of resuscitation:
20250404_113846.jpg


This is another Proto 2000 GP30, and it is in a right old state! But I like a challenge...
 
Tempting but I have earmarked it for my fictional shortline's new branch line which will be opening when I move house in a couple of months time all being well.

Meanwhile, the RS-32 has finished painting, now mostly reassembled and waiting application of transfers:
20250406_111546.jpg


Whilst packing up the hobby shed for the move, I found this hiding:
20250406_093245.jpg

Picked it up on spec years ago and forgot all about it. It will feature at one end of the proposed new branch line plan.

Also I have to work out how I am going to pack up and shift this lot...
20250406_093302.jpg
 


Also I have to work out how I am going to pack up and shift this lot...
View attachment 215984
When I moved, I used a box or tote, placed a bath towel on the bottom. Wrapped each piece of rolling stock or engine in a household paper towel, placed them side by side in a layer, put down another bath towel on top of them, and repeated until the tote/box was full. Place another bath towel over the top, and close the box/tote.
 




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