I followed the build of 5126 to help me build a few NS SD40-2s. When I heard you "left trains" lol I saved all the videos , thankfully you continued on here . Always enjoy your work and like myself there's not really a lot of us left that love cutting into a loco to make it right. As always, much appreciated you share your work with us.
I'm glad you liked the video. I'm glad you found the old series about 5126 helpful in your NS modeling. By the way, that bit about me "leaving trains" was complete nonsense. My former partner should know better. Anyway, I'm glad you found me here on my channel. Thanks for watching!
My hat is off to you, Dan. That's an incredible amount of work and very well done! More power to you guys who turn those old models into artwork. I can't go there.
I'm glad you liked the model. I have a couple more blue box SD40-2s that I've worked on, and one more that I want to redo, since I've improved a lot since I worked on it the first time. Thanks for watching!
Beautiful detailed and running model. Id like to mention the horn sound you have programmed on 5111 is of a Leslie RS5T or S5T. The physical horn detail you have on the model is an S3L.
I may have to revisit that. This one has an older LokSound Select in it, and I don't remember off the top of my head what the choices were. Thanks for the info and for watching!
Dan, Absolutely! That model stands the test of time. I also remember seeing the TSG build of the 5126. It is nice to still see people "MODEL" in Model Railroading
I'm glad you liked the model. Maybe I'll do a video like this about 5126 sometime. People seem to be enjoying these and I have a lot more models I can show. Thanks for watching!
It's a really great model, I do agree that the more busy roofs look great on models, the AC unit in front of the antenna stands looks neat too. All in all I do like it when lower end models are given a second chance like that and are detailed up to be on par with modern offerings from manufacturers.
I'm glad you like the model. One of the things I liked about Santa Fe diesels was all the stuff on the roof. And they're not all the same, which is neat. My model of sister unit 5126 is slightly different. Thanks for watching!
The locomotive still looks great after all these years, Dan! I like the fact the etched metal steps and walkway tread is simply glued over the stock walkway on the Athearn shell! It might not make it look 100% prototypically accurate, but it doesn't sacrifice the structural integrity of the shell, which is always a bonus!
Yeah, removing the plastic steps would be a lot of work, and I agree that it would weaken the model. As much as I love detail, I tend to favor practicality. You can only see through the steps if you're looking straight down on the model anyway. I'm glad you like my efforts. Thanks for watching!
@Heavydieselloc1974 Yes!! I bought most of my Blue Box Conrail units back in the early 90s then I found Dan's video series and upgraded them, they are great runners!!!!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Definitely Dan, after watching your 25 part series back in the day with the upgrades you can!! Since then I've upgraded 6 SD40-2S and 7 GP40-2S, I still have enough walkways to build a few GP38-2S, I'm running out of cab signal boxes though for Conrail and Shapeway went belly up!!! I wonder if that pipe by the front windows on that SF unit could be the AC drain??
I'm glad you liked the video. I think either Details West or Detail Associates make the cab signal boxes for Conrail, so maybe look for one of those. It's unfortunate that Shapeways went under. I bought some stuff from them. Thanks for watching!
I'm currently custom building a Phase III SDP40F out of a bluebox and I gotta say they're some of the most slept on models out there. Just a little work can have an old bluebox looking like a Genesis model or better
They can be a good starting point for a project. I still have a couple more blue box models that I want to finish, or maybe I should say re-finish. They're models that I worked on a long time ago when I wasn't as good at it, so I'd like to improve them. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi Yeah I'm working on an SDP40F, but the tooling is wrong since it's an FP45. Radiator fan spacing and the exhaust stack mostly. It can be changed but I'm worried about messing it up if I replace them lol.
I personally like the song snoot sd40-2’s. I’m doing something similar with a life like GP38-2, which I converted to a GP38 and I messed the handrails up a bit but it’s good enough for me. Great video Dan, have a great day 👍
It's fun to do projects like this, even if they take time. It sounds like you had fun with your GP38 build. I'm glad you liked the video. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi It is the truth sir, your eye for detail exceeds what they put on their models. And that's hard to do. That's the top manufacturer for these models. Lol, they've bought out enough companies to make sure they are.
Nice work. I agree that leaving the molded on steps really helps durability, along with your metal handrails. Those two items are some of the most common failure points on the high detail plastic models we have nowadays especially when transporting them to other layouts
I've made brass handrails for a number of diesel models now and they've held up really well. It makes it worth the effort. I am glad I just glued the steps over the original steps, too. Even so, I have had those fall off on occasion (not necessarily this model, but I've done the same thing on a few of them). Thankfully I've managed to find most of them! Thanks for watching!
I remember your build of it and watched your videos of it religiously. It inspired me to do some detail work of my own and made me realize no commercial offering of the locomotive you want? No problem build it. I don’t know your reasoning for leaving the other channel( hence I won’t mention the name) but you made that channel worth watching and the content too. I’m pleased to see you with your own channel and the content is as good if not better than your original roots.
I'm glad you enjoyed that series. I talked a little about why I left the other channel in an episode of "Ask Dan & Nichole" back in 2020, I think (time flies), if you are curious. I'm glad you found me here and are enjoying the content. Thanks for watching!
Awesome show case! 😊 thanks to some of your build videos i got inspired to do my own custom builds from a blue box to a fully detailed model, though i should of started with a SD40-2 and not a gp38-2 😂
I'm glad you liked the video. I'm glad I could provide some inspiration. I've done a few GP38-2s also. Maybe I'll do a video about one of them in the future. Thanks for watching!
I was wondering what that was. I look at photos and see something that looks like a pipe, so I model it, but sometimes I'm not sure what the real thing does. Thanks for the info and for watching!
I'm glad you like the model. It is actually weathered, albeit very subtly. I can always add more, but I was going for the relatively clean appearance of the early to mid 1990s. Thanks for watching!
I modeled the engine as best as I could from photos, and this one did have the warbonnet a little farther forward than some others. When I did sister unit 5126, the warbonnet is in a slightly different spot. Thanks for watching!
I would have never noticed that. Wouldn’t bother me if it was mine. But i looked at pictures and the top of the blower housing is more yellow. I have to believe there was variations among the fleet and no 2 were identical.
Speaking from 60+ years in model railroading, Athearn Blue Box offerings, even with their shortcomings (Hi-F drive, no window glazing, etc.) were the models of choice - “World Class” (??) at that time.
Yes, I remember when the SD40-2 came out and it had a scale-width hood, no cast on grab irons, etc. It was a real step forward at the time. Thanks for watching!
Just like the cheap version of the foobie boxcar of the Western Pacific that is also released by Athearn, the Bluebox line is a good alternative for kitbashing. Due to the relatively low price, you can turn them into beautiful projects. If it goes wrong, it is not much to worry about because of the relatively low price. I also mainly use Bachmann's material to practice on.
Some of the blue box shells make a good basis for a detailing project, as the.basic tooling is good. It is fun to take a cheaper model and turn it into something really cool. Have fun with your projects! Thanks for watching!
More of a custom build that modified, wouldn’t you agree? I’m curious what all the bits and materials cost plus DCC and sound. The color and finish look fantastic. I would love to own that locomotive for my upcoming Southwest switching layout!
I didn't track the costs, and I did this one some years ago, but it's probably around $300. That's kind of my rule of thumb for projects like this. By the time you get the can motor, DCC sound decoder, speaker, lights, and all the detail parts it ends up being about the same cost as a new model from Athearn Genesis or ScaleTrains. I'm glad you liked the results. Thanks for watching!
Hey Dan. Thanks again for sharing. Well I see two thinks here : ONE. Yes an Athearn Blue box engine can be realistic... but with A LOT of work. That snoot nose is so pimped !!! I used to detailed engine 25 years ago. I was starting with Athearn Blue box engines. At the end, it was easier to start with a Kato or and Atlas engine because of the whole cost of the job. Blue box was then to my opinion for starters in the hobby. A way to get in at low cost. TWO. I like the fact you're showing ALL you've putted on that Santa Fe engine. But only real modelers who are doing jobs like that can understand what must be done to reach that kind of result. Engine is awesome. Very high value. But at what cost ? Hopefully, getting older, we now have super detailed engines on the market. We're now so far from Blue box. Great job again Dan.
I'm glad you liked the model. I agree that a Kato or Atlas is less work because the mechanism is already good, no need to replace the motor like I did with this one. I am not planning to buy any more blue box models, but I still have a couple more that I'd like to finish for sentimental reasons. I've basically come to the conclusion that the cost of a model like this is about the same as you'd pay for a new ScaleTrains unit with sound, by the time you factor in all the parts, decoder, motor, etc. Even if you get the engine itself cheap, it ends up taking a lot of time, money, and effort to build it into something that can compare with today's state of the art models. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi Hey Dan. You're damn right. Labour time has no value. Takes too long to do that kind of job compare to manufacturing production. Factory labour is a lot cheaper and they have all the tools to make thousands of engines or cars. But at the end, there's only one Santa Fe SD40-2 snoot nose like yours. It's a unique model. With all you've done on it, that engine is one of a kind. Not many modelers can get to that level of excellence you've reached. Even in my best years, I was not that good. Congrats.
I had to do a little research for this one. The best answer I found was that for SD45s, SD45Bs, and F45s, it meant that the locomotive was sold to Morrison-Knudsen and then leased back to Santa Fe. On other engines, like the SD40-2, it meant that Santa Fe still owned the locomotives, but they were covered by an MK maintenance agreement. That kind of follows my own observations, with some of the F45s especially ending up as lease units, while most of the SD40-2s lasted into the BNSF era. Thanks for watching!
I'm glad you liked the model. The Cannon cab I used comes with clear glazing for the windows and number boards. I usually apply decals to the back of the number board glazing, so that they have the appearance of numbers behind glass. I mounted one 603 sized warm white LED behind each number board to light them. Thanks for watching!
As Dan mentioned, much of the structural integrity of the Athearn shell has remained in place (steps, walkways, etc) with the etched metal parts simply glued over them. That REALLY helps in keeping the strength and structural soundness of the Athearn shell intact, even though it gives up a little bit of prototype accuracy! But if you ask me, I'll take durability and lower blood pressure over prototype accuracy any day of the week!
In some ways maybe, though I still handle the models I've built very carefully. The brass handrails are very durable. I try to use parts that have some kind of mounting pin rather than something just glued on. That really helps. That's one of the reasons I use brass sunshades, as the plastic ones tend to fall off if you look at them cross eyed. I do occasionally have to re-glue something that falls off, but these have held up pretty well over the years. Thanks for watching!
I have two blue box diesels left that need work, so that might happen sometime in the future. I'd like to finish the consist build first. Thanks for watching!
I remember watching the series on 5126. I wrote down and then sourced most of the parts you used and put them with an SD40-2 and then never touched it again, lol.
I can relate. I have a bunch of project models that have been sitting on the shelf for years now, along with a ton of parts. It'll still be there if you feel like working on it sometime. Thanks for watching!
Could the conduit under the number boards be an electrical conduit for the headlights coming down from the original headlight position like the air line to the new horn placement from the original horn placement?
Dan, with all that said.....what would you estimate the total overall cost of this engine would amount to? With lets say an original cost of $20-$25 for an Athearn Bluebox powered undecorated SD40-2 engine. Then with all the decoration; details and modifications, plus man hours aloted. Of course we're going to blowoff the cost of tools and paint? Cause thats just going to blow us out of the ballpark. 😄 Whats a ballpark figure?
Someone else asked about this, too. I did this locomotive years ago and I didn't really keep track, but I have a rough rule of thumb that projects like this, with all the modifications I made, end up costing around $300, give or take. By the time you add in the sound decoder, can motor, speaker, lights, replacement wheels, and all the Cannon and other detail parts, decals, and paint, that's about where it ends up. And that's not counting labor, which runs to dozens of hours at least (I didn't really track that either). To me it's about enjoying the process and seeing how far I can take an old model, but from a cost perspective it probably doesn't make sense. On the plus side, by doing it yourself you can tailor the details to a specific unit at a specific time. Thanks for watching!
Probably because I was concerned about it interfering with the couplers. The draft gear boxes are wider than scale, so if you want to mount the air hose in the right spot, it's super close. Thanks for watching!
Looks realistic to me. The old Athearn units were okay. The captured the overall look of the prototype (they look better than the current Bachmann offerings to me) despite not being finely detailed. They were durable, affordable, and easily customizable. In some cases a few minor additions and some weathering went a long way. I recall a fairly recent example of an old U33C painted and detailed to represent a C30-7 and even though the model was completely "wrong" (kind of close but there are differences between the C30-7 vs. U33C) it made for a pretty convincing model at least at a casual glance.
I'm glad you like the model. I've made a few engines like this out of older Athearn models. I still have a couple more that I want to redo. Some of the blue box models have decent tooling so they can be a good base for detailing. Thanks for watching!
@user-lq4mo8dw1p A fellow Trucker here and also a Train nut, over the last 20 years of Trucking I've kept a journal with me and noted all the factories and industrial parks that had rail service so when I retire and build a 80s Conrail layout I'll have plenty of references for the different online customers I want to add!!!
Simple answer: Yes, but it takes time, research, and money. I prefer rebuilding for two reasons: first, because I am trying to reduce my purchases of Chinese-made products, and second, because I believe in the philosophy that if you own an engine, it is your duty to keep it running, even if you put it aside for display.
Exactly my philosophy.If you already have a loco, esprcially a Athearn in good order, it is better toput some extra money, time etc, into an already existing loco that you own, instead of saying,it would have cost that much for a ST model, but instead you have rejuvinated a loco that would have likely not even have been put on the layout. It is a little like putting sound decoders in existing locos that you already own rather than buying sound equipped locos. Cheers Michael NZ
There are some advantages to building a model yourself, as you can make it as accurate as you want, and detail it for a specific time period. Even in today's world where we can get models with unit-specific detail, there are sometime things that aren't quite right for a certain time. Locomotives aren't static things, after all, they get worked on and the appearance can change in subtle ways. Though I also have a lot of modern offerings from ScaleTrains and Athearn, I still enjoy building my own models too. Thanks for watching!
Appears to be Athearn in name only, with all the add-ons and substitutions... It's a good runner. Did you do anything major to the power train? Athearns are notoriously noisy and jerky.
This model has an A-Line (Mashima) can motor, and nickel silver wheels. The other drive train components are stock, though I did spend some time tuning them by adding thrust washers to reduce play in the worms, using new gears, etc. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi Thanks for the update. I discovered shimming the worms helped quite a bit when attempting to do the same with Atlas Yellow Box, locos, too. Downside of those is cracking axle gears, with no replacements that I can find. There may be some at NWSL, but I haven't located any.
I have been experimenting with titles to generate more views. I'm sorry you don't like it, but I need to be able to grow the channel to make it worthwhile to me. The content is still the same. Thanks for watching!
