U30CB
This unit started out as a standard Atlas U30C, even painted for BN. I tried salvaging the paint job on the unit by taping over the printed warning labels and such, but that part of things didn't turn out as neat as I would have liked. A learning experience, to be sure.
I really don't know the history of this unit, all I found were a few photos. The unit looked interesting, but I didn't feel up to scratchbuilding the curved nose section just yet. I figured somebody must make a high hood for GE units, and after looking around for about six months, I finally found out who.
It turns out Hi-Tech Details makes one, and once I ordered it, the rest of the project didn't take long to fall together. After removing the cab and short hood sections, I assembled the high-nose kit and glued it on the walkway, then filled in the side walls with sheet styrene. The curved roof stumped me for a while, until one day when I sat there contemplating the unit.
Boiling Train Parts
Actually, I contemplated the unit while drinking a can of grape soda. I noticed the curvature of the can almost matched that of the roofline. I also knew sheet plastic became flexible when heated, and it would retain a new shape after cooling. If I use the can as a form, rubber band a piece of sheet styrene to it, and set it in a pot of almost boiling water for a few minutes, I should have something resembling the roof section I needed.
It actually came out a little bit less curved than I would have liked, but I could make it work, so I did. Some trimming and fitting, filing and matching later, I had a roof section that worked just right. I glued it in, and then wrapped it snugly with rubber bands till it dried.
Paint and Decals
Painting the unit became something of an experiment, as I did not have an airbrush at the time. I had determined that Meadow Green Rustoleum spray paint matched BN green pretty closely, if slightly to the blue side of things. Looks close enough for me, though. I ended up painting the unit while sitting on my apartment deck taking quick swipes with a spray paint can. Things turned out alright, it just took a long time, as I had a lot of concerns about "hosing" the unit with paint and then having to strip it again. After that, I rousted out a set of decals for BN diesels that I had on hand and decaled the unit.
Decoder
I installed a Digitrax D165AO decoder in the unit, because I didn't want to have to deal with more wiring running around in the shell than I already had. The decoder dropped into the existing mounts with no trouble at all and went right to work.
Running mate
The unit runs with another U30C I picked up on sale, just for this purpose. 5641, I believe. They are speed matched and will drag trains almost anywhere you'd want to drag a train. That is one thing I like about Atlas units, they have a lot of weight in them.
