SD38P Slug Mother
As I mentioned earlier, this was one of the easiest modifications I've done. A little bit here, a little bit there...not too long, and it was done. The locomotive came as you see it above, Conrail blue and white. Standard Atlas Silver series unit, but with a few defects, like the gap between the blower duct and the walkway, and the cab and the walkway. I'm surprised the unit left the factory in this shape, but this is what we have, so it is what we'll work with.
Research
When I first started the whole TEBUC6-SD38P project, I thought I'd have to get one of the SD38's that is out on the market and modify that. I found out that these units were actually rebuilt SD35's, which piqued my interest, as I like rebuilding unit too, and it would make sense to have a unique mother unit with the TEBUC6. Looking at photos online, I soon figured out that all they had done externally was replace the turbo hatch with an air filter box, mount some -38 series exhaust stacks, and removed the middle fan, plating over it and mounting the airhorn in the fan's former location. Not real hard...
Step 1: Take it apart
Parts, pieces, bits and junk, scattered around all over the place. Most of the shell components are heading for a bath in Scalecoat II paint stripper, while the chassis and drivetrain will be loaded with a DCC decoder and set to the side. I briefly flirted with the idea of installing a sound unit in this locomotive, but there just isn't much room, and if you get the Gold series, you get all you need already installed, and it is just a matter of flashing the chip with a new set of files for a GP38. Maybe I'll do another one in the future and do that with it.
