An old shot from the archive.

The black GP-7 is an Atlas/Kato from the early 90's. I went to the model railway shop in Eastbourne and asked to see the 'new' Atlas GP-7. The running was outstanding, at £42 very expensive. I went home with the non dynamic brake version. The following week I went back and got the other one. Both were in Canadian National green. They were repainted using Humbrol Dirty Black. A tip from someone else was to open the tin and decant off the clear liquid from the top, then top up with some brand new thinners. The tin was then sealed and mixed by keeping it in your pocket all day. The paint was then brushed on, quickly, without trying to brush it out. The result is a very thin coat with a semi gloss finish. The imitation aluminium stripe is part of the Microscale decal set.

The Green GP-7 is a non powered dummy. Take an Athearn GP-7 and an Atlas/Kato body (Actually the hood, cab and glazing). Hack the hood and cab from the Athearn body, everything above the walkway has to go. I ditched the motor and trimmed the cast frame to narrow it down (As the Atlas/Kato hoods are scale width).

Once they fit, glue the hoods and walkways together. The Athearn handrails were refitted. The U shaped mouldings at the bottoms of the side stanchions were sliced off. Once in place the bottoms of the side stanchions were set into the plastic walkways with a hot soldering iron (A tip I learnt from assembling the grabs on a Slaters NER wooden coal hopper). At the time it was a cheap way of adding a second loco at a reasonable price. It was fun at the same time.