Converting a GM SW8 to a CFL Serie 800

[TT-Pete]

Having just spent a total of 6 weeks lying on my back bedbound in a hospital bed (mercifully not covid) and spending days staring at the ceiling, I have had ample time to engage in mental modelling, usually indulged in during boring meetings, but now given free reign; in my mind going through the pile of projects in the cupboard and sorting them into I really want to do, nice to have and meh, ebay awaits and how to go about them. I decided that the one I really most want to do first is creating a CFL Serie 800.

 

Now back home I’ve got at least 2 months of rehabilitation ahead of me hobbling around on crutches, so loads of available modelling time :^)

 

In the early 1950’s CFL was looking for a fleet of six 750hp diesel locos to replace various motley steam locos on heavy shunting and trip workings, particularly in the steel working region of the South. After the usual procurement argy-bargy CFL placed the order in 1952 with Anglo-Franco-Belge (AFB) a Belgian locomotive builder who had been granted the right to build GM locos under licence.

 

The loco to be delivered would be the then-current GM SW8 diesel electric Bo-Bo but adapted to European operating practice and loading gauge:

 

The 6 locos were delivered in 1954 and there is no denying their ancestry;

806 at Esch-Alzette in October 1977 (Groupement des Amis du Rail – GAR) www.gar.lu

 

No other railway company was interested in the design so the class of 6 locos remained as the sole example of a locomotive type totally unique to CFL, with the last example being withdrawn in 2007.

 

The donor loco is an Athearn product, picked up in the second-hand section of a model railway shop in Switzerland when I was staying with a friend (back when you could do such a thing) in 2015.

 

It’s actually an SW7 rather than a SW8 but the main differences between the two were the internal engine gubbins with the external differences being that it had 2 exhaust stacks (one of which is to be cut off anyway) and slightly different door louvres (which I can live with). At first glance it looks quite straightforward, removing detail like the exhaust, bell and headlight, adding buffers and changing couplings with the main challenge being the cab which will have to be re-constructed from scratch.

 

Now, where did I put my razorsaw?

 

[TT-Pete]

I was a bit concerned when I started working on the body as I had developed a random involuntary twitching in the thumb and first two fingers on both hands which is a bit disconcerting particularly when holding a craft knife. I put it down to not having used my hands for anything requiring more manual dexterity than ticking boxes on a menu selection form for 6 weeks, and with a bit of exercise it has now fortunately just about gone away.

 

The body has had all the redundant detail removed, holes filled with Squadron green putty, some Roco buffers of the right type fitted that I found in my spares box and a coat of primer.

 

Chassis next.

[Neils WRX]

I’ll follow this topic with interest, making a CFL 800 has been on my to do list for a while.

 

I do recall seeing a picture of one in HO scale ages ago.

 

Stay safe,

 

Neil

[TT-Pete]

Hi Neil,

 

Yes, I remember seeing a while back that there was a short run of specially-comissioned rtr etched-brass CFL 800's being produced by (if I recall right) MBS modellbahn in HO, but prices were stratospheric (by my cheapskate standards) so I wasn't interested. Can't seem to find the website for it any more though.

 

I've seen a few of the Athearn conversions over the years and they always looked ok to me, hope this remains of interest.

 

Cheers,

Peter.

[TT-Pete]

I had a slight relapse over easter,  but all ok now and back on track.

 

With the chassis broken down into the component parts everything gets a wash over with a meths-soaked cotton bud. Not much work needed other than clean and oil, and a little repair to the loose motor mountings, but it's mainly the couplings. What to use? My US stock have Kadee but all my HO stock have European-style "hook and loop",  so that's the way to go.

 

The coupling mounts on the cast zinc one-piece body frane have had the Kadee mounts removed with a  hacksaw and filed flat.

 

Looking through various boxes of bits I found some 1970's vintage Jouef couplings that only need a little bit of attention with pliers in order to fit and that have nice big brass retaining screws.

A blob of Araldite helps keep everthing firmly in place, but no NEM sockets here...

 

These old Athearn mechanisms may be clunky by modern standards, but they have solidity, weight and flywheels so that this one runs smoothly at low speeds and at full throttle growls along at a respectable top speed.

 

 

Gone is the ridiculous spring-loaded elecrical pickup strip between the two bogie pickups and the motor (return is via the chassis). Firstly the metal loses it's "springyness" over time and the contacts unclip by themselves. Secondly they rust if in a damp environment. Either case renders the loco inoperative. So I've soldered in a couple of wires across instead.

Body back on to check the coupling and buffer heights. Looking ok so far to me. :^)

Next up, the pigging cab. :^(
  

Edited April 13, 2021 by TT-Pete
Spelling.

[TT-Pete]

To be honest the cab has always been the reason for the length of time between "get all the bits together that you will need to start the project" and "actually start the project" has been measured in years. Every time I looked at the cab it was clear that the European dimensions are so far removed from the US that it will have to be totally rebuilt. It's taken me a while figuring out how to go about it.

Having got to work with a razorsaw the only salvage parts from the old cab are the side walls and a couple of pannier boxes, and even then they need chopping about with a 5mm wide strip being removed from the middle of the sides. An offcut of brass sheet found when rummaging needed minimal trimming for the roof section and I was looking forward to using my Metalsmith rolling bars on it. But I've lost them. Gone, disparu, verschwunden. I distinctly remember about 18 months ago thinking "They're heavy and bulky and I'm always tripping over them, so I'll just pop them at the back under here because then they're safely out of the way", but just where "at the back under here" is, now eludes me.

After fruitless searching backs and recesses of various cupboards and closets I gave up and went back to ye olde method of rolling on my thigh using a wooden pencil. I've not tried that in a while and it shows as I was a bit uneven with the pressure on the pencil and it has a slightly "corrugated" effect as a result. But as that was my last bit of brass sheet offcut, I'll just have to live with it.

I wasn't sure that polysterene cement solvent would react with the plastic as used by Athearn back in the day, but fortunately it does so I can cement plasticard sections with ease. The roof is fixed with Araldite expoxy resin.

 

The cab ends are cut from plasticard sheet and shaped to fit. I haven't cut the window apertures as I want to check that the cab sits square on the chassis first.

One side looks ok

Ah, but this side shows that I didn't get the brass completely square and the cab roof has a jaunty tipping of the cap. Hopefully I can file a bit of the roof edge off to reduce the slant.

 

[TT-Pete]

 

Even though they are a lttle bit different to the European dimensions I've retained the original Athearn window glazing and use them as templates for cutting new apertures in the cab ends.

 

But before fitting glazing - a trip to the paint shop. The problem is that historically CFL red-brown was not a standard RAL colour and was mixed on a as needed basis in the CFL workshops. Therefore there are variations as pigment proportions varied by batch, sometimes a lighter bauxite brown shade, other times a deeper chesnut "conker" colour. Also the colour varies a lot over time as it fades and is weathered, often ending up a nasty flat faded purple.

 

Obviously nobody produces CFL Red-Brown paint for the modeller and the nearest red-brown enamel I could find in the commercially-produced RAL spectrum is too brown. So a while back I decided to have a stab at mixing my own and using a selection of about 6 or 7 tins of various enamel red/red-brown/brown paints stirred them together in a series of tests. Each time noting the colour proportions and painting test strips that could be held up against colour photographs of CFL locos to try to get the closest shade. Once satisfied with a hue I scaled-up the quantities using plastic pipettes to be able fill 2 tinlets, which should hopefully see me out.

 

Getting there...

[Joseph_Pestell]

Hi Pete,

Hope that you are now recovering well.

An interesting project. Strange that no other railways took on some of these. But could be a good rule 1 choice for modellers.

[Johann Marsbar]

We did get hauled by one of those in the Bettembourg area on an ADL organised railtour of Luxembourg back in July 1996....

 

 

[TT-Pete]

2 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said:

We did get hauled by one of those in the Bettembourg area on an ADL organised railtour of Luxembourg back in July 1996....

 

Snap. :^)

Pictured at Bettembourg a few years earlier in 1986:

 

[TT-Pete]

3 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

Hi Pete,

Hope that you are now recovering well.

An interesting project. Strange that no other railways took on some of these. But could be a good rule 1 choice for modellers.

 

Hi Joseph,

 

Yes, I'm still gradually getting better thanks, just not as quickly as I'd like and I keep on pushing things a little bit too far and then subsequently paying the price... :^(

 

The effort and costs of the EMD SW8 re-design and tooling setup for a total of 6 locos can hardly have been a commercial success for AFB although they did try to market the design;
 

 

(Although quantity is no guarantee of profitability, AFB nearly bankrupted themselves with an ill-fated deal to provide 80 class WG 2-8-2 locos to Indian Railways in 1955.)

 

For this project though I've been more veering towards Rule 2: If it looks right, it is right. :^)

 

[Allegheny1600]

Hi Pete,

I’m enjoying your progress with this loco, you’re doing well.

 I was somewhat worried that you had used an Athearn loco with the ‘fat’ body to start with but it looks just right!

It’s amazing what a difference the Euro cab makes to the appearance of the loco. I believe I saw just one of these, possibly stored, on my one trip to Luxembourg from Belgium in around 2006 or 2007. It was lovely to see.

Cheers,

John

[TT-Pete]

Hi John,

Thanks. Yes, the Athearn loco body is perhaps a little bit chunky (a bit like mine) but when you see pictures of 800s next to Lotz et Brissoneau class 850s (as above)  their nose section is quite a bit higher on what is a shorter loco. Like you say the cab makes all the difference.

802, 804 and 806 were still on the books on January 1st 2007 so it might have been one of those you saw. 804 and 806 went in 2010 with 802 the last one in service being withdrawn in 2011.

Cheers,

Peter.

Edited April 30, 2021 by TT-Pete

[TT-Pete]

On 12/04/2021 at 19:59, Neils WRX said:

I do recall seeing a picture of one in HO scale ages ago.

 

Neil,

 

Aha. Found it again!

https://www.beneluxmodels.net/t1425-cfl-serie-800

 

Peter.

 

[TT-Pete]

And so to the transfers/decals.

 

Fortunately this job has been simplified for me as a chap in Luxembourg was selling these on the internet a few years back;

 

In fact it was the purchase of several of these waterslide transfer sheets that first gave me the idea for this project, although at the time I was only interested in the numbers and CFL logos and the "hmm, I wonder..." only set in once I'd received them. I believe they were originally created for the AMFL model club Athearn/etched brass conversion kit, but they fit my "bodge job" so my dimensions must be ok.

 

They go on really nicely with the assistance of Humbrol "DecalFix" that makes them supple so that they wrap around details and are finished off with a coat of RailMatch matt varnish from a rattle can. I was debating which road number to use, but after @Johann Marsbar pictures above - I give you 805...

 

 

 

 

So there we are. I am really happy with the end result and not being a rivet counter I can live with the various omissions and compromises I have made. I enjoyed making it and saved myself in the region of a thousand euros by not going RTR. Let me also just virtue signal my green credentials by pointing out that is  an exercise in upcycling and thereby reduces my overall modelling carbon footprint. The polar bears will thank me :^)  and that's now also one less project in the pile of boxes of locos awaiting repair and unfinished or flat-pack kits in the cupboard.

 

 

She fits into my CFL stud nicely and promises to be a really useful engine.

 

 

 

 

Post Scriptum. Oh, and the rolling bars? Whilst tracking down the box of rattle-can aerosols - there they were - lurking at the back of the bottom shelf behind boxes of miscellaneous modelling materials in the very first cupboard I looked in when first hunting for them. D'oh!

 

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by TT-Pete

[Allegheny1600]

Number 805 looks simply perfect to me, Bravo Sir!

In your group shot, she looks to be the exact same shade as the (Trix?) electric loco at the rear not that it matters as colours always change and fade over time anyway. They would look ‘wrong’ to me if they were all the same shade!

Cheers,

John

[Neils WRX]

Looks completely spot on to me. I wonder if those decals are still available ? 

 

A 800 would be a very suitable addition to my fleet as well.

 

Stay safe,

 

Neil

[TT-Pete]

Hi Neil,

 

I have contacted the seller and asked if they have any more, will send you a PM if I get a response.

 

Alternatively you could try contacting AMFL http://www.amfl.net/page/welcome or the Model Shop in Luxembourg https://modelshop.lu/index.php as they might know.

 

Cheers,

Peter

Edited May 5, 2021 by TT-Pete

[TT-Pete]

1 hour ago, Allegheny1600 said:

 

she looks to be the exact same shade as the (Trix?) electric loco at the rear not that it matters as colours always change and fade over time anyway.

 

Hi John,

 

I have always thought that the Roco colour is much darker than as I remember it, I was aiming for more this sort of shade:

 

 

 

 

 

But that's not to say you didn't see darker variations:

 

 

 

 

 

[Neils WRX]

There are quite a few colour variations amongst the CFL Models:

 

Both for red/brown and the yellows.

 

Just noticed the handrails on the sides of the Roco 851's are completely wrong as they have a extra bar which is missing on the prototype. Only picked this up as I noticed the ends by the footsteps had been painted yellow, and thought "that's a job I can do".

 

Sorry to go off topic. 

 

Stay safe,

 

Neil

Edited May 5, 2021 by Neils WRX

[TT-Pete]

Neil,

 

Nice! :^)