EMD GP30M

[Jon Grant 4472]

I am busy modelling a CSX GP30M (pre-slug) and I'm just wondering what the difference is between a GP30 and a GP30M

 

Thanks for any info

 

Jon

[stock_2007]

Hi Jon by the photos I've looked at it seems to be all internal changes between the GP30m and GP30 in saying that all the photos I've looked at were of ex Chessie or B&O locos and very early blue CSX B)

[Jon Grant 4472]

Thanks Bill.

 

It's actually your old Proto2000 GP30 in blue/grey that I'm doing, once the decoder arrives. Only Quantum revolution seems to do the correct soundchip for a turbocharged first generation engine.

 

Jon

[pH]

As Bill says, from this, this and this, it seems that all the changes were internal.

 

[Jon Grant 4472]

Here's a photo of the intended project.

 

I intend adding yellow ends, new road ##,and a sound decoder to this little puppy, in what was classified by railfans as CSX's 4th and a half scheme - ie, any previous CSX (or predecessor) paint scheme got yellow ends (or only one yellow end in some cases)

 

 

 

Jon

[Jon Grant 4472]

As Bill says, from this, this and this, it seems that all the changes were internal.

 

 

 

Thanks for the links Peter.

 

Looks like I'll be nombering it into the B&O series with the original 567 engine.

 

Jon

[Oldddudders]

Rebuilds of this era are a very difficult area. As has been said in one of those links - find a specific loco and copy it visually, and you can't be wrong. Options would have included an updated prime mover, but e.g. Santa Fe upgraded their GP30 fleet and squeezed an extra 250 hp out of the existing 567D. I think Missouri Pacific had made an industry out of "tuning" 567s in their earlier fleets by altering fuel rack settings etc., so it isn't uncommon. I suppose trucks might have been changed, too - Blomberg Ms replacing Blomberg Bs etc, - but the photos will be definite on that one.

 

Do tell us what you think of the QSI soundset, too, please.

[modelmaker87]

I am busy modelling a CSX GP30M (pre-slug) and I'm just wondering what the difference is between a GP30 and a GP30M

 

Thanks for any info

 

Jon

 

Jon, the 'M' stands for Modified. I doubt very much that you can detect any external differences. If you go further and turn your GP30 into a Road Slug, then there are a good number of external differences. I have a whole bunch of detail photos of CSX Road Slugs if you wanted to go that far.

 

Cheers, Tony

[JWB]

Agree with the above. "GPxxm" is a loosey-goosey term that was (I think) introduced by the former Extra 2200 South, which at one time was a leading-edge rail news sheet. When my former local hobby shop began carrying it, I stopped reading Trains, which would be 40 years ago or so. But it basically just means "modified", which of course can mean just about anything, especially considering how many railroads were changing things in their shops. To confuse things more, X2200S also had a "GPxxu" designation, meaning "upgraded". I think they got very theological about which locos were "u"s and which were "m"s, but this of course meant nothing. From a modeler's perspective, the issue, as the guys say above, is photos.

[Steph Dale]

I thought some locos were re-engined with 645 units to get rid of the turbochargers. In which case the exhaust system would need changing (maybe even to 'liberated' exhaust with four stacks). Thanks to the roof cowls/styling I'm not certain how visible this would be unless you've got a fairly high-level view of your chosen loco.

 

Oh, and you'd need a different sound decoder; the difference between a turbo 567 and conventionally-aspirated 645 is pretty obvious.

 

Steph

[alcoRS1]

I do not think the CSX GP30M had the prime mover changed from the 567, but were downgraded from 2250 hp to 2000 hp, also had electrics internally upgraded.

I found this YouTube of a guy starting a GP30M

 

 

same GP30M

 

 

prime mover is a 567 with a turbo

 

 

This GP30M was CSX 4204

[alcoRS1]

from looking at other CSX GP30M, the horns are wrong and the bell is mounted on the right side, could not find a picture of CSX 4229, but there are many other ex B&O chessie that you can get the idea.

 

CSX4228

 

CSX4330

 

CSX4227

 

CSX4233

 

 

found one

 

CSX4229

 

[stock_2007]

Hi again Jon I'm sure you will have seen it but the August Model Railroader has an article on modeling a SCL GP30 one or two nice detailing photos I'm still looking for something to swop your Alco it's a nice runner by the way can you think of anything your after?? B)

[Jon Grant 4472]

Thanks for the assistance. I'll be renumbering the loco, possibly to 4246 (if I still have enough number 4's on the decal sheet.

 

I already have a couple of QSI revolution decoders in my S1's and was really pleased with the ease of fitting and the ability to turn off the turbo sound (for S1 and S3) Here's a you tube video of the non turbo S1

 

alco S1

 

 

Jon

[CraigZ]

Jon, the 'M' stands for Modified. I doubt very much that you can detect any external differences. If you go further and turn your GP30 into a Road Slug, then there are a good number of external differences. I have a whole bunch of detail photos of CSX Road Slugs if you wanted to go that far.

 

Cheers, Tony

 

 

There is one difference between the model and the prototype - the distinctive Chessie mail slot battery box doors. Look at late Chessie and CSX ex-Chessie locomotives...nearly all of them have the mail slot and the 4229 indeed had them. Heck, the D&RGW SD50s were tagged on to a Chessie order and they have the mail slots. Cannon makes that part but I think it would be easier to modify the existing shell to make the slot rather than trying to remove the door from the shell.

 

 

[Jon Grant 4472]

Thanks Craig,

 

Silly question - were the slots on both sides of the locos?

 

Jon

[Oldddudders]

Silly question - were the slots on both sides of the locos?

Since I think these were ventilation slots, presumably to reduce build-up of gases from the battery, I assume every battery box would have them. Could some cunning painting be made to look like a slot?

[Jon Grant 4472]

Since I think these were ventilation slots, presumably to reduce build-up of gases from the battery, I assume every battery box would have them. Could some cunning painting be made to look like a slot?

 

I had a go a couple of weeks ago on the CSX GP38-2, using my trusty Tamiya plastic scraper. Needs more work on it - I was using a wobbly ruler - but passes the 'normal viewing distance' test.

 

 

Jon

[CraigZ]

Thanks Craig,

 

Silly question - were the slots on both sides of the locos?

 

Jon

 

Sorry for the late reply - have been down in Florida most of the week. But yes, they're on both sides.

 

Somewhere around here I have a detail photo I took of one of these battery boxes...sometime around 1983 or 1984. It's stenciled with something about don't service the batteries as they're some sort of trial battery. Lord only knows where that photo is now....

 

And the work on the GP38-2 captures it nicely...

 

 

 

[Jon Grant 4472]

Thanks Craig.

 

Can't say I've spotted any writing anywhere near the battery slots on the CSX paint jobs.

 

Jon

[CraigZ]

Thanks Craig.

 

Can't say I've spotted any writing anywhere near the battery slots on the CSX paint jobs.

 

Jon

 

Ooops...I left out one small detail - that was on a Chessie motor ...the year predated CSX liveries by a couple of years. Seaboard System paint was beginning to show in some numbers.

 

Here's a few of my photos only vaguely related to the topic at hand...the first is from 1987, that transitional era from Chessie/Seaboard System into CSX. It's Train Q470 (Hamlet NC to Rocky Mount NC) northbound on the old Atlantic Coast Line at Selma, NC with a typical doggie breakfast of power - a Chessie GP40-2, a Family Lines/SCL GP16, a Seaboard System U18B, another Family Lines GP16, and what looks to be a Western Rwy of Alabama GP40.

 

 

The second is from 1999 and is of one of a handful of Chessie-painted motors left on CSX coupled to an ex Chessie GP40-2. I like this one because of the old reporting marks coming through...at that point CSX was running the GP40s until they broke something expensive, at which point they'd retire the unit. For some reason many of the older GP40s never got the mail slots.

 

 

And this 1999 photo is of an ex RF&P GP40-2 - easy to pick out with no dynamic brakes.

 

 

 

And the original CSX paint scheme from August 1986 - applied to only 11 engines from May thru August 1986...frankly I rather liked it. Photo by Warren Calloway, my collection.

 

 

 

And then, my favorite transition era photo. In March 1987 a friend and I blundered into this rock train south of Apex, NC...grabbed a shot, turned around and drove at somewhat illegal speeds to the Haw River bridge at Moncure, NC...old US highway 1 parallels the railroad bridge nicely, yielding this photo. I had to speed as this was on the old Seaboard Air Line main line which was still rated for 60 mph for freights. I recall the train being a rattletrap collection of old coal hoppers loaded with ballast, banging and rattling and squeaking and leaving a trail of granite dust as it roared by. Darn nice train!

 

[Jon Gwinnett]

We went to Florida in 2003. As we came in to land at Miami, there was a loco, still in Chessie livery, shunting in one of the Lance Mindheim type industrial leads.

 

By then a Chessie unit must have been a rare beast?

[CraigZ]

We went to Florida in 2003. As we came in to land at Miami, there was a loco, still in Chessie livery, shunting in one of the Lance Mindheim type industrial leads.

 

By then a Chessie unit must have been a rare beast?

 

A very rare beast...when I shot that one in 1999 it was one of a dozen left. I chased it that day over to Durham, NC as it ran the Durham & Southern local out of Apex.

[Jon Gwinnett]

Good grief! I hadn't realised it was that unusual!

[modelmaker87]

There is one difference between the model and the prototype - the distinctive Chessie mail slot battery box doors. Look at late Chessie and CSX ex-Chessie locomotives...nearly all of them have the mail slot and the 4229 indeed had them. Heck, the D&RGW SD50s were tagged on to a Chessie order and they have the mail slots. Cannon makes that part but I think it would be easier to modify the existing shell to make the slot rather than trying to remove the door from the shell.

 

Whoaaa there Craig, Jon asked if there was any difference between a GP30 and a GP30M, NOT the difference between the prototype and the model. Sure a Chessie GP30 would have the slits in the battery box covers. Thus a Chessie GP30 modified to a GP30M would still have those slits. Thus there would be no external differences between a GP30 and a GP30M.

 

Now the model, that's a whole different question which was never asked.

 

Craig, whilst on here chatting to you. You said last year that you would attend the Greensboro Prototype Modelers Meet this year. Its 24/25 September, hope to see you there, should be a good one. F.Y.I. http://www.rpmcarolinasgreensboro.org

 

Jon, aplologies for nicking your thread for that last note to Craig.

 

Cheers, Tony