# Southern Pacific GS-1 northern kitbash



## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

After many months I have finally finished my Southern Pacific GS-1 northern. Southern Pacific had 10 of these locos built in 1930. The GS-2's and beyond were the famous daylight locos like 4449. I want to thank Michael Glavin for the idea to do the GS-1 instead of a generic 4-8-4. The GS-1's had spoked drivers while the later GS locos had boxpok. This made the Aristo pacific or two Pacific's in this case a good starting point, which leads me to thank Rex Ammerman for doing the motor block build and the basic shell conversion. I did the loco detailing and the tender with a heavy kitbash to an Aristo vanderbuilt. It represents a S.P. 160-C series . I went with post 1946 lettering when they they went from Southern Pacific LInes to just Southern Pacific. Stan Cedarleaf did the decals. I still ended up with a bit of a generic loco but at least generic within S.P. What I found when trying to find photos is that the prototype locos had changes in their looks through their life. So,in working with an existing model it gave me some leeway in what I did and how much detail to do. 
The model is battery powered along with an Airwire G3 decoder and Phoenix P8 sound. All the electronics including a speaker enclosure are in the loco shell. I'm not fond of tender speakers. The tender holds a plug in battery and on off switch The top of the oil bunker is removeable for access. Still to come will be chuffing smoke as soon as I figure it out.
Anyway, here are a few photos.


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## Santafe 2343 (Jan 2, 2008)

*Looks fantastic Paul. I was wondering when you would get it finished. I really like what you did to the tender also It should pull real good also. We pulled 120 MDC hoppers with my one Santa Fe Northern s at one of the Kansas City shows on a module layout with no grades ! *


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice work Paul.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Paul,

Wow, I have been anxiously awaiting these photos and you sure don't disappoint.........Absolutely beautiful work !!

Also have to say your private car is extraordinary. You're like a good wine.....the older you get, the better you get!


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Paul

Excellent kit bash. Rex can work magic with drive units. I like it a lot.


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks really nice Paul

Tommy
Rio Gracie


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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

that is sharp Paul


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Nice PV Diner..! Thanx Paul...


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## Reg Stocking (Sep 29, 2010)

It's a very nice job. Actually the GS-1s were built by Baldwin in 1930. They amounted to a late-1920s Mountain with a bigger firebox and could haul heavier trains than Mountains and Pacifics, thereby allowing running one longer train rather than having to operate two sections. They were used originally on Oakland-Portland and Sunset Route passenger runs. Lima built the GS-2s, delivered in early 1937, to nearly identical specifications plus streamlining to haul the twelve-car streamliner Daylight between San Francisco and Los Angeles without a helper over the Cuesta grade between San Luis Obispo and San Miguel. Then came the GS-3s with 80" drivers and Daylights of up to 22 cars which required helpers up the hill.

Good show!


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

You are right, it was 1930. Just went back and checked my June 1995 Mainline modeler that has a good article and drawings of the GS-1's. It is still available online as a back issue. It does say 1930, I just remembered it wrong. Guess I better go back and edit.


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

The private business car in the photos is another kitbash. Basically an Aristo heavyweight diner with an observation end. I like the windows on the diner much better than the observation windows. 
The marker lights are from Tomar with led lights, a 9 volt battery and a simple on/off switch.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Your last two photos of the observation deck remind me of the movie "Double Indemnity" where Fred MacMurray jumps from the car near the old Glendale station to simulate the "suicide" of Barbara Stanwick's husband.


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Gary,
I never saw it. The brass rail is painted with some Floquil brass that I have had since the 1960's. They don't make paint like that anymore!


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## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

Paul,

As always, you do beautiful work.

How much does the Loco itself weigh?

-Ted


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Ted,
The locomotive weighs roughly 13lbs. There are three lead weights in it. I was very tempted to remove one and reduce the weight by a couple pounds but will wait until I see what kind of pulling power it has. The tender has all ball bearing wheels, so no drag with it.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Absolutely gorgeous, Paul... It's always so nice to see such modeling skills produce such wonderful pieces..


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Stan. Must be those great looking decals!


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## Scott (Jan 29, 2008)

Very good craftsmanship on display.


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Beautiful work Paul! I have enjoyed the modeling you have done. Your work is inspiring. I also enjoy your track side details. Well done.


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

I just thought of something I meant to ask earlier. The dynamo casting from Aristo's Pacific is not very good. What I would like is one from the Aristo 2-8-0 for my northern. If anyone has one or might know someone who does, I sure would like to purchase it.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Paul Burch said:


> I just thought of something I meant to ask earlier. The dynamo casting from Aristo's Pacific is not very good. What I would like is one from the Aristo 2-8-0 for my northern. If anyone has one or might know someone who does, I sure would like to purchase it.


Paul,

Are you referring to the "generator"? Trackside Details makes some nice generators. Although most are 1/20.3 or 1/22.5, you probably would not be able to tell the difference because they are so small. Just a thought.


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Gary,
Yes the generator. I have looked at some others but they are all too big. I know its a long shot to find one, but there might just be one out there on a damaged shell.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Paul,

Just a suggestion, but..........Accucraft shows two generators (in brass!) on the eStore. One is 1/32 and shows out of stock. You could probably call Cliff and see what he can do for you. Price shown is $16.

There is also another one for the 1:20.3 Climax. Also in brass and is In Stock. Price is $24. Cliff can probably tell you the actual size of the model. I know my 1.5 inch scale Pyle National generator made by Francis Moseley is about 16-18 scale inches long. Because of the cost of molds, I would bet that the Climax generator is the same for both 1/32 and 1/20.3. Worth a try.


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Gary,
I did buy the Accucraft air pumps that they used on the 1/32 2-10-2. Beautiful detailed casting and looks good on my 4-8-4. The generator that is sold out would have been perfect, but I doubt they will get more. I will contact Cliff at some point. I did have a good talk with him at the convention.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Hello Paul,
A very nice looking engine. I would love to see what you did inside, or is that a secret? Also, what size battery did you use? I presume by looking at the engine you have enough traction not to be concerned with the battery weight/drag in the tender.
The private car looks really good as well, I think maybe it's time I had my own private car.
Thanks for posting your work, quite inspiring to say the least.
Cheers.


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Harvey,
Here are a couple background photos. The first is my kitbashed tender on the right with a stock Aristo vanderbilt tender.










The next photos show the interior of the loco. Airwire G3 decoder, Phoenix P8, and fully enclosed speaker. A smoke unit is yet to be added. I need to do some experimenting and bench testing first.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Thanks for doing this Paul, I like the speaker installation and it appears you've kept the original locomotive weights. Comparing the two tenders I think we get a better appreciation of what changes you made.
Well done, it looks great.
Cheers,
Harvey.


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Harvey,
Here are a couple more that show the tender loco connection and tender interior. The loco tender connection is actually made in the tender as shown in first two photos. The tender wheels are ballbearing for less drag. I normally use a single 5200mah lion battery on a plug, but can use two if I want.


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

WOW, you did an excellent job with your GS-1 Paul.......

Considerable bashing on the tender, did you substitute the wheel-axle sets and or lower the trucks too?

Is that a two speaker push-pull speaker tube in the belly of your beast? 

I think I have a generator that will work for you, I'll have mine the workshop.

Michael


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice work.. Great looking pc. of power equip.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

HI Paul:
Is that very tiny battery what powers the loco? 

I am considering going battery for my electrics, so that they are compatible with my live steam locos and I thought that you needed a lot more space for on board batteries.
Or are they the new dangerous species of Batteries? The ones that can blow up.
I want to stay away from those unfortunatly...


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Most of the batteries that I now use are the very common 5200mah li-ion 14.8v packs. They are all protected with the built in pcb board. I have never had a problem.


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Great job Paul, very nice. Your GRR is holding up very well to, how old is it now?


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Marty,
The railroad is now 11 1/2 years old and going strong. It is still a constant learning process on what works and what doesn't when dealing with mother nature.


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