# Gmd-1



## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

I started building these three GMD-1's some time ago and they've been an on and off again project for number of months and while they are still a fill-in job I think I'm far enough along that I can share some of the progress. These will require the use of the A-1-A trucks that are in the other post under that title.
I have to confess I've made a number of mistakes along the way, some would say starting them was the biggest, but it's an evolution process for me anyway and hopefully the results turn out alright.
So here we go.....again.
This is a photo of the primary components.










Long hood assembly.


















More to come.
Cheers.


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## on30gn15 (May 23, 2009)

harvey said:


> but it's an evolution process for me anyway ...


 Add it to the adventures in model making category. And look at it this way, you will will have no regrets about not trying.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

No model is a failure if you enjoy the process. Enjoy and keep posting.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Thanks for the encouragement.
These are a couple more photographs of the cab development. I also found that I didn't have enough clearance for the battery so I cut an opening in the sole plate and lowered it by 0.125". This together with the angle of the hood top (12 degrees) gave enough clearance.




































This photo shows the initial sole plate layout and the cutout to allow additional clearance for the battery.










More to come.
Cheers.


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## on30gn15 (May 23, 2009)

Looks like it has potential for sliding cab side windows.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

(Looks like it has potential for sliding cab side windows.[/QUOTE])
Yes of course. 
I think I've decided to eventually connect the two hoods and the cab permanently, this will give them some additional rigidity. At the moment there is some flexing in the frame when assembled and joining all three components together should eliminate some of that. I also plan to insert a brass strip behind the sides of the sole plates once the hand rails are positioned, this will provide some additional stiffness. Thinking ahead to wiring, I think having a single component body will help when doing that part.
I still have a lot of work to do on the cabs before I can get to joining it all together. Yesterday I went over to the railway museum to have a look in the cab of NAR#302 (a GMD1). Unfortunately when in CN ownership they changed the brake valves, so the hunt is on now to find an original layout photograph. 
This shouldn't hold me up as I'll still have access through the cab roof when completed.
Cheers.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice neat work, good to use a square. Should be a fun adventure. You seem to have a good plan to work from.


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## Scott (Jan 29, 2008)

Very nice work Harvey, look forwards to the final result.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

These couple of photo's show the fuel tank development. There are a few details yet to add but this allows me to better layout the underside.


















Of course this is where the speaker will be located.
Note that the tubes have a vent drilled into them for assisting the glue to dry.


















This photo shows the fuel tank in position together with the air tank. The air tank is not completed yet, but allows me to check the clearance for the truck body. Note the sight glass is located but no lens yet.









More to come.
Cheers.


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## on30gn15 (May 23, 2009)

harvey said:


> Note that the tubes have a vent drilled into them for assisting the glue to dry.


 Ya know, that sounds like something worth remembering.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

This is some more of the underside. The brass shim pads are a wear surface for truck bolsters to sit on, they are 0.015" thick. These will be glued to the location shown.











This is the development of the number board for each end, note three are narrow and three slightly wider.









This is a number board installed. Lots of fiddling to cut the number board lens holder.









The cabs have been interesting and I've made several construction alterations and now I'm doing more as I want to ultimately end up with a unibody for rigidity and better support of the frame.









Here I've opened up the ends of the cab walls to accommodate guides I'm putting on the ends of the hoods. This will allow the hoods to be installed and then the cab assembly to slide into position and lock all three main components together.










More to come,
Cheers.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Outstanding styrene work. Can’t wait to see more.


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

How did you do the window seals? Looks like 1/2 round rod? I'm trying to figure out how you made such smooth curves?
Craig


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## Scott (Jan 29, 2008)

Window seals look like flat strip heated and formed into the window openings.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The shadows on the seals sure has the smooth changes of something rounded, not the sharp shadows of right angles.

But we'll see.

Greg


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

I've used half-round from Evergreen for window seals. Bending it takes patience, but doable. Usually I use the solvent to help bend the corners, but you can't get too tight doing that lest you break/tear the half-round. 










Later,

K


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Sorry about the delay in responding. 

The window seals are 0.030" round styrene. Learning to bend them was quite an exercise, however, I found that holding the rods against a 100 watt light bulb for a few seconds provided enough heat to relax the styrene so I could bend it without breaking. Please don't ask how many attempts I made before "my" light went on.
Kevin, yours look very good and I'm not sure I want to do a close up photo of mine. Not yet anyway, maybe when I've done some repairs and filling.
Cheers.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

It's been awhile now, but I'm in the process of installing the louvers, the latches and the hinges. I think all together on the three engines there are 594 louvers, 153 latches and 351 hinges. 
So it might be a while before I can post any further progress, they are taking much longer than anticipated.




























The door latches were supplied by Shapeways. The louvers are 0.060" 1/4 round and as can be seen need to be trimmed yet. The exhaust stacks were machined from 5/8 acrylic rod and the bolt details are from Tichy Train Group. The mesh on the air intakes are aluminum and I think I need to find something a little stronger as I keep putting my fingers through them. Leaving them off until the unit is finished would also be a good idea.
Cheers.


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## jokensa (Dec 4, 2014)

wow!


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Very much enjoying watching your progress. Crazy question though: are you committed to doing everything in styrene? Parts where you're making the same thing over & over are good candidates for resin casting. That may be the laziness in me speaking, but I (speaking only for myself) never can build two things exactly alike.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Hello Burl, you say you have difficulty making two items alike, well you should see my rejection rate on these louvers. I did consider using a mold for the louver sets, but I wasn't sure how to hide the mat they would sit on after installation. The paddle latches from Shapeways may I think be from one of your designs, but they were the key to getting going on these engines. I knew I could produce the louvers and hinges but the latches would have certainly been a show stopper. Anyway if they are your design, thank you.
I'm closing in on the end of that task now, but if anyone else takes on louver sets I'd sure be interested in seeing the results.
This is another earlier photo of the trio.









I've made the exhaust stacks as a single component so I can lift them out to access the switch panel, when I get that far. Building and fitting the light bulb holders for the ends is going to be another challenge, but that too will get resolved. The holes at the ends of the hoods on the side are for the marker lights, these will be covered over with the lens holders supplied by USA Trains Parts Department. A great resource I might add.
Cheers.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

The paddle latches were Dirk Charmichael’s idea. I drew them & uploaded them. Was not aware anyone else was using them.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Well I've been hacking away on and off with this build, but I'm afraid progress has been quite slow....too many other projects on the go.
The steps and pilots have been completed as has the gang way tread plates. The next step will be make and install the hood lifting eyes and the hand rail/grab handles as well as the cab steps. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these yet as I may need to remove the cab without damaging the hood attachment bolt heads and grab handles located near the cab.
So this is as far as I've come in the recent months.
More to come later.
Cheers.








Note: the front grill is loose so that it can be removed for painting.


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## Scott (Jan 29, 2008)

Looks awesome mate


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Nice work!


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## jokensa (Dec 4, 2014)

i hope one day, when i grow up, i will be able to make something as beautiful as this

excellent!

what material did you use for the tread pates?

best

JKS


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

I did intend to give more info on the diamond plate, so here it is. I used Plastruct O Scale diamond plate item #91684.
Hope this helps.
Cheers.


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## Nick Jr (Jan 2, 2008)

If I may quote a popular TV show "I love it when a plan comes together" Great Work Harvey. LiG


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## Colin Stewart (Jan 28, 2008)

Fabulous work, looks like they are coming together nicely


Colin


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## Doug C (Jan 14, 2008)

Terrific work Harvey !

Maybe in the future, you'll be able to 'run' the entire fleet of GMD1s down to YYC to run on the regional railway set up, at SUPERTRAIN  !

doug c


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Thanks for all the comments on this build. 
I'm afraid they've been neglected for the past two months as I've been working on the rebuild of two USAT-CPR S3 units. These are nearly completed and when running I'll be back to the GMD1's.
Thanks for the incentive Doug, that's certainly a target to aim for. Hopefully they'll be finished and run-in by then.
Cheers,
Harvey.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

I know this a bit of a blast from the past, but I thought I would share a couple of pictures from today to show that I didn't abandon this project although the thought had crossed my mind a couple of times. It's been two yeas since I last did an update on this project, but as some of us know all too well, life gets in the way sometimes.
I still have headlight lenses, glad hands and cab interiors to complete, but I'm moving in the right direction, I think??













Cheers,


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Looks great! I think if I had an expiration date on my projects after which they got tossed if not complete, I wouldn't have any models at all. 

Later,

K


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Harvey........ Woooooow.... Those look awesome. 

Super great attention to detail...


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Well we managed to have a little get together at Namao before a call to duty and of course before the latest storm arrives. 



Cheers


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## Scott (Jan 29, 2008)

Love the almost completed work, they really have progressed well.


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## OldNoob (Apr 30, 2016)

I absolutely love these!


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow awesome work. Fabulous final product. You should be proud.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

A beautiful set of locos. I'm glad you kept at it.


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## OldNoob (Apr 30, 2016)

The detail on these is amazing considering these are scratch built.. 
Quick question , 
where did you find the thicker Styrene sheets? and how did you cut them?


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

OldNoob said:


> The detail on these is amazing considering these are scratch built..
> Quick question ,
> where did you find the thicker Styrene sheets? and how did you cut them?


The thickest sheets were used on the sole plates and hood sides (1/8" thick styrene). The sole plates were reinforced with stiffeners on the underside. This material was available at my local hobby shop. I had to make an opening for the battery to reduce the height so as to clear the hood. Cutting this material is not really a problem. Typically score both sides and break off what's not required then file the edge. Last year someone gave me a shooting board which I've only used a couple of times, but it would have certainly helped with building these engines. 
I ran them quite a few times this last summer and they performed really well, also did an MU set with a GP9 and this looked very good.
Thanks for your enquiry. Get building. 
Cheers.


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