I
updated my Conrail SD40-2 I had
since 1989 in October 2016. This SD60 was listed on eBay in November 2016
starting at $1.00. This loco was in a collection of about 100 brass models
that were sold without the original box, and most by far had some to
significant damage to them. This did not seem to have any damage to it. I won it completely on a goof for about 1/3
of the price. It is 1 of the last things made in S Scale by Overland directly
in 1996. Overland was the builder of many River Raisin projects for years,
but sold by River Raisin. |
|
It
is factory painted as Conrail Quality scheme. Again the benefit/curse of 2016
and the internet with everything well documented and easily available revealed
Conrail SD60 6867 was very likely never painted in the Conrail Quality scheme.
I would have preferred it to not be the Conrail Quality scheme.
I
did pretty much everything from the SD40-2 except the
lit numberboards and corner markers to the SD60 with the wheel pick ups and Tsunami2. If this was an unpainted model I
would have made brackets to hold the LEDs in place. Holding the front LEDs in
place was not an issue. There was nothing for the rear, since it had small
incandescent bulbs when I got it. As with most things, I make stuff on the fly.
I am pretty happy with this bracket I glued to the inside of the long hood.
For
the mid 1990s Overland changed the design of the drives using 2 “HO” motors,
sometimes not even coupled to each other. It is 2 locomotives in 1 shell, not
possibly synced perfectly to each other. I HATED those drives. They are also in
my River Raisin Models PRR RS11 and River Raisin Models PRR E8. This SD60 is
likely to be the only loco I will keep this 2 motor set up as intact. At least
these 2 motors are coupled together, with tubing, which I also hate. The one
great thing though is there is a ton of room for decoders etc. I had no issues
fitting everything in. As usual, I use a lot of Miniatronics plugs to be able
to disassemble without unsoldering wires. The Soundtraxx Current Keeper stack
of capacitors really helps smooth over any sputtering of the pick up.
There
were some scratches in the paint on the cab roof in a very visible area. I oversprayed the cab roof and long hood roof with Tru Color
Conrail Blue paint. It was close but not a perfect match. What else could I do?
Good enough.
Completed 11-24-16
(Thanksgiving!)
Posed with SD-40-2 6469
Updated 2-25-18
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