Lanes Trains S Scale Southern Railway SD40-2 3233

Southern SD40-2 3233

This loco is Overland Models 1745 released in 1983. There were 10 of them made. This run of S Scale diesels had some models with low numbers made as part of a larger SD40-2 project. Buying a Southern Railway loco was very off track of my usual modeling. The southeast railroads had elaborate paint schemes especially for the E units. This is known as the “Tuxedo” paint scheme.

I found this internet photo sitting with other Conrail and Norfolk Southern locos was the winner in choosing 3233 as the number.

Added 6-10-24

When I found the above photo and picked 3233 as the loco number it was a low resolution internet find. I could not see the Southern “Check Letter” well so I guessed. Of course I was wrong. Further I found that the check letter does not change. I “may” try and fix it at some point but I was glad to get a correct slide. Note it is also coupled to a Conrail loco - SD40 6267.

These 2 photos are courtesy of Warren Calloway.

This loco was also bought at the Ted Mauer auction on 6-22-19 with my Norfolk Southern B32-8 and Norfolk Southern GP38-2 In the past 2 years I have become interested in the high hood versions of the 2^nd generation of EMD locomotives. In S Scale that makes them RARE models. This is the first photo I took when I got it home. Yes I now see it is off the track!

This is the Overland “Tank Drive” stock out of the box C 1983. The big problem with this is each truck picks up power from 1 rail with only 3 wheels of contact. I flip the wheels on 1 truck so 6 wheels on each side pick up each rail. I make 2 wipers for the insulated side.

This has a WOW4 decoder. The DLG8 speaker fits perfectly in the dynamic brake area. This is the drive after some considerable effort, LUBING the entire loco, adding a coupling between the gearbox and motor, changing to plastic Overland driveshafts, and wiring for DCC. I do not use flywheels anymore. The decoder does a better job creating momentum.

On the track and running on 7-2-19

Completed 4-23-20

This paint is not great. It is a good 2 footer paint job at best. When I started working on it again in 2020 I was continually waiting for the deal breaker so I would strip it and start again for Norfolk Southern. There is no thin yellow stripe on the bottom of the white band on the real Southern SD40-2. This model had the thin stripe but was not completed! There was about 6 inches missing on the long hood. My thoughts were to make the bottom yellow stripe go away completely or complete the stripe. I found some yellow stripes from a Reading diesel set that was the same width and pretty close in color so I completed it. Right after I started adding the cab numbers and Southern decals I was happy. It just POPPED. I added low M U boxes and the drop steps on the pilots. I added a 5 chime horn at both ends and the hanging bell on the long hood.

This might not be the best model example of the Southern High Hood SD40-2 but it is good enough for me. I have not done any weathering in a while. This is actually the second loco in a row I just gloss coated. My weathering needs some refreshing and new ideas.

This is posing with my custom made Norfolk Southern Heritage caboose with the Southern logo on the side.

Since getting 3233 I have gotten a number of other second generation high hood locos. These are just some of them.

Revised 6-10-24