A dream realised: The GMD G8…

Over twenty years in the making yet closer than ever, this GMD G8 locomotive is the physical manifestation of a fascination that started in September 2001 and my first (and only visit) to Newfoundland, Canada…

Amongst many places we visited on that trip I was keen to go to Trinity Loop on the old Bonavista branch of the 3’6” Newfoundland Railway. 802 was stuffed and posed here, along with other items of stock, and he experience of climbing on and over these relics, imagining the the beauty and backwards nature of these railroads that got under my skin. Despite being the underdog it was the G8 that I loved first and foremost, compared to the larger and more powerful ‘mainline’ diesels. Of course, back then there was no obvious way of recreating a model, but the desire to relive that experience amd to recreate others only experienced on the pages of books was strong. 

Some time back I found some artwork on Thingiverse for a similar EMD export unit based upon a New Zealand locomotive. Downloaded as am STL file this has been a labour of love to move forwards, removing the dynamic brake, removing extra cab windows, adding doors, moving louvres around - all using an STL file rather than the raw native 3D format. Anyone who has tried this will relate to the amount of extra work involved.

A chance conversation with good friend Chris about pondering chassis choices and a second hand N gauge Atlas SD9 found its way here from Hattons and proved to be an excellent match if I scaled the bodywork to TT (1/120 or 2.5mm/ft) which also meant that the 9mm track is about right for 3’6”.

The 3D artwork was hurriedly finished off (as a result there are one or two errors, but I managed to add most of the Canadian features I wanted) and printed by another modelling friend Dan, and the results are superb, seeing this model in reality really is satisfying after that 20 plus year journey.

 

So now I’ve got a pair of body prints and the focus turns to etch design. This thing is pretty small and my thoughts are etched handrails, possibly etched grab irons too, to make sure the size is right and consistent. One of the errors I didn’t correct is the upper hood handrails, the dimples for these are too high so to decide whether to correct these, and now to recreate these… I will also need to draw up some custom decals to fit the model, my intention being this first model is 802, but if I do the second I’m not sure whether to do green or tiger stripes?

So, I’ve waffled on and neglected to address the elephant in the room, do I really need another scale to work in?! What am I planning beyond the locomotive? The answer to these questions may well take another 20 years but in the meantime the model, when finished, will join my White Pass shovelnose in the display cabinet and remind me of adventures past and promise of those future. Until next time, more soon…

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