5778c&o
Atlas GP40-2 #4148...
Part of the first order of GP40-2s
(4100-4164) these units were built originally with ACI cards and
no slotted battery box cover. Over time
some ACI cards were removed and some battery box cover doors
were replaced with the famous slotted door.
They all came with the classic Chessie rock
pilot on the front under the coupler and a wedge shaped
rear plow, since foot boards were outlawed. #4148
had an interesting history. In 1974 it was one of
four units (#4145-48) that received experimental cab roof
strobes and reflective stripes on the vermillion side
sill. The strobes were removed by 1982, the year I
model, but the brackets remain. These stripes were a
series of triangles and parallelogram white reflective
shapes along the sill. The remnants of the stripe
can be seen on the prototype photo below, as can the
strobe roof bracket. There were no stripes on the front
or rear of the unit.
To further make this unit unique, it was one of a dozen or
so units that were leased to the Santa Fe (AT&SF) in
the 1980s. Santa Fe numbered them all to the 9000
series at this time. In all cases except #4148, only the first road number
was changed to a 9 in Santa Fe font. When returned
AT&SF used their own font to return the 9 to the Chessie
4000 series number. Normally these former Santa Fe leases
were seen on Chessie rails with a Santa Fe font "4" and a
Chessie font for the next three digits of the road number.
#4148 was unique in that the entire road number was repainted in
AT&SF font. Also, Santa Fe centered the road number on
the access door, which is incorrect. It should be the same
length and centered under the "B&O". This makes the
road number appear offset to the right on the conductor's
side. See photo below.
To make the Atlas unit more correct
I added ACI cards and a rear wedge plow. I painted
the MU hoses the correct colors, silver on the tips
and red, yellow and green at the tops. I also
painted the wheel faces and the couplers rust color.
Something I do to all locomotive models that make
photos look better is to paint the back sides of the
steps and pilots and the underside of the sills
black. See the bottom photo to notice how dark
the area on the inside of the rear pilot
looks. This area comes painted yellow out of
the box and would really stand out, had I not
painted it black. Also, the coupler knuckle
basket can be seen in the prototype photo
below. It is on the walk way behind the first
vertical stanchion behind the cab. I have
ordered this part from Plano, but it is not
installed in my model photos below. This was a
feature on this entire order of GP40-2s. I
weathered the unit
after adding the decals to show some road use.
