Ferrocarril Chiapas Mayab / Genesee & Wyoming GP35

Hi there. A very long time since I last came to ZCS.

I'd like to show you my latest project. Indeed one of my future goal is building a layout that will show a remote shortline of Yucatan, Mexico, that actually runs from Campeche to Valladolid via Merida. I've already a computer designed trackplan for it, beeing a walk-in/walk-around point to point design. The road was called Ferrocarril Chiapas Mayab, a Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary until 2007. After G&W's demise the road was taken over by State and became Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec. But most locomotives kept the G&W paintscheme. Motive power consists principally of GP38-2s and GE U23Bs (yes, good old U-Boats!). There are also a bunch of GP40-2/road slug sets The road slugs began their lives as GP35s.

So my goal was starting with a repaint work of one of my GP35s. For the moment I don't want to change into a road slug, but I was too impatient to have a matching locomotive without having to wait for the forecoming AZL GP38-2. So one of my GP35 would do the job.

Which one to choose?

Obviously my UP sample that wore "old" UP paintscheme that doesn't match with my era. So I removed the shell, I unglued its handrails, and I separated all the parts (cab, windows, headlights, number boards, etc. 30' in a wash of isopropylic alcohol, and I removed original paint and decals with an old toothbrush. Then repainting with Humbrol colors. Finally removing couplers from trucks. I glued an AZL pilot that a fellow Zscaler kindly gave me. But I'm not completely satisfied with the MTL coupler I put into the pilot's socket. Protruding too far ahead in my opinion. So I reverted to truck mounted coupler for the aft side of the loco. Finally I glued Micronart's GP38 fan grid on top of my loco's main fans.

Now few remains to be done: painting the fuel tank black, painting oblique black stripes on the pilot, applying a vernish for shining (for convenience with the airbrush I used matt colours), and finally finding matching decals. That last step seems to be the most difficult to complete: although I approached several decal manufacturers I have not been able to be delivered any sample....




















Dom

I really like the earthy colours of the loco - how did you mask of the lines?
I've hade problems with getting the masking tight around the details.

Would really appreciate an image of the plan for the layout - very interesting project!

I masked the lines using Tamiya tape. Of course some paint "escaped" here and there, at angles or at any "relief" due to shell's details. I recovered the "escapes" using a very small brush.

On another hand I set below one of the first samples of my trackplan. I changed a few things since then, the most important beeing the hidden yard on the left, that is now lenghtened and curved to the left following the single track that leaves inbound to Merida.



The trackplan is computed in order to "fill" a 17' x 14' spare room.

Dom

Redecorating work close to completion.



Now I have to paint the fuel tank black (yesterday when wanting to paint it I discovered I've no more black paint in my mess workbench ). Then I'll paint oblique black stripes on the pilot, then I'll start to weather.

And as I'm completely a newby in that domain, I guess I'm first going to train on some old freightcars I've no more use of (including an HO french prototype sample).

Dom