Anybody converted a MTH SD40-2 over to fixed pilots? I have more than one I want to change. It looks like I will have a lot of cutting and fitting. I could use the advice and ideas.
Clem
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I also hope someone post some pictures. There are a few in my roster to be converted .
Ray Marion
Turned out great. Did you just make all new pilot's?
Clem
Thank you. I re-used the stock pilots, but cut off those ridiculous foot boards, which I'm pretty sure are out of place for most dash 2 models, and certainly are out of date for my era. I also trimmed some off the bottom to ensure adequate clearance of switch machines. The plow is glued directly to the pilot.
The upgrade is done the same as others, except for the front. The metal frame isn't long enough to provide a place to mount the pilot. I basically made a short extension out of some sheet styrene (laminated for strength, drilled holes in the fame that. Then I decided on a mounting point on pilot and frame, drilled through and mounted the front pilot to that styrene extension. The rear pilot is pretty standard -- pick a place to mount, drill through the pilots and frame and mount with nuts and screws. (Of course cut off the three-rail style mounting tab; you also need to cut or grind away enough excess material for the trucks to swing). I made fillers for the pilot gaps out of sheet styrene and painted ATSF blue to match. All in all, it was actually one of the more difficult conversions I've found.
I also covered over the under deck recess where the ditch lights mount, added the MU cable, and made my own front anti-climber, so as to make this more correct for ATSF. I also added the rooftop details you see and relocated the horn.
I did this non-powered unit first to develop the technique. If I had to do this one over again, I might have just made a new under frame out of sheet styrene so as to relocate the trucks, which are out of place and an eye-sore in my mind. It took a lot of time, and I have yet to get up the enthusiasm to tackle a powered unit sitting on the shelf.
I see the ATSF SD40-2s in the new MTH catalogue with PS3. Had they upgraded these to fixed pilots (like the Dash 9 and some others), I would have ordered to replace my powered PS2 units. They didn't upgrade, and I'm not buying.
RM
