Santa Fe SD45B Project

Great job on the SD45B.  I have been "planning" to make a SD45B from a Williams SD45 that I have, Your SD45B just may get me in gear to do my SD45B.  Near the end of the Santa Fe, the  SD45B's had the large "Santa Fe" on the long hood painted over and were just blue body with yellow ends and small "MKM" under the unit numbers.

Please add more pictures when you get it finished.

Here's  a picture of a SD45B that still has the "Santa Fe" on the long hood and the "MKM" under the numbers.

I always thought that would be an interesting project as it illustrates the creativity of locomotive shops. I'm surprised there aren't any modern wrecks that received similar treatment.

Here are the photos that convinced me I should try and build this.
Photos of 5501 and 5502 without the MKM markings. I don't know who the photo credits go to.

I always thought these were interesting.  Here is what I believe is a similar sd40 version from the hump set in Galesburg IL.

Hump Yard Mike posted:

I always thought these were interesting.  Here is what I believe is a similar sd40 version from the hump set in Galesburg IL.

2 more photos of the cabless BNSF locomotives at the Galesburg yard, that I took in 2014.

These are just my opinion.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Nice work. I've always wanted to do one but already have too many projects. It's a must have for any Santa Fe nut.

Jim,

Very nice work. Count me among the Santa Fe fans who've also toyed with trying this. You did it and very well. Since you mention redoing the paint, I'll comment that the blue does look too light. I always thought Polly Scale ATSF blue was closest to MTH's rendition of that color, if you are so inclined. Scale coat ATSF blue is darker and closer to the blue Atlas uses and is available for plastic in a spray can if need be. Badger also makes ATSF Blue probably a shade between those two. 

The "MKM" lettering was applied in either 1994 or 95 (I think the latter). It stands for Morrison Knutson Maintainance" and denotes units designated for maintenance by that firm. Its only an essential detail if modeling the engine as it appeared in that late time period. Keep us posted. 

RM

This is an interesting project already. Now that all the "modern diesel heavy weights" who I look up to are chiming in, I will have to pay very close attention!

I missed out on some of the projects that Atlas released over the years. They tackled some engines that are important to modern RRs. I did land a modern "B" unit in BNSF from Atlas. It shows off how good they did with their rendition. Of course that's only one of the many choices out there to capture in a model. I still have to acquire a tunnel motor from MTH for my list of must haves.

This is a great time to be in Modern O scale model railroading. Carry on and thanks for sharing.

Rich Montague posted:

Jim,

Very nice work. Count me among the Santa Fe fans who've also toyed with trying this. You did it and very well. Since you mention redoing the paint, I'll comment that the blue does look too light. I always thought Polly Scale ATSF blue was closest to MTH's rendition of that color, if you are so inclined. Scale coat ATSF blue is darker and closer to the blue Atlas uses and is available for plastic in a spray can if need be. Badger also makes ATSF Blue probably a shade between those two. 

The "MKM" lettering was applied in either 1994 or 95 (I think the latter). It stands for Morrison Knutson Maintainance" and denotes units designated for maintenance by that firm. Its only an essential detail if modeling the engine as it appeared in that late time period. Keep us posted. 

RM

Thanks or the info on the paint. The blue I used first was the Polly Scale ATSF Blue.  It was warm enough today to be able to spray the Polly Scale ATSF Yellow. See the attached photos. Both seem dull so I am going to try and find the Badger ATSF Blue and Yellow locally and try them.

If you seal them up with a gloss finish, they might just become a little darker on their own. I think it looks good as is. Gloss, decals, a sealer, and and some detail paint... I think it will be great just like that.

Jim,

The color in those last photos looks good and I think matches the pilots on the B unit and it matches the blue on the factory-painted cab unit. Did you repaint or add a coat? The very first photo looked too light, but here I think the blue matches up nicely. Ditto the yellow. I'm with Doug--I think the colors are good as is. The Badger blue will also likely be a flat finish (like Poly Scale, its  an acrylic), so you likely would have to gloss coat it to prepare for decals anyway.

RM

Thanks for the comments on the paint. The blue paint was the same as in the first photos.
I am going to paint a test piece with the same paints then seal it with the gloss coat and see how that turns out.

I haven't forgot about this project. A hospital stay and then I had several other custom projects I had to complete for others that I got behind on. I did start making handrails for this unit. I did finish another project for myself I will be posting pictures of in another post.

The SD45B was NOTHING compared to building the CF7.