Here are the rough specs for the radiators.
Overall length 1.047
Width .877

Screens rough size: .448 x 1.047
End caps: .010 x .125 x .879
I beam: .060 x 1.022
Beam support: .040 x .060 x 1.022
Screen supports: .020 x .040
Dividers: .010 x .010 evenly spaced to represent individual radiator sections.



Again those measurements vary based on the inside dimensions of the opening. The ends of the screens can be sanded evenly on all sides to fit any inside dimension.



Unlike my original version, I also made the radiator module to be painted and weathered separately from the shells. The shells will be painted, decaled, flat finished and weathered before I glue the modules in. This way I can bring out the detail in a more convincing and worthwhile approach. The center I beam and end caps will be painted the same color match Pullman green as the body. The radiators will be painted flat aluminum and dull coated. Then I will age the module by weathering and seal coated again.

With the top radiator section complete, I cemented in place the DA#2709 fan housing to the body. I was going to open this up also, but decided not to even though I made a fan that would fit between the body and the frame. I’ll save that for another EMD switcher project.
I spruced the housing up a bit by adding 3 screen supports. I used .012 wire equally spaced.



For the screen, I used BLMA chain link fence. This closely matched the DA screen over the radiators. This keeps those details in perspective. I could have used a much nicer screen for the fan housing, but it wouldn’t match the radiator screens.

Taking a small step back, I want to go over the body mounting system again. And this project is at a perfect opportunity to make sure the body mounting system works. I mentioned earlier in this article that you have to open the slots in the walkway for the new tabs to slide through. I never included the photo that shows the guide I used to cut back those slots. In the pic below I show the underside of the walkway. This shows how far back into the walkway I filed away for those new tabs to slide into place without any bow to the body.



Next the frame needs to file around the mounting pins. I filed the frame to match the width of the deck slots. If this isn’t done, the body will bow inwards. I would file this area around those pins until the body would seat correctly without any bow.

With all the major body work completed, I set aside the body to start on the cabs. I will finish the body detailing after the cabs and walkways are both completed. The cabs and walkways are from different phases of the VO models and I talked about that in the beginning of this article. But even with the different phases of VO’s the rebuilds were fairly consistent with only minor variations.

The cab on 2709 is a straight up Baldwin cab, no fancy sheet metal scrolling like the earlier 2707’s cab. During the rebuild process, EMD added elongated equipment access doors added under the engineers’ window. Included next to those doors were smaller access doors and of course neither of my models would have the same size, there’s that variation thing. EMD also added louvers for the batteries to breath. Those louvers can also vary from one model to the next just like the smaller access doors. Other additions to the cabs included reinforced plates along the cab base, firecracker antennas, dual beam rear headlights and plated over front windows. Just to note, 2714 was the only rebuild that had access doors on both sides of the cab.

To start detailing the cabs, I remove the window gaskets from the front center windows and plug them. I then cut .010 x .125 x .820 styrene for the plate over those windows. I round the corners a bit and glue the plate over the windows.

The next step was to add the reinforcement plate that goes around the cab. I don’t know why EMD added these to the base of the cab other than to increase safety for the crew. It’s my only guess and I’m sure they had their reasons. To make those plates, I cut strips of styrene .005 x .100 wide to fit the sides and the back of the cab. After gluing these on, I allow the glue to set and cut out the sand filler hatches and clean up all corners. Next I took the diamond plate walkway that goes over the battery boxes and removed the mounting pins and sanded the thickness of those plates in half. I then glue those to the battery boxes.

Next, I’m going to add the drip strips which I always use .010 x .018 brass bar stock from DA. For the rear headlight, I used Cal-scale 395 dual headlight. The Baldwin headlight has to be opened slightly larger to aid with the fit. I also removed flange around the outside of the Cal-Scale part to make it fit in the fixture. I glued that in place when housing seated nicely.
I removed the rear cab step as it will be replaced with a different step. The firecracker antenna is mounted in the center on the roof overhang. I used was from PSC #39132. These are a finer casting than the Details west version. The mounting base is thinner which is what I needed to properly mount the antenna on the edge. I drilled a #75 hole through the center of the overhang. I will glue that in place prior to painting.

Rounding out the cab detailing, there’re a couple access panels under the window of the engineers side that need to be added.



For the larger panel I used Cannon & Company hood doors HD20 18x65. These have three hinges and are close to the proper length and width to match the prototype. The access panels on the cabs are flush mounted. I thought about scribing the access panels in, but was more than satisfied sanding the backs of the doors until I thinned them down to about .007. I also removed the knuckle busters because they are horizontal and need to be vertical.

I glued the panels in their location following pictures of the two SW1200ms’. I used etched knuckle busters from Plano #14660 and glued them in their locations on the panels. The 1200ms’ have a smaller access panel adjacent to the large panel. The panel on 2709 was smaller compared to 2707. My solution was to use Cannon #1808 etched Dynamic range doors for 2709 and for 2707 I used #1804. These were also close in size to the prototype photos and I glued those to the cab accordingly.