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This section of The Interchange provides a space where members of the Reading Modeler community can showcase their Reading modeling efforts. If you've got a project that you'd like to share, start a new topic and "show and tell" the group how you did it!

TOPIC: A U30c is born

A U30c is born 7 years 5 months ago #5551

  • 2771-chris
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When it comes to production numbers of the prototype I don't believe that would stop a manufacturer from producing a certain model.I believe it depends on what RR owned the type of unit...if there's a demand for a certain unit someone is bound to take up the project.
As Mark stated we never thought a C430 would be produced.Two better examples are the RS27 made by LifeLike.I believe this was the last loco they produced before they sold the line to Walthers.I have two of the units in the PA scheme and IMO one of the best running and detailed Alco model ever produced in plastic.Prototypically there were only 27 of the type built.The other example would be the C415 that Bowser has in the works.I don't know what the built prototype numbers are/were but it wasn't many... time will tell,if not,Ron will show us the way
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A U30c is born 7 years 4 months ago #5639

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I was going to post this a few months ago when they came out. but I wanted to bash one 1st. I too have been trying to make a better U-30-C Phase 1. I needed some close up photos of the long hood and I think toolin replied with some. About a year ago I saw an ad for a walthers U-28/30 B. I bought one and the long hood is perfect for a bash. One cut of an atlas U30C body one section behind the cab. Then cut the walthers B model directly behind the cab. Marry the two and wala. The atlas battery box arrangement is still wrong below the cab. The closest is an old Athrean U-28-C or U-30=C. or sand off the battery doors and glue on others. Simplest way I have found yet to make one. If you want to update the model you can add a third screen to the door before the pair on the long hood side. but with out it, Its as delivered.
Daniel J Mohr
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A U30c is born 7 years 4 months ago #5640

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I think the most possible manufacturer retool would be this walthers U-28/30-B all they have to do is add a body segment that has virtully no details. The hard part they already have the tooling for, the long hood and the cab. The battery box doors are minimal.
About the walters/atlas bash. The whole thing will fit on the atlas U-30-C Phase 3 frame. You may have to back dating the truck side frames. I didn't look that closely yet.
I will take pictures of the bash as it proceeds and when its finished. If walthers makes one so be it. It wouldn't be the first time. I still remember putting a atlas drive train under a AHM C-424 rebuilding the cab, putting in louvers on top of the long hood and many other details only to have atlas come out with one, much better detailed.
Murffys law: If you build one, some one will make a better one!
Daniel J Mohr
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A U30c is born 7 years 4 months ago #5656

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I will be sharing the basic body construction for the U30c shortly and will follow up with my normal construction article as I move along with the build.
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A U30c is born 7 years 4 months ago #5666

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RDG U30c 6302

The model starts with an Atlas U30c phase 3. I’ll use the running gear, the short hood, most of the long hood, the walkway and the correct style side frames from Atlas. The Proto U30b phase 1a will be used for the rear portion of the hood, cab and some of the nice detail parts that came with it.

After looking at the drawings from Nov 2003 RMC and comparing U30c to the Atlas and Proto bodies, there were some differences between them. The width of the Atlas body is .878 in comparison to the Proto at .858, that’s a difference .020. The curvature of the Atlas roof isn’t as rounded like the Proto model and because of that, the Proto hood is .015 taller in the center. Also, the roof edge of the Proto has a more pronounced radius. Dimensionally, the Atlas model was a close match to the RMC drawing. The phase 3 walkway with the battery box compartments and access doors on both sides were a perfect match for a phase 1a model.

The cab on the Proto model is a much better choice than the Atlas cab. From what I read from all the purists out there, the Proto cab was pretty much dead on as far as dimensional accuracy. There were 2 different cab styles on the early production U30c which for the most part pertains to the small cab side windows. The early version of the cab had side windows with a broader corner radius than later versions. The cab on the RDG U30c was the same as the U28c, so the early version offered by Proto would be correct for this model. The pic below shows the variation among both cabs with different side window styles.



My original plan was to use the long hood of the Proto model and cut a short section of the Atlas hood to make up the difference in hood length. But there were too many variables for this plan to go together the way I wanted it too. With the dimensional differences of the hood widths and height difference then add some hood distortion while trying to make it all work, made it a little difficult for me to follow through with this plan. I tried several methods to get this all to come together; it just didn’t work for me. So I went back to the drawing board.

Last Edit: 4 years 6 months ago by rdg5310.
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A U30c is born 7 years 4 months ago #5667

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The Atlas Phase 3 body is a good fit for the model up to the front of the exhaust hatch. I still had to deal with the hood radius and getting the Proto hood to expand without distortion to meet the atlas hood. I came up with an idea to get the Proto hood to be more forgiving which brought me to my final plan. I went to the Atlas website and purchased another U30c phase 3 and added a phase 2 body shell to my order.

I cut the body of the phase 3 between the last set of main hood doors in front of the exhaust hatch. The next part of this plan was to cut the Proto hood at the same location and remove the roof exhaust hatch off the Proto hood. I made that cut along the seam of the roof. I then took the phase 2 body and cut it in manageable sections and removed the exhaust hatch from the roof the same way as the Proto model.







I cleaned up the phase 2 hatch and the mating surfaces of the Proto hood. I glued a piece of styrene .020 thick to the back of the phase 2 exhaust hatch, this made up the difference of the plastic I lost with the cut. I then added 2 more sections of scrap styrene to act as bracing to the inside of the hatch to widen the Proto hood. On the prototype, there is only one access hatch behind the exhaust hatch. I sanded the right side hatch off. I let the bracing completely dry before gluing the hatch to the Proto hood.



Next I made sure both mating hood sections were square, I added styrene strip .020 x .040 around the hood edge of the phase 3. The addition makes up for lost space between each hood section. Next, I cut 2 styrene braces and glued them to the inside of the Atlas hood. I allowed that to dry also.
After a drying period, I set the exhaust hatch to the Proto hood and checked to make sure it was flush to the cut side of the hood and no gap in the back. I then cemented the hatch in place and gave it a little drying time. I did a test fit with the hoods to make sure my fit and finish was good. At this time, I didn’t glue my hoods together because I have more detailing work to do to the rear hood. I will glue these together once I’m finished with that little project.

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Last Edit: 4 years 6 months ago by rdg5310.
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December, 1947
Construction begins at the Reading Locomotive Shops on ten new G-3 Pacific passenger steam locomotives. These locomotives will be the last Pacific-type engines built in the United States.

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