MILW GP20s and GP40

I bet you didn't know the Milwaukee Road used to have trackage rights over the Skally Line. It is true! I can only image what it would have been like to watch MILW rebuilds slam the Hinckley diamond back in the day.

I just finished a few units for a friend and I thought I would post some pics on here for everyone to see. For the GP20's (MILW 981 and 957) I modified two Atlas GP9s by chopping the noses, adding etched grills and a whole slew of other details. The drop steps were removed and the solid handrails were built for the ends.

I have scratch built the Horst Air filters for other engines, but I chose to use some that I found on Shapeways. They aren't cheap, but they saved me some time. These GP20 took more than a little research as the great MILW had no consistency from engine to engine. I think that made these even more fun. I had fun creating the rusted fuel tank on MILW 957. It's these details that really appeal to me.

The GP40 (MILW 2058) was detailed out, getting the same handrail treatment as the GP20s and then it was weathered to look like it did in the Mid-80's. It was starting to rust and plenty faded by then. The shortened fuel tank was another MILW feature added to this unit.

I hope these serve my friend well!

MILW 7

Another "restoration" project has been finished up by the Skally Shops. Milwaukee Road SD45 #7 has been completed. This engine is pretty unique in that the dynamic brake fans had been removed by the MILW shops, but the dynamic grills were left in place.

This engine started out as a new Kato unit (another DRGW unit bites the dust).  I removed the dynamic fans, added a T-Vent, added grab irons, lift rings, a MILW side bell, cut levers, wipers, a firecracker antenna, rear mu hoses (I used the Kato molded on on the front) and a non-working strobe light. I also removed the front drop step. I upgraded the couplers to MT-1015's. The paint is MILW Orange and Engine Black. The mu hoses and class lights are dressed up with a little silver. The handrails at the ladders are white. The decals are Micro-Scale and the weathering is chalks.

MILW 5658

Another MILW U30C made it's way to the Skally. This one was finished just in time to have a photo-op with the BN F45s before they all head off to their prospective lines. Oh to watch the big coal drags back in the day...

 This us a Kato U30C I added a few details too. I used BLMA grab irons, mu cables and cut levers. It has Gold Medal wipers, an Atlas Strobe light and a MbE Sinclair Antenna. The paint is Polly Scale MILW Orange and Engine Black. The decals are all Micro Scale. I gave it a light weathering using Tamiya chalks.

MILW 5657

Another fine day of vintage MN photos. To catch some MILW power running the Skally line in the day... what a blast!

I just finished a little side bar project I've been working on. I decided to try building a Milwaukee Road U30-C. I started with a Kato unit, added BLMA grab irons, plow, cut levers, mu hoses, wind deflector, a Sandro Sinclair antenna, Gold Medal All-Weather window and wipers and an Atlas strobe light. The rest is all painting and a light weathering with chalks.

SD40-2 Chop Job

Just the diesel tank, I new I wouldn't be totally happy with MILW 158 till I cut the tank down to Milwaukee Road standards. If only the newer Atlas SD9s were that easy.

MILW 158

I decided to take a break from my SCXY/ILSX locomotives to focus on a quick project. I wanted to practice my two tone painting so I decided to do a Milwaukee Road SD40-2. I loaded it up with detail parts from BLMA and Altas. It has the MRC-1806 sound decoder in it and it runs great. My favorite details were the cheapest. I removed the drop steps and added .015 wire to replace the walkway chains for a more MILW look and I added an Atlas bell behind the cab. I could still shorten the fuel tank and add an all weather window to the engineers side, but I'm not happy with the commercially available options. The decals were Microscale.Here is a 1981 C.W. Lahickey photo for reference.