SD45 - N&W Phase I - Started in August, 1997!

Status as of 11/29/2002 when these pictures were taken. This is one of those projects that has been on the bench a little too long for its own good. A few things have happened along the way to threaten it. A little thing like the 1804, which swiped it's entire drive line! Anyway, this body has some mistakes and I don't know if I'll finish it or not. Read on.


Major reworking of the Kato pilot to get the right look, and I even narrowed it to handle the new Kadee #78 scale size draft gear. The gap below is correct for my particular prototype - many EMD locos have an opening below the coupler, some are wide open with no connection at all, like the Athearn "gap tooth" pilot always considered to be "wrong".
Unfortunately I didn't catch the stepwell thing here. All N&W SD45s have high step pilots, and all SD45 models done so far - including the Kato and Proto 2000 - have low steps. I didn't change them on this model. Yet.
Close-up of trade-mark Kato coupler-buffer. Durable, but ugly. Broadway Limited's new SD40-2 has the same buffer plate. Gee, I wonder why?
Comparison of stock Kato dustbin hatch and exhaust stack to Cannon parts.
Super close-ups of the modified pilot. Are you asleep yet?
A-Line's Kato steps (for SD40) fit perfectly. But they'll have to be relocated if I decide to change this to a high-step pilot.
Obsolete! Obsolete! The old way of holding fan blades up for the Detail Associates/Bannafans. This loco will get Cannon fans.
About as good a photo as I can grab with the digital that takes in the whole loco.
You can see the modified Kato chassis here, which wound up being reworked a bit (I-beams were not straight, so I re-did them) and the trucks converted to triple clasp. Look at the section on 1804. This prototype, 1721, has the low-brake cylinders so the stock Kato trucks will work.
Oh what a dip I am. I stuck all these Atlas stanchions on here completely forgetting the fact that Kato SD45s have the locating holes in the blower duct instead of on the sill- result, the stanchions are all too high. Way too high.
At least it's a short-duct walkway, which is correct. Blind luck only, I wasn't aware of the different lengths when I started this model.
A good look at that lovely Cannon air reservoir. The Kato walkway has to be shimmed just a bit to make the tank hang in the right place.
Factory stock Kato diamond-grill radiators. Not bad really. I may just leave them alone - they are correct for this model.
Added footboards and train line to the long hood end.
A look at the chassis modifications. I wasn't really satisfied with this and reworked it further before using this frame on the 1804.
More close looks at the air reservoirs.
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