We need an NW-2 thread, with photos

[ScaleCraft]

At least it's straight cut gears! Never could figure out on an A-N NW in 2-rail why anyone would have a single truck powered. 3-rail, yes, as pickup rollers go on rear truck with mount spanning the axles.
Or, GM with vertical motor in nose.
I do like the screws through the sides above the tanks, tho. Is the motor just wedged with garbage or glued in? Must make maintenance.......interesting.

The free-swinging Kadees are novel.

[ScaleCraft]

IN the first photo, the NP 100 is a model of an "SW", not an SW-1. On the SW-1, the frame is the same length, but the cab end of the body is also moved in toward center as on the radiator end. There is a large "porch" at both ends.

Many Years ago, in the 1980s, I was working on a project in Kansas City and was visiting about once a month for a week at a time. With time to kill in the evenings, I found Spotlight Hobbies. They had a large stock of old-new O scale and recent build O scale. There were a couple of GMC kits on the shelf and i looked them over. One was the SW model, one was an NW-2. I didn't buy either, opting for a PRR C1 steamer from USH instead which was new in the box. Later I kicked myself for not buying the SW kit because I thought it was an SW-1. Then I learned it was not and I thought is was an imaginary model. In the early 2000 I got interested in trying to figure out what it would take to make an SW-1 out of an AN/GMC NW-2. In my research I stumbled onto the SW prototype. EMC(before GM/EMD), built that model as their 600 HP version along with NW2. A few railroads had them, including one on PRR. The bottom line is that the GMC kit was/is a pretty good version of SW locomotive. It has the sand box on the front like the SW-1, but has the cab placement/hood on the rear like the NW-2.

I think it is a rare model. The one in this thread is the second one I have seen.

Many moons ago we looked into making an SW-1, but the design of the GM MW makes it....almost impossible to cut the cab loose from the frame, and move it forward. to keep the "slope" on the long hood, had to cut that off the frame, too, and shorten the nose even further.

So we live with it, as a genuine "doorstop".
Even with the factory weight kit, doesn't pull much. Can't even put the weights behind the radiator, as zero room. i think this has a headlight, which, with vertical motor was fun to do.
Thought about trying to do an A-N 8 wheel drive using the F3 A unit drive with no tower on front truck and a driveshaft from rear...but never was able to obtain those parts and quit looking.
30+ years ago had a guy offer me $50 for it. Uh, no.

[R.K. Maroon]

No shortage of NW-2 photos in the files. This is a model I actually owned for a while. I was going to repaint it but it was really well done so I sold it instead:





I guess this was somebody's idea of a fantasy Pennsy subsidiary. There is a D&S model railroad, but it's an HO club.

Jim

[ScaleCraft]

I like them...as evidenced by the numbers I have. But they are of limited usefulness. What're we gonna do, lash 20 of them together to haul a 14 car heavyweight time passenger string?
I like the more obscure road names. Like I did on my SC passenger car I finished.....NYC on letterboard, but I think it's NYC subsidiary P&LE by road number. Nobody knows for sure it its right or wrong, so I get away with it!

[bob turner]

Me too - keep the photos coming. Grey and scarlet is a good combo.

[R.K. Maroon]

Next in the archive is this New Haven version. This one has a bit higher level of finish detail than most that you see:











I find it interesting how both the New Haven and Rock Island had these really colorful paint jobs while perennially flirting with insolvency. The band plays happy tunes while the ship slowly sinks.

JIm

[De Bruin]

Interesting variation albeit fictional on the Herb Matter scheme on the NH's SW1200's. Creative to say the least, quite the artistic license as the NH didn't get EMD's until the late fifties with the SW1200's, FL9's and GP9's so this NW2 is a very colorful "what-if." Me like anyway.
For comparison see link for a shot of what the actual 1200's looked like as delivered from EMD and as modeled here with this Atlas version on the Stamford club.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2901615.
Neat units with Flexicoils.

[ScaleCraft]

Not sure I like that Atlas unit with zero end handrails or ladder rails. Are we sure Atlas got it right?
Close, except for the red long hood handrails.



Has hood rail, hood color.

[EdJakl]

Have to add a Katy to the mix.

[R.K. Maroon]

Ed, that is one nice looking model -- maybe the best All Nation NW-2 I have ever seen. Nice extra detail touches, such as the spark arrestors on the stacks, the cab shades, and the rear-facing horn. All prototypical, if I had to bet. Thanks for posting.

Bob T. will be pleased to see what I found in my photo library:



These are Adams and Son / CLW units. I wrote at length about the history of these in OST sometime last year. In the course of researching these I became aware that the CLWs are brass and the Adams and Son are bronze. You can tell with a really strong magnet -- the brass version is slightly magnetic, the bronze -- nada. The project was originated and the model designed by Bob Smith of CLW. The patterns were developed by Lindsey Adams. Adams cast both versions. Joseph Matthews of General Models copied the construction design but paid to have die-casting molds machined. Lionel knocked off the GMC version and sold a bizillion of them. But it all started with these.

I should mention that the units in the photo belong to Bob.
Jim

[ScaleCraft]

I'll dig my tape measure out tomorrow and check. I have one of them there Lionel NW's, and the REASON I have so many GM and A-N 3-rail NW's is because of that engine. They are HUGE comparatively speaking.
Guess is wider, taller and longer, and I'll have to be careful as they sit higher on the trucks.

You may be right....but for some reason I remember differently.

[ScaleCraft]

Measurements:

Radiator to front of cab Lionel 6-3/4, GM 6-5/8.
Long hood width Lionel 1-7/8, GM less than 1-3/4.
Long hood height from deck Lionel 1-3/4, GM 1-11/16.
Rear step to radiator Lionel 9-1/8, GM 8-7/8.
Cab height from deck Lionel 2-1/2, GM 2-7/16.
Roof length Lionel 2-1/16, GM 1-15/16.
Height of cab above railhead Lionel 3-3/4, GM 3-1/2.

These are both three rail versions, so differences in wheel diameter to scale versions may be noted by users.

I should get some photos to show. The Lionel just looks....bigger, fatter. Taller fersure.
1/8" (six inches) to 1/4" (one foot) variations.

Every measurement of the GM is smaller than the Lionel...I think.

[prrjim]

Hopefully I can attach my photos.

My thought on the original post with NP 100 which is a model of an EMC (PRE GM) SW (not SW-1) I would not kit bash that into an SW-1 I would paint it up for one of the roads that actually had that prototype. It would be almost as hard to kitbash an NW2 into an SW1, so I would an did start there, although I did not have that choice.

Below are some photos of my SW-1 kitbashed from an AN NW2 and a comparison with an AN NW2. I did an article on this project some years ago for "48/Ft O Scale news". I used a lot of CLW parts for the drive.

The kitbash involved cutting the entire cab/hood assembly away from the frame and rebuilding the deck to fill the gap. Also cutting down the hood end.

[E7]

Very nice, Jim!

Rich

[Chris Webster]

Ed, that is one nice looking model -- maybe the best All Nation NW-2 I have ever seen

I concur with Jim - that's the best All Nation NW-2 I've ever seen.

Below are some photos of my SW-1 kitbashed from an AN NW2 and a comparison with an AN NW2.

That's a neat model of a neat prototype.

I wish I'd been able to see the Milwaukee Road when it used to run sets of them: Five Milw SW1s and a Caboose