Today was a big day!… but it shouldn’t have been. It’s been an embarrassingly long time since I completed a locomotive model… like 7 years. Now it’s been less than a day as I put the finishing touches on Southern GP7 2187 today. This model started as a Proto 2000 GP7, and I’d gotten it through at least its initial detailing and coat of black paint several years ago. Last week, I finally decided it was time, and I decaled, added the last of the details, and weathered it.

I modeled 2187 as she appeared around 1970. This was one of a handful of GP7s the Southern modified with Locotrol in the 1960s (hence the white number boards), but it seemed to spend most of its life in secondary service. Photos place it in southwestern Virginia in the late ’60s and again in ’71 after a trip to the shop that added the Southern-style sunshades and ACI tag. Modifications to the model include a 36″ dynamic fan, fan shroud and blank grill cover, scratchbuilt spark arrestors, modified fuel tank skirting, Southern-style sunshades, 5-chime horn, and Locotrol details like the 3 antennas and extra conduit.