TP&W 902

The Prototype
The TP&W owned 3 EMD GP35s, numbered 900-902 and built in November 1965. These were the last TP&W locomotives delivered in the olive green and yellow paint scheme, and they lacked the diamond-shaped red and yellow TP&W herald that was applied to previous locomotives. ALCo RS-2s 200, 201, and 203 were traded in to EMD and their trucks were reused on the GP35s. All 3 of these locomotives remained in their original paint throughout the 1970s. The 902 appears to have been the first GP35 repainted in red-orange and white circa 1980. The 902 became Santa Fe 3464 in 1984 and was later renumbered to 2963 after being rebuilt with dynamic brakes and EMD trucks. The 2963 became BNSF 2645 and has been rebuilt again as a GP39-3. 

Links to prototype photos:
TP&W 902 in 1977
TP&W 902 in 1980
ATSF 3464 in 1984
BNSF 2645 in 2013
BNSF 2645 in 2014

The Model
I acquired my green Athearn Ready-to-Roll TP&W 902 in 2005. I painted the trucks silver to better match the prototype. The prototype's yellow stripes and lettering rapidly faded to a cream color similar to that used on the model. The font used on the model for the cab numbers and "Toledo Peoria & Western" lettering has never looked quite right to me, but it's at least close. My model 902 got a lot of mileage on the old Illini Railroad Club layout while I was college but has been mostly in storage since 2008.

My 902 needed a bit of a tune-up before I could put it in service on the new layout. All of the axle gears had cracked and needed to be replaced.

Cracked axle gear.

I replaced all 4 axle gears with new Athearn parts. I've made this repair before on other locomotives, but this was the first time I used a C-clamp to help press the axles onto the gears. The new gears are a TIGHT fit on the axles, and my fingers thanked me for using the C-clamp. Once both axle ends were pressed onto the gear, I used a pair of small needle nose pliers to grasp one end of the gear so I could use my fingers to adjust the positions of the wheels as necessary until the gear was centered and the wheels matched the NMRA gauge.

When I removed the locomotive shell, I found something I had completely forgotten about. The wire from the front truck broke off at some point. Lacking a soldering iron and soldering skills in those days, I simply stripped more insulation from the wire, drilled a new hole near the old solder joint, threaded the wire through it, and wrapped the wire around the metal tab on the truck frame. Not pretty, but it seemed to work ok.

No-soldering truck repair

Now seemed like a good time to do a better job and re-solder the wire.

Repairs complete, the model 902 is ready for duty on the new layout.

The Layout That Almost Was

I grew up near the (now former) TP&W mainline in Illinois and have dreamed of building a TP&W-themed model railroad layout for quite some time. However, if you had asked me one year ago about my future layout plans, I would have told you that I was planning to build a layout based on the 1950s-era Illinois Terminal Railroad (IT). Here's why:

I first became interested in the IT while I was in college, and I was especially intrigued by the architecture of its combination depot-substations. I decided to scratchbuild a model of the former IT depot-substation at Union in rural Logan County. This was a major undertaking that took me nearly three years to complete, and I reasoned that if I were going to invest substantial time and effort into this model, then it had better have a place on my future layout. So I settled on modeling the IT in the 1950s so I could run diesel-powered freights but still have electrified interurban passenger trains stopping at the depot. After completing the depot, I also detailed and painted an IT RS-1.

I was a member of the Illini Railroad Club while a student at the University of Illinois. I learned in late 2017 that a planned dorm renovation meant that the club would have to vacate the space its layout had occupied for 40+ years. In January 2018 I attended the final open house for alumni prior to the dismantling of the layout. For old time's sake, I brought along a train of the same covered hoppers and TP&W locomotives that I ran on the layout when I was in college. Seeing this train running on the layout reminded me of how much I like covered hoppers and second-generation TP&W diesel locomotives.

On the drive home, I started thinking about building a TP&W layout. Remembering how much time I had already spent building the depot, I talked myself out of it, but the thought didn't go away. I had some misgivings about the IT layout I was planning, namely the difficulty (and expense) of procuring models of IT passenger equipment and electric locomotives and a lack of enthusiasm (and time) for both stringing overhead wire and scratchbuilding many more structures. My IT layout plan also did not lend itself well to construction in phases, and based on my depot construction experience, I did not want to start a project that I couldn't enjoy until many years later when it was fully complete.

After a lot of thought, I ultimately concluded that I was more interested in the IT's depots than its equipment and operations and that a TP&W layout was more compatible with my interests and available time. So last summer I decided to go back to my original plan and build a TP&W layout. I am very excited to run trains of covered hoppers and modern boxcars pulled by red-and-white Alco diesels. Someday I may build a small IT layout or diorama, but for now the depot will remain a display model.