atop the cab with three chimes facing forward and two to the rear. Although the Walthers model correctly displays the extended GP30 cab and the dynam- ic brake option the entire fleet exhibit- ed, its crisply molded carbody does not display the appropriate Phase II inertial air intake grille with its three vertical stiffeners, and features a two-piece pan- el below the inertial air intake rather than the appropriate single-piece cover. Despite the minor Phase discrepan- cies, the WalthersProto GP30 captures the Southern units in spirit with our 2603 nicely decorated in the railroad’s “Tuxedo” scheme, as introduced with the arrival of the EMD SD24s in 1959. With diagonal safety stripes on its pilots and long hood walkway steps, a basic black carbody, a wide imitation alumi- num band around its base, and gold pinstriping and lettering setting apart the main colors, HO-scale number 2603 appears as the prototype did at the time of its delivery in October 1963 until about 1971. After the later date, the unit received Southern heralds on its hood ends and had an “X” suffix add- ed to its cab side road numbers, follow- ing the railroad’s newly instituted check code system. (A series of 10 letters were used to verify locomotive road numbers in the Southern’s modern computer- ized tracking system.) The quality of decoration on RMC’s sample was up to Walthers’ usual standards. However, to my eyes, the striping and lettering color did not appear to be the metallic
gold used during this era, but rather a darker yellow much like the Dulux gold color instituted by Southern in 1978. Some 112 Southern GP30s survived into the Norfolk Southern era, with a number of units receiving NS paint. All were off the roster by 1992 with at least one former Southern unit, number 2594, still in operation today on the Ten- nessee Valley Railroad in Chattanooga. Factory equipped with a Tsunami decoder, our unit sounded sweet with the rumblings of a real turbocharged 567, the dinging of a mechanical bell, the humming of the dynamic brake, the random beating of the air pump, and both the long and short blast of a five-chime air horn, just to highlight a few sound features. All the usual opera- tional features modelers have come to expect from SoundTraxx-designed elec- tronics are here too, including a full ar- ray of programmable Control Variables (CVs), back electromotive force (EMF) speed control, directional LED head- lights, and illuminated number boards, the latter of which can be separately controlled through the F6 function key. In DCC mode, the 13.4-ounce 5-pole skew-wound can motor and flywheel- equipped model maintained an im- pressive continuous minimum speed of less than one scale mile per hour on a test track equipped with minimum 22- inch radius curves. The unit registered a drawbar pull of only 2.6 ounces — a slightly below-average reading for an HO-scale four-axle diesel, but still suffi-
cient to handle a freight consist of sever- al dozen cars on a level grade. All wheels were properly gauged on our sample as well, as determined by an NMRA Stan- dards Gage, and the Kadee-compatible metal knuckle couplers were mounted at the appropriate height. Bottom line: she operates as good as she looks! All in all, the 1:87-scale GP30 re- mains a valued member of the Wal- thersProto family. While modelers will need to overlook some Phase limi- tations on this particular offering, I think most Southern Railway fans will be quite pleased with the as-delivered appearance of these high-nose freight haulers, which faithfully served the South for 30 years. — DAVID OTTE
Wm. K. Walthers, Inc. P.O. Box 3039
Milwaukee, WI 53218 414-527-0770
www.walthers.com
JUNE 2015 93
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