GP40X for the JSSX

We'll get to the GP40X in  a minute, but,

First up this week is this nifty picture from the bakery module that Brian Smith is putting together.  Brian explains that the owner of the bakery is a classic car buff, and that the Pontiac Bonneville belongs to him.

The "Mandalay Red" sure adds a nice bright splash of colour to the scene.  Just look at that car. I bet that riding down the highway in a real one of those would have been like floating on a cloud.  Great choice Brian !

I have sold off a few of my locomotives over the past 18 months or so, but I still have plenty left that I rotate on and off of the layout.  And I have been trying pretty hard to not buy any more.  That said, I've often thought that adding a high-hood geep the JSSX would be a real nice addition for the shortline. So when one came up for sale on the internet about 10 days ago, I made an offer for it which was accepted.

This GP40X arrived here on Wednesday. Here's a few photos...

Five chime horns at both ends

Flared radiators

The seller did advise that there was some damage to the handrails at this end of the locomotive. I can get a replacement set of handrails for it, and didn't really think of that as being a big deal.  I've broken handrails myself too.

However, the seller did not mention that there are other problems as well that have taken the "shine" off of my new locomotive for me.

There's a hole that has been drilled into the top of the hood above the cab (should have snapped a photo of that to show here too).  I'm thinking that it was done to install an antenna, but there's no antenna in the box.

One of the hangers is broken off of one of the trucks.  Maybe that happened during shipping, because the broken piece was in the box.

And the truck at the long end of the hood rolls with quite a rhythmic thump, and can be seen lurching with each thump.  So, I'll have to find what's causing that, and hopefully be able to fix the problem.

To sum up, as Charlie Brown would say...Rats...