The reasons for this model are a bit different. My good friends Phil Clark (from Alton, England) and Craig Zeni (from Cary, North Carolina) are indirectly responsible. Phil was visiting the 'States for an Historical society convention and spending some time hanging out with Craig. He had asked me if I wanted anything bringing back ("Could you hire an Antonov transport airplane?") and, being gracious and thinking of Phil's excess baggage I had asked for some Hi-Tech Details cab and hood kits which hadn't made the UK at that time. Craig very kindly gave Phil a high short hood kit from his own stock when Phil couldn't find anything so I felt obliged to use it for something appropriate.
I was planning to visit Craig in September 1999 as he was hosting the SMRF convention (Southeastern Model Railroad Federation or something similar) in Cary so what could I stick it on? A second hand Atlas U33C seemed to be the answer but I found all the problems when I started to look closely! A Hi-Tech cab and the nose unit from Craig solved the problems at the short hood end but this still left two major areas of concern. The trucks required some modification to match the prototype. Holes were filled and other holes drilled, additional air lines fitted and the centre axle damper removed. Starting to look better.
I had begun to feel better and was starting to cotemplate final detailing like the walkway lights (cobbled together from some Detail West parts and wire - somewhat overscale. Nowadays I would use the new Cannon parts with some modifications) when I discovered a major flaw in the creation of the Southern U33C model. The Atlas model seems to be based on the body shell of a Southern Pacific prototype in the layout of grilles at the long hood end under the radiator griles. Looking at photos it was a perfect match for the SP engines - but not the SRR! The grille nearest to the camera in the photo below was originally near the level of the walkway on both sides. What was to be done? I eventually cut the grille and its attached door out from either side and replaced them upside down on the opposite sides. It worked! A quick coat of paint and some decals (well, quite a lot actually) and the loco was off to Cary with me. (Virgin Atlantic managed to knock off a cab sunshade but it stood up to being in the hold reasonably well)
