 Here is the SW8 as it was on ebay. Photo is by Justin. |
 The body, motor, electronics and cab weight have been removed. |
1. Building the New Body |
 I cut an MTH bay window caboose body by sectioning out the bay window location and inserting a piece of another MTH bay window caboose body. |
 The three sections spent 24 hours in IPA and then I scrubbed the paint off and rinsed them with dish soap and hot water. I built a base to hold the pieces in alignment while I glued them together. |
 The bottom of an Atlas three bay hopper car was chopped and the two outer bays glued together. The flanges and airlines were filed off and the entire assembly filed flat on the edges. I have marked the cut out area on the roof. |
  Here is the roof with full greeble. |
 A peek at what the loco looks like before the motor and the wiring are added. |
 The end window and handrails installed. |
 The end weight was epoxied to the inside of the roof. A thick piece of styrene has been added to mount the body to the chassis. |
 On the other end of the body, the heatsink is mounted to the thick styrene body mount piece. |
 The body in primer. Roof details removed and side doors added. |
2. Rebuilding the Chassis |
 The underside showing the Kadee coupler mounting. A styrene coupler holder fits over the stock Atlas coupler mounting holes, and a 2-56 screw goes through the Kadee pocket and into the most outward coupler mounting hole. The Kadee cannot pivot as it sets in the coupler holder. |
 The pilot with the space between the steps filled in and the Kadee couler installed. |
 The pilot is finished and Kadee couler knuckle installed. Painted gloss black and then sprayed with Testors Dullcote. The white stripes are Microscale 1/8" White Stripes. Pilot still needs details such as lift bars, end railings and side railings. |
 The new third rail pickup mount was made from a 2-56 screw and a nylon insert nut. The stock arrangement broke when I tried to remove it. The screw was cut off once everything was in place. |
 Here is the center of the chassis with the air tanks removed and the cast in mounting lug ground off. |
 The powers trucks were taken apart, cleaned and regreased. The motor reinstalled. An electrical distribution board was made from thick styrene and two brass strips, glued to the styrene. Holes were drilled and tapped for 2-56 screws,to which the motor and truck wires attach. The new board mounts into the holes to which the stock circuit board was mounted. |
 The truck wires and the motor wires attached to the board. One ground wire was made and attached to each truck. There are two extra screws in the event lighting becomes a priority. Wires are wrapped with a strip of Velcro so they will stay in place. Chassis was tested and ran great (I run 3 rail with DC power). |
3. Painting |
 The body has been painted and the decals applied. |
4. Completed Model |
 Side view. The detail replacing the air cylinders between the trucks was made from a G scale old time air cylinder, an HO air conditioner, and HO brake components.  The end railing is from a Lionel RS-3. The headlight is a brass casting.  The top. |