I recently converted a Walthers GP15-1 into what I call a 'GP15-2'. The story goes like this:

I was looking for information and pictures of GP15-1's that had dynamic brakes. Most of the pics I found showed plain GP15-1's with no dynamics. I did find a few pics of GP15T's (turbocharged version of the GP15-1) that had dynamics that CSX had bought from EMD. I liked how they looked liked 'baby tunnel-motors' and decided that the CSRR needed one for road service. Nearly all locomotives in road service on the CSRR have dynamic brakes and I wanted it to be turbo charged. Building a GP15T would have been a major project requiring extensive modifications to the engine hood doors as well as the top of the long hood where the dynamic brake housing is and to the air box behind the cab. Instead I set out to build my version of a GP15-1 with dynamics using a Walthers GP15-1 as a starting point.

First I removed the plain hood section from the Walthers GP15-1. I had planned on using an Athearn GP38-2 dynamic brake housing but I had used up the few I had on hand for my SP GP38-2 project. I did have the dynamic brake housings that I had removed from the Atlas/Roco/ConCor (ARC) GP38's that I had used in the SP 38-2 project. It turned out that the ARC housings were very close to the same width as the Walthers GP15-1 long hood.

I modified the ARC housing by first cutting out the small door section ahead of the grill openings. This also eliminated one of the exhaust stacks. I then removed the remaining exhaust stack, cleaned up the cuts and applied a small amount of putty where the other stack was. I glued the shortened flared section at location where the door section was removed. I added some styrene to the underside of the joint for strength. Next I carefully sanded the sides of the Walthers GP15-1 plain hood section. I sanded the sides to a slight taper as the ARC housing was slightly narrower. I also removed the exhaust stacks from the plain hood section. When I had the correct width I cemented the plain hood section to the modified ARC housing and set it aside to dry.

After it had dried completely, I marked the plain hood section of new dynamic brake housing where the cut needed to be made. I made it just slightly longer than the opening in the Walthers shell. I cleaned up the cut with a file and sanded the new housing to it's final length. I then glued the new housing to the Walthers shell. I applied some putty to the joints and set it aside to dry.

I used a modified Details Associates SD24 turbo stack glued to a small rectangle of .015" styrene to serve as a mounting plate for the stack and set this aside. The CSX GP15T's have a boxy section behind the inertial air intake grills similiar to the GP38-2's. This is where I got the 'dash-2' designation for the GP15-2. I used .030" styrene to build a boxy section by laminating the styrene to the sides of the plain hood section behind the intake grills. I fabricated an access door using .010" styrene for the door and bits of wire for the hinge and latches. I then added the new turbo exhaust stack and installed a new dynamic brake vent.

Finally I finish sanded the joints in preparation for super detailing. This unit will be detailed similar to standard SP practice (type and placement of lights) as well as GP15-1 specific details. It will be painted CSRR yellow and gray.