BC&W GP15-1 Patching

BC&W GP15-1 Patching (ex Missouri Pacific)

In 1984, to handle increased traffic, the BC&W Railroad purchased an EMD GP15-1 from the Missouri Pacific and did a patching job.

Since there was no time to repaint the locomotive in the Buffalo Creek & Western green and yellow scheme, the railroad decided to quickly patch the engine and keep its original road number so it could enter service right away.

I started removing the MoPac logo using Microscale Micro-Sol. I soaked a small piece of tissue and placed it over the logo for about thirty minutes.

Then, I used a piece of tape to lift the decal by pressing it gently to make it adhere and slowly peeling it off.

The logo came off cleanly with the tape.

After that, I carefully removed the small remaining residues with my fingernail.

I masked the Athearn Genesis GP15-1 locomotive to cover the MoPac logo area on the cab side and painted the patch white. Before applying the paint, I sprayed a light coat of flat clear to seal the masking tape. Then I airbrushed the white patch.

After that, I sprayed on a thin layer of gloss varnish over the patched area to create a smooth surface for the BC&W logo.

Lettering

I carefully placed the decal over the white patch and dabbed some Micro-Sol on it to soften the film. Then, I let it dry overnight.

I decided to add BC&W lettering to the sides of the locomotive. For this, I used a set of custom decals I had designed and printed for the project.

After applying the decals using the traditional method, I brushed on a layer of Micro Sol. At this stage, it is important not to touch the decal until it is completely dry.

Once the first layer dried, I applied another coat and repeated the process two more times.

This technique ensures the decal softens properly and conforms to all the small irregularities on the locomotive side panels.

I really did not like how the small logo fit on the white patch, so I decided to remove the decal and replace it with a slightly larger one.

Numberboards

While masking the windows and numberboards, I accidentally removed one of the front numberboards. When I tried to reattach the small plastic piece with the 1562 road number, I damaged part of the printed digits.

I removed all the numbers and installed lightable Microscale numberboards to match the factory ones. Unfortunately, the decal font did not match the printed style, and I was not satisfied with the result.

So, I designed my own numberboard decals, just as I had done for the BC&W GP9, and applied those instead. The result looks great and matches the other Buffalo Creek & Western locomotive perfectly.

Ready for weathering.