Power on the Southside

Just a quick look at the two locomotives I have assigned on the Southside Spur layout. A third will arrive eventually, once Atlas releases those GP40-2's that were due December of LAST YEAR. Anyway, I currently have the brand new release of Proto 2000 GP38-2 in the Boxcar Logo scheme, as well as the 2005 release of Atlas's GP40-2 in YN3. Hopefully I'll get around to making a pair of GP39-2's in the future, as these were the most common on the Southside. My current locos both have DCC installed. The 38 has a Digitrax DN163L0A, and the 40 has a TCS AMD4. A little work was needed to get the contact to be firm for constant electric current, but all in all they were easy installs. The next GP40-2 will be released in June this year and will come DCC Equipped with an NCE 2-Function decoder. I may save sound decoder ventures for a future HO scale layout.

Proto 2000 GP38-2 on the left, Atlas GP40-2 on the right.

Proto 2000 GP38-2 sitting with its old factory board removed. The locomotives are well worth the money now that the new release is truly DCC Ready, and comes standard with MT couplers. The old release required hard-wiring.

Southside spur locals most commonly operated with a pair of matched GP39-2's of GP40-2's, but a GP38-2 will suffice until the new GP40-2 arrives from Atlas, or I build some GP39-2's.