[?]

When I think of GM switchers, I think of CN, not Canadian Pacific.  CP had a small fleet of GM switchers, and ten of them were SW-8s.  SW-8s and SW-9s were normally found in Ontario, while the SW-900 fleet was assigned to Alberta.  I lived in Saskatchewan most of my life and I never saw a CP GM switcher.  So why did I paint one? Just for curiosity's sake.  I find that the CP GM units look best in the script scheme, and I'm happy with the way this one turned out.  I didn't paint this unit entirely myself.  I thank Keith Brown for spraying on the initial coats of Tuscan Red and grey.  I was a little leery about doing this paint scheme myself, but after getting a good look at the pattern I later did a couple other locos in script. The yellow stripes on the pilots were hand painted due to the fact that C-D-S decal sets don't come with pilot stripes.  Any engines that have crooked pilot stripes get a good dose of grime overtop to hide the irregularity.  The colours tend to vary on this loco because there is a combination of Testors, AccuPaint, and Badger Model Flex paint on it.  What I find more interesting in this photo is the gondola the switcher is pulling.  I bought some Testors rust paint and tried my hand at weathering an Athearn fifty foot gondola that I painted in CP.  Now all I need is a scrap load.

Make:
Athearn

Detail Parts:
Detail Associates  1601 Nathan M3 Three Chime Horn
Juneco  C-17 CN GP Awning
Juneco  C-32 Diesel & Caboose Antenna
M.V. Products  LS-17 Headlight Lenses for Athearn SW-7

Decals:
C-D-S Lettering  HO-296 CP diesel switcher - script lettering, c. 1965