EMD made the 2250 HP GP30 from 1961 to 1963. It was essentially the first “second generation” EMD diesel locomotive. They were built well, and many continue in service to this day.
Chicago Great Western ordered 8 GP30s in 1963. These were the first units to wear the red and black paint. Mine was undec, and I painted it.
DETAIL- I’ve got 2 GP30s and the shells are different, one has the rear ladder cast on the shell, the other has grab irons. The one w/ irons also has directional lighting; the one w/ cast on irons has no lighting. Please note this doesn’t refer to the modeler-installed hand rails, but the irons for the ladder on the back that would be used to climb on the roof of the engine.(hope it’s not too confusing[:)]) This review will refer to the one w/ lights. I’d say detail is about like Athearn BB, maybe a bit better. It does have a crew in the cab, but the crew is attached to the frame.
RUNNING- I was very impressed with how good it ran, considering I only paid $20 for it. It has a decent size motor with dual brass flywheels. Its very heavy, as it has a very large “split-frame”. This also provides directional lighting because the contact strip for the headlight will touch one side of the frame, the contact strip for the rear light touches the other. It’s a pretty cool setup for DC [swg].It was very quiet, with the only noise coming from a driveshaft that rattled slightly. It’s much quieter than Athearn’s RTR drive. It ran steady at 3.71 scale MPH… Its top speed is about 118 SMPH, a bit fast for a GP30[:p]. It accelerates smoothly. Because of the heavy frame it pulls good. Mine pulled 10 “non free rolling” Tyco cars up a very slight grade with little or no slip.
This is a short review, but I can’t think of much else to say except, If you like Athearn BB, you’ll love this Spectrum GP30.
Those helically cut nylon gears are really quiet, aren’t they?[:D] I got to work on my uncle’s old Bachmann GP30 with a modified Roco drive a while ago, and the detailing wasn’t bad at all![:D] If the new GP30s came without DCC installed, (it would be $15 cheaper that way) I’d probably consider getting one.[:D]
Yes, almost all Spectrums have brass flywheels.[:D] The only ones in HO I can think of that don’t have flywheels are: the first runs of 44 and 70 tonners, and the K4 4-6-2. The flywheels are also perfectly balanced and cause no vibration.[:D]
DSF, I don’t think Bachmann spectrum makes a GP30 anymore. only the standard line, which I wouldn’t touch with a 40’ pole. Yes, the gears are quiet. There is no gear noise.
Bachmann does make the GP30 and GP35 still which is they same drive as the Spectrum including the motors dingoix. From what I have read lately about Bachmann they are trying to be a good engine at a decent price. Walthers has them listed in the their 2006 catalog ubder the plain Bachmann line, but they ers the same animal as the Spectrum models. I have 2 GP30’s and 2 GP35’s, the drives are identical to each other, and 2 of them are older models and the other 2 are new ones I buoght this winter.
As far as the plain old line, I bought 2 of the F units that they have out now from a freind of mine, these puppies run really nice but are not the DCC units, they run just as slow as the better units and acheive a really good slow speed response on the track. The newer GP 50’s, and 40’s I am told run just as good. The one set back for Bachmann is the DCC system is pretty weak though.
Don’t besilly! One of the first locomotives I converted to DCC was my 1989 vintage Bachman Spectrum GP-30. If you’re afraid of soldering it might be tough, but just study it out and do. It’s not that bad. I also converted an O L D Athearn SD-9 (or SD-7 or whatever it is) with excellent results. Like the Nike spots used to say, “just do it.”
Jeff,
I have many Spectrums that I purchased all on eBay. They are all going to be converted to DCC. I have not done one yet, but I will be removing the light board and tossing it (more space created). I will run LED’s in place of the light board. I am going to use TCS decoders in all of my conversion (Athearn,Bachman,P2K, and Atlas). As you probably know the Bachmann loco’s have a split frame. The frame halves are electrically isolated from one another by a plastic t-nut. I am a hardwire kind of person (soldering). No clips or other gadgets . What I do is split the frame making note of right & left halves. I then am going to drill and tap a small srew hole to each of the frame halves noting front right and front left. Then I will use a small screw in the hole that I have tapped on each half and install a red wire onto the right half for electrical pickup and a black wire to the left half for electrical pickup. These two wires will then be soldered to my TCS decoder ala black to black and red to red. Remember to keep the motor electrically isolated from touching the frame. Since Bachmann locomotives have front and rear electrical pickups on both sides to the split frame there is no need to run two sets of wire for electrical pickup to the decoder as the frame already accomplishes this for you. If you think that you will be pushed for space TCS makes a mini decoder named the M1 and it is a two function micro decoder for HO. You can find their products everywhere and the website is tcsdcc.com . I happen to use the TCS T1 hardwired decoder and it is a two function decoder. Good luck[;)]
The Funits that are being produced right now are 8 wheel drive units, but know fly wheels. The GP 30’s and GP35’s that are being made right now have shared drives that are identical and both have fly wheels.
As I said though the GP50, GP40, and another new model being made by Bachmann, I don’t know if they have the flywheels or not.
I picked up a new Spectrum GP35 at a swap meet for $20. I have been impressed with the detailing. All of the grab irons and similar details are add on, not molded into the body. It runs very smoothly and creeps as good as anything else. One problem, it is noisy. I have had it apart several times with no success. After reading some of the above comments, I better take another run at it. I don’t understand the comment, “Those helically cut nylon gears are really quiet, aren’t they?” The gears on mine are square cut, parallel to the shaft. What should this tell me, or am I missing something?
Appreciate the review dingoix. Would like to see more of these.
