BCOL C44-9WL Canadian Cab?

[fullsteam88]

I was thinking a BC Rail Dash 9 would make some really cool run through power for a different project to do.  I would really like to do one of the Canadian Safety Cab versions (C44-9WL) to really make it a fun kit.  I was wondering if anybody knew of any resin or brass cabs readily available to help make this bash a little more possible.  I attached a photo below for those they may not know what cab I am talking about (photo credit to Shawn Levy).

Thanks,
Ryan

[Hyperion]

Kaslo made a cab kit for this unit.  You may check when Central who always seems to list Kaslo stuff, and see if they have any in stock.  I haven't heard a peep from the actual Kaslo in years, but their stuff seems to pop up every once in a while, so they may still be making their existing items, I'm not sure.

http://www.central-hobbies.com/products/kasloshops.html#NCab

You may also be interested in the Dash-8CM project that was announced a couple weeks ago for "preorders" of sorts.  More people wanting kits is always better.  It's a full cowl unit, which is even more of a "different" project to do.

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=29511.0

[flight2000]

Kaslo made a cab kit for this unit.  You may check when Central who always seems to list Kaslo stuff, and see if they have any in stock.  I haven't heard a peep from the actual Kaslo in years, but their stuff seems to pop up every once in a while, so they may still be making their existing items, I'm not sure.

http://www.central-hobbies.com/products/kasloshops.html#NCab

Yep, Kaslo makes the cab, but they can be finicky to work with.  I did this CN unit with one of their cabs.  Not bad overall, but I had a hard time getting the cab to fully sit down on the sill.



Brian

[Catt]

I've used the Kaslo cab with no problems but then there are time I get lucky.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

So what's the story with the Canada only versions of the wide cabs? Were the normal OEM ones not good enough?

[Hyperion]

So what's the story with the Canada only versions of the wide cabs? Were the normal OEM ones not good enough?

CN in particular was rapidly moving towards standardizing the cab across their entire fleet.  But, at some point, it became clear that the added cost of the Comfort/Safety Cab wasn't worth the premium when the OEM's began offering their own widecab designs that were 95% of the same thing and included in the base price.  With the Dash-8, the widecab was still optional, so the added price of the Canadian cab over the OEM one probably wasn't that much, so they continued with their own.  But once wide cabs became standard-equipment on the Dash-9s (NS ordered them without, but being oddballs, I imagine they actually paid more for less in that case) the cost to 'upgrade' to the Canadian cab just didn't make a ton of sense apparently.  They ordered some Dash-9s that way, probably while they worked on getting the unions/rules/safety groups on board with the different design.  As the original Canadian Cab was designed with a lot of employee input, I'm sure there was some internal pushback when they went away from them; plus I believe there were rules stating that a comfort cab should be used whenever possible, that probably had to have their verbiage modified to extend to OEM wide cabs -- a process that takes entirely longer than it should.

[lock4244]

So what's the story with the Canada only versions of the wide cabs? Were the normal OEM ones not good enough?

There were no OEM comfort cabs available in 1973 when the first CN units so equipped (M420's) rolled off the assembly line in Montreal. One of the drawbacks of the OEM cabs, or so the story goes, is that the CN four piece windshield was supposed to lessen the chance of debris entering the cab in a collision, whereas the OEM's with their two (and early ones with three) piece were 'less safe' in a collision. YMMV. The last units build with the CN cab were the BCOL and CN C44-9WL's of 1994, and the first CN units with an OEM cab were the SD70I's of 1995. CN became a publicly traded company in 1995... coincidence?

[cv_acr]

The only other wide-nose cabs that had been built at that point (i.e. UP's DD40Xs) didn't have the crash safety features (heavy crash posts, plate steel front walls) that modern safety cabs have. They just had a larger nose. (Note also that all the CN units equipped with the wide-nose safety cabs also have heavy anticlimbers on the front pilots.)

CN was the first railway to design and specify this type of wide-nose cab. The very first unit built with this type of cab was a GP38-2, the last unit in an order that was otherwise built with standard cabs. This was closely followed by a full production batch of M420Ws. Then more GP38-2Ws, SD40-2Ws, GP40-2Ls and so on.

[Scottl]

The Kaslo cabs are easy to work with.  Here is an assortment of Kaslo cabs and a shell, C44-9WL in the middle.

[lock4244]

CN was the first railway to design and specify this type of wide-nose cab. The very first unit built with this type of cab was a GP38-2, the last unit in an order that was otherwise built with standard cabs. This was closely followed by a full production batch of M420Ws. Then more GP38-2Ws, SD40-2Ws, GP40-2Ls and so on.

Always thought the M420's came first, but the 5560 clearly has an earlier built date. Fascinating.

[cv_acr]

Yep. The M420Ws were delivered before the _second_ batch of GP38-2s, the ones with the safety cab.

The 5560 was the last unit of the _first_ order of CN GP38-2s and the only one from that batch to feature the safety cab. I've seen a photo in an old book somewhere before of a press event with a huge banner on the side of the engine proclaiming the first unit delivered with the newly designed cab, and it was the GP38-2(W) 5560.

[lock4244]

Yep. The M420Ws were delivered before the _second_ batch of GP38-2s, the ones with the safety cab.

The 5560 was the last unit of the _first_ order of CN GP38-2s and the only one from that batch to feature the safety cab. I've seen a photo in an old book somewhere before of a press event with a huge banner on the side of the engine proclaiming the first unit delivered with the newly designed cab, and it was the GP38-2(W) 5560.

Was she the one with non-standard black lettering on the cab-side?

[cv_acr]

Could be. It's over a decade since I last saw that particular photo.

[BCOL 747]

Hi Ryan

Here is one that I did a few years back using the Kaslo cab. It can be a little finicky but it generally fits pretty well. When building 4642 don’t forget to reduce the height of the railing and remove the foot guards at the rear of the conductor’s side of the cab. They are different from a stock Kato C44-9W.

Chris

[Scottl]

I like the BCR version as well, nice work.  Are those sulphur cars following the train?