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	This page deals with the conversion of an N gauge Kato SD40-2 into a reasonably accurate representation of a Southern Pacific SD40T tunnel motor. Plans are now in hand to do an SD40T snoot nose version in the later SP livery.The photos for this conversion will replace those below. A list of reference material and web links has been added to the bottom of this page.

	The starting point of the conversion is this Union Pacific Kato SD40-2 with dynamic brake housing.
	After studying a number of photos of SP tunnel motors it was found that the most suitable point to cut the unwanted part of the long hood was 3 door panels away from the end of the dynamic brake housing. These doors are of different sizes and although they are in the wrong order for a tunnel motor it was felt that cutting the doors and repositioning them would look worse than leaving them as they are. Part of the removed hood will be needed for door sections. The remaining fan on top and grilles on the sides were then filed down smooth as shown, ready for filling with plastic sheet and filler.
	The holes left after removing the fan and the side grille have now been filled and filed smooth ready for the new panel lines to be scribed on. The new hood has been created from plastic sheet filed to profile by studying photos and the side grilles produced by A1 models of Nottingham England have been stuck on. The double doors are from the redundant part of the original hood fixed at a lower level. I would have liked to have the distinctive see through effect of these grilles as per the prototype but as the motor block obscures part of the grille I decided that they would not be see through at this stage. However if I change my mind later , these grilles (stuck on with Superglue) could be removed and the hole cut in the plastic.
	The grilles to the top of the hood have been cut out of larger etched brass grilles designed for a different loco. The brake housing on the nose has been filled with plastic filler. The new brake wheel is etched brass.
	As I have run out of ready made air conditioner units I resorted to making this and other detail from plastic sheet using photos from the Tunnel Motor website listed below. The fuel tank has been lengthened using plastic sheet filed to profile. The tank is still not quite long enough as trucks would foul a longer tank. The first attempt to make the panels above the air intake grilles were made from paper but after coating with paint they did not look right. The second attempt was by using wafer thin brass sheet. The result was a lot better but unfortunately this photo does not show these very clearly. The loco has now been painted in SP Gray using Accurail acrlic paint. Normally I spray the locos but in this case I have hand brushed it. After the loco numbers are added the loco will be sprayed with matt varnish then weathered.
	The finished tunnel motor emerges from the tunnel on California Coast layout. An AtlasSD35R is at the rear.
	Websites The Jollys Tunnel motor website was very useful for doing this conversion as there are photos of many tunnel motors including some of the roof detail.	Reference Material Southern Pacific in Transition published by Four Ways West. Southern Pacific 1995 Motive Power Annual published by Four Ways West. Southern Pacific Rails Motive Power Finale published by White River Productions. The Contemporary Diesel Spotters Guide 2nd edition ( page 65) published by Kalmach. Air intake Grilles used are by A1 Models: UK address 111Anston Avenue, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, S81 7JF US address21890 Rambling Road, Grass Valley, California, 95945 The top grilles are cut from any suitable larger grilles for HO / OO etc The antena detail is by Sunrise Enterprises. Other details supplied by them have been used on a number of other locos.