VRR 0901- Building an HO scale Spaceship!!

So I have a confession to make......I cant find my HO scale 3025 right now.........It is lost in a box that I haven't unpacked yet or its back at my parents home......


BUT NEVER FEAR!!!!!  I have another project to work on while I try to locate that box. I have mentioned before that I am partial to steam engines when it comes to models and real life trains. However I do have a soft spot for a few diesels, especially those that I have worked with and on. 

Down at the Valley they have a small collection of General Electric 80 Ton Locomotives, including the star of this project and as far as we know prototype to the class, Engine 0901.

While it has the same overall size and power it definitely dose not share the same shape as her younger sisters. 

0901 on the right

She has a shorter and squared off hood design and makes different noises as she rumbles down the track. One engineer compared it to a spaceship as it chugged up and down the line. But spaceship or not she is a Valley Engine and make it a contender for HO scale modeling in my book. There is only one little,  tiny, itty-bitty problem about that........no company ( to my knowledge) has made an HO scale 80 Tonner......

What to do, what to do.....well I did what most would due in this day and age, I googled it!! and actually found a article someone wrote about modeling a U.S. ARMY 80 ton GE locomotive. If I find the link to the article ( may have been taken down) I will post it at the end of this post. But the main point is that they used a Bachmann 70 tonner body and motor as a base. I measured 0901's length in real life and scaled it down to HO scale and they are right only off by about 2 inches or so. Close enough in my books!!

So I have wheels and a motor but I am going to need to create the body somehow.. I can try building it out of plastic card or something similar but I want there to be some details. If only there was some why i could draw it in my cpu and print it out in 3D?!?!??

Oh wait!!! I think I have just such an printer I got for Christmas. So using some nice photos I found on Lee's Facbook Page. (If you like the VRR you should really check this out!!) and measurements off the actual 0901 I started.

The start of my Madness: 2 CPUs, calculator, engineering paper,
pencils, and the HO scale 70 Tonner.

Boo, our new little kitty, decided he was going to help me as well....
By getting in my way.

And after a few hours of work here is what I have so far: 

Not much but its a start.  Now enough talk and back to modeling. But until then; See ya real Soon!!!