Yard Tractor Project

GHQ's Yard Tractor Project

By Gil Brauch

all photos by the author

I don’t know how I got on this intermodal kick, but I seem to be spending more time lately modeling trucks and trailers than trains. I guess Alan Curtis’ great intermodal models started it off – and the momentum just built up from there. Sort of like getting the narrow gauge bug and moving from Nn3 to On3 – but that’s a whole other story from a different guy, isn’t it……..

Anyway, after I built a few container chassis, I discovered that I needed something to haul them with. That’s when I remembered that I had a GHQ Ottawa Yard Tractor in the project box, so I dug it out and gave it a whack. Photo 1 shows how the parts look right out of the box.

Overhead view of the project

Photo 1. GHQ Yard Tractor parts right out of the blister.

They are really very clean of flash and required only a minimum of filing to get them ready for assembly. I decided that I would assemble the chassis parts and then paint the three basic sub-assemblies before putting the whole thing together. The instructions are clear, but you should read them through before starting.

The cab is basically a single unit. The spotting post and exhaust stack are the only attachments. I decided to paint the cab itself before attaching these two parts, since I can get pretty ham-handed and didn’t want to break them off in the painting process. Likewise, the driver insert (that’s the piece in the middle of the top row in Photo 1) is a single piece.

The chassis is a whole other story. Assembly requires attaching the front wheels and the outside rear duals. GHQ even provides extra ones just in case you drop one and can’t find it. You also have to attach the fifth wheel and support. I used Granddad’s Maxi-Cure (with the purple cap) to put the pieces together. Getting the fifth wheel on lift mechanism takes a little patience, but its all pretty straightforward.

I chose to paint the cab yellow with a silver roof and trim highlights. I put black trim on the windows and filled them in with Microscale’s Micro Crystal Clear. That stuff makes really good window glass. The driver had to settle for brown hair, a red shirt, and no eyes, mouth, and nose (I ain’t no Rutherford when it comes to detail painting). The chassis is Grimy Black with black tires, silver rims, silver trim, and black details. The results before final assembly are in Photo 2.

Endview of the project

Photo 2. Sub-assemblies prior to final assembly.

The parts on the etched panel on the right of the bottom row are the rear view mirrors and support struts for the spotting post. Just above them to the right is the rear flap assembly.

Final assembly was easy. First you put the three major sub-assemblies together – driver into the cab; cab and driver onto the chassis. Then you attach the rear flaps, spotting post, and exhaust stack. You are now finished except for the final details. Let the tractor set up good (overnight is best) before adding them.

The final details are the supports for the spotting post, the right and left side mirrors, and a hand grab by the driver’s door, which are all etched parts. The instructions are very clear about how to do this. However, these are really small parts and a lot of patience is in order. I don’t have any special tips to make it easier, just take your time and follow instructions. The results make the model look really good as you can see from Photos 3 and 4.

Sideview of the project

Photos 3 and 4. Right and left side views of finished tractor.

I am pleased with this addition to my growing intermodal fleet. Hope this little write-up will inspire you to give a GHQ kit a shot. Getting started is the hardest part.