The Prototype

ALCO and their Canadian affiliate Montreal Locomotive Works completely redesigned their road locomotive line in 1962, creating the Century Series. The C-424 (Century series – 4 axle / 2400 hp) was among the first models offered, along with the C-420 and the C-624 (never built as it was quickly replaced by the C-628). The first C-424 was not built in Schenectady NY, rather it rolled out of Montreal on April 29th, 1963 as CP #8300 (renumbered to 4200 in 1964). It became the first of an eventual 51 unit fleet (CP 4200 – 4250) as CP found the C-424 more reliable than General Motor’s competing model, the GP35. When coupled with the 41 units Canadian National went on the purchase, the combined 92 built by MLW actually exceeded the entire number of C-424 diesels produced by ALCO for US domestic carriers (53 units). The C-424 was an MLW success story.

The Model

CP 4203 was kitbashed by Anthony Fletcher from an Atlas MLW-version model. Though it’s a decent representation of a Canadian C-424, there are some inaccuracies to fix and extra details to add if one wishes to build an authentic model. Anthony followed the instructions from the blog of Dan Dl’Uo to re-create his version of CP 4203. He even went a step further by hacking out the rear exhaust radiators and rebuilt them with tongue-and-groove styrene, along with a photo-etched walkway supported by three styrene risers. This model is equipped with DCC-sound, and Anthony even hollowed out the exhaust port on the roof to help amplify the chugging of the digital ALCO 251 prime mover inside.