Lionel SD28 or SD18???

Lionel SD-18's are the same body as a GP-20 with the round roof but 6 wheel trucks.

True....I forgot about the roof shape. Reading more a SD28 was about the same externally as a SD35.....I'll need to read up some more! THX

Dave:

The SD28 was, more or less, a normally aspirated variant of the turbocharged SD35. A very limited number - 12, I believe - of SD28s were built and half of them were exported to Korea.

Bob 

Good job, always glad to see one brought back to life..

Rod

Regarding the traction issue, the earliest versions of the Lionel SD-18 were built with the wheels with the traction tires smaller in diameter than one or both of the other wheelsets. This led to the traction tires not being fully in contact with the rails, with obvious negative results for pulling power. There are several possible solutions, depending on skill levels and access to machine tools.

-- Replace some or all of the wheelsets. You would need to be sure of the wheel diameter.

-- Turn down the oversize wheels.

-- Replace the power truck with a later version. Lionel did eventually fix the problem. 

-- Install thicker traction tires, if you can find them.

The SD28 is essentially a non-turbo version of the SD35, according to Wikipedia. On yours you can see the non-turbo exhaust stacks. I'm wondering if the actual SD28 would have only two radiator fans?

Your model version looks shorter than scale, sort of like an SDL38. Anyhow, a good loco for the pike. And that's my kind of project, gutting the bad electronics to get it going again.

Yes, the SZD28 (and its four axle cousin the GP28) have only two radiator fans.

Stuart

Your model version looks shorter than scale

It is short, very short.  It is a post war length Geep stamped frame with six axle trucks and a short fuel tank to allow room for the long trucks.  The model a hold over from the MPC era SD18 when anything new and slightly different seemed cool.  By the 90s we had scale proportioned SD9 and the times they were a changin'. 

Dave

Good luck getting her running.

The sd28 runs like a top today. But as Southwest noted it has little traction....and the fix is WAY to much work to make it work.  So I will see how it works in the real world but it may become a dummy if I can't fix the traction issue.

Thanks

Is it possible to fit some lead weight inside? I've done that with most of my HO locos to improve traction substantially, without traction tires. I've used various fishing weight material cut to fit available spaces. Or pair it up with another powered unit, like I do with the Lionel FA locos.

I like the way it sort-off resembles an SDL38.

I'm gonna try....I have a box of fishing weights I use on scratchbuilt cars etc.....but it does seem the traction tire wheels are a different diameter that the others.....making it a hard fix. Thanks

To second Ace's suggestion, adding weight is a common aid to traction issues with traditional Geeps. I've done it a number of times with noticeable improvement.