In preparation for starting up a LEGO Train and City layout, I wanted to create a small, Power Function controlled center-cab switcher for use in a train yard.   I used the GE-65 Ton center-cab for inspiration, but it's not an accurate model of that example.   I wanted to utilize 4-wide hoods on both sides of the 6-wide cab.  This presented challenges with the incorporation of Power Functions components.   Utilizing lessons learned from LEGO 3677, I did my best to "hide" the PF components as much as possible.   Working from the DBG color of the battery box, I used that as the primary color, with red as the secondary color, and some accent lines in LBG.   I used a 24-stud train base, and didn't lengthen it at all, since the desire was to keep this as short as possible.   The cab section is least realistic, however, I was working with parts on hand, and wanted to ensure that a minifig and some controls were able to fit.  Constructive criticism is welcomed.

So where did you hide all of the PF??? (grin) Seriously though, excellent work, harks back to 3677.

Nice work, definitely feels like 3677, which is good. Whenever I'm building a 4-wide section with the battery box, such as for a BR Class 08, I will tend to cheat and cover it with some paper of the same colour as the rest of the model. You, however, have created a locomotive without any modification or cheating, and it looks pretty good. Well done!
Have you considered putting lights in it?

Very nice and truly a tight fit for all that PF!

  On 1/25/2018 at 10:04 AM, ColletArrow said:

Nice work, definitely feels like 3677, which is good. Whenever I'm building a 4-wide section with the battery box, such as for a BR Class 08, I will tend to cheat and cover it with some paper of the same colour as the rest of the model. You, however, have created a locomotive without any modification or cheating, and it looks pretty good. Well done!
Have you considered putting lights in it?

I have considered lights, but I don't currently have any.   If I did light it, I'd have to change the way the front (or rear) panels attach to the locomotive.   Currently I'm using part 44728 - Bracket 1x2 - 2x2, in pairs to attach the front panels.  Since those brackets are solid, I'd have to modify the design in order to incorporate some headlight or technic bricks for the lights, while still providing a SNOT connection for the rest of the front panel.   One of these days, I'll place a bulk order for lights from SAH.   I'm also not really pleased with the LBG from the IR receiver, as it distracts from the congruity of the color scheme when comparing both hoods.   But it was very challenging to incorporate the IR receiver in such a way that all of the wiring stayed hidden and space inside the cab for a minifigure was maintained.   The only other possible alternative was to rotate the IR receiver 90 degrees and position it inside the cab.  Since the minifig is offset to one side anyway, there might be room for the IR receiver AND the minifig to share the space, but it would be really tight.  The most deterring factor for that arrangement would be that the IR receiver window would be buried inside the cab, and I wanted to maintain as accurate PF control as possible, given this locomotive's intended job of switching (shunting) cars in the yard.  It will see frequent speed and direction changes in normal use.   Fighting to maintain line-of-sight with a buried IR window would be a recipe for disaster...

Last night, I created version 2.0 of this MOC.   I completely rebuilt the front hood, moving the IR receiver toward the cab by one stud.  It still shows too much LBG for my liking, but the other radical idea I had of turning it 90 degrees and sharing space inside the cab with the driver was a non-starter.  I had forgotten that the end of the IR receiver that I was going to use as the cab wall also contained the channel selector switch.  That would have been even more of an eyesore.   

Upgrades:   

The front hood is now 8870 headlight ready -- although I still don't have one to install.  The brackets on that end were replaced by Erlang headlight bricks.  I used a hidden bracket structure to mount the front panel grille, which also had to be redesigned to accommodate the headlight design.

The base of the cab now has the angle which was present on the source GE 65T design.  Initially I used DBG for the angle bricks, maintaining only the single-plate red line underneath.   But, I felt that the DBG made things too drab, obscuring this detail, so I swapped red for that first line of bricks on the lowest part of the cab.  It presents as a bolder thickening of the red throughout the cab base.   I like it slightly better, some others may not.  

The battery box has been made extremely easy to remove for battery maintenance.   Simply remove the cab canopy, then the entire battery box can be lifted -- it's only secured by 4 studs now.  The remainder of the red stripe base is tiled.

I was able to achieve symmetry on the exhaust stacks on both hoods.  They are both offset from center, slightly to the left, to aid visibility to the minifig, who is offset slightly to the right.

I have more pictures to post, but am being thwarted by the draconian size limitations.   Initially I was able to post up to 60k, now I'm limited to only 40k.   Is there a way to get around this?

Very nice! I can't wait to see how it looks with headlights ablaze.

  On 1/26/2018 at 2:46 PM, icemorons said:

I have more pictures to post, but am being thwarted by the draconian size limitations.   Initially I was able to post up to 60k, now I'm limited to only 40k.   Is there a way to get around this?

Yep - host the pictures somewhere else, such as Bricksafe or Flickr! (This is actually the intended method for pictures here). Then paste the links to them here - they should automatically embed as images. I use Bricksafe, and find it very simple; it will handle the resizing for you easily.

  On 1/26/2018 at 4:40 PM, ColletArrow said:

Very nice! I can't wait to see how it looks with headlights ablaze.

Yep - host the pictures somewhere else, such as Bricksafe or Flickr! (This is actually the intended method for pictures here). Then paste the links to them here - they should automatically embed as images. I use Bricksafe, and find it very simple; it will handle the resizing for you easily.

Thanks, @ColletArrow!   I've created a Bricksafe account and will post the link shortly.

Here is a link to the Bricksafe page where I have stored the images.   The first two images are the Version 1 rendition.   The following 6 are from Version 2.

https://bricksafe.com/pages/icemorons/moc_ge_65t_switcher

Bricksafe seems to have the images stored upside down.  Although they display properly in the overview page, when you click to view the individual files, they are mostly upside down!   I've checked to see if they can be edited, but there's no "rotate" option.

So they are! Bizarre. What happens when you link to one here? Click on one of the 'number'x'number' icons in the bottom-left corner of an image, and copy-and-paste the URL into here (bearing in mind that the maximum image size is 1024x768 with less than 800x600 preferred). If they're still upside down, check that they're the right way up on your computer before uploading them again. If that doesn't work, I would email BrickSafe.

Trying your suggestion, @ColletArrow

Ha, sideways!!

I'll have to check them on my computer.  Maybe I need to fix the orientation and re-upload to Bricksafe.

Orientations look correct on my PC.

 

I sent an email to bricksafe.  We'll see what they say.

Pictures from mobile phones often have their orientation wrong. There is a certain hidden property that is set while taking the photo, so your phone knows which way around to show it. But PCs and most websites do not look for this property. So: Load the picture to your PC, open it with Paint or anything like it and rotate it properly, save it then upload to bricksafe.

 

BTW: That battery box is giving me headaches. I'm still trying to hide it properly without adding too much "thickness". I really like the solution you took, though. Thinking about implementing it, too...

Simple but effective! 

Well done!

Very nice creation, I like the idea to use the battery box and receiver dual gray color as "decoration"!!! Good work!