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GP30 Diesel
Burlington Northern
1979-1981 (No.637)
1982-1987 (No.41-630-03)
The original release Bachmann Burlington Northern GP30 of the late '70s was identical
to the one sold previously by Lionel-HO, with the only external difference being the name found on the model's fuel tank bottom.
Bachmann substituted silver in place of the roofline black color on some Burlington Northern models in the 1980s. The
BN GP30 can be found with a black roof and the variation silver roof. Lettering for either example is similar and both
BN GP30 models carry the 181 roadnumber, also shared with the Lionel-HO BN GP30.
GP30 Diesel
Chessie System
1979-1981 (No.638)
1982-1987 (No.41-630-09)
GP30 Diesel
Santa Fe
1979-1981 (No.636)
1982-1987 (No.41-630-02)
Bachmann catalogs the red and silver passenger warbonnet Santa Fe GP30 for many years and it
resembles an example sold by Lionel-HO in the mid '70s.
GP30 Diesel
Southern
1981 (No.702)
1982-1987 (No.41-630-04)
This GP30 model was originally produced in 1976 for Lionel-HO by Bachmann's parent company Kader.
The GP30 diesel was part of Lionel's second venture into the HO-scale train market that got its start in 1974 and lasted until
1977. Lionel officially catalogs the Kader-made GP30 in only Burlington Northern, though the cover of Lionel-HO's 1977
catalog includes a blue Conrail GP30.
Bachmann first catalogs the GP30 in 1979 with three roadnames listed: Burlington Northern,
Chessie System, and Santa Fe. GP30 diesels sold for $16.00, according to the '79 catalog. Bachmann's stock
numbering system changes beginning with the company's 1982 catalog and the three digit GP30 stock numbers turn into seven
digits. The GP30 remains pictured in Bachmann's catalogs through the 1988 edition. The '88 catalog shows
the model, but includes a banner reading, "DISCONTINUED" across the set of geeps; this would be the same year that the model
moved up to the Spectrum line.
Going by Bachmann's catalogs, the GP30 was never included in any train set offerings.
Bachmann also has never cataloged an N-scale GP30 diesel model.
This GP30 model has certainly enjoyed some success since its introduction under the Lionel-HO
name in 1976. Bachmann cataloged the model as a standard line offering from 1979 through 1987. The GP30 sees some
revisions in its tooling and a new drive is created and it becomes of the first models in the Spectrum line from Bachmann
in 1988. See the ad presented at the bottom of this page announcing the Spectrum GP30 from July 1988. Following
many years as a Spectrum entry, Bachmann provided a revised drive with a factory-installed DCC decoder and the GP30 is
back again as an EZ-DCC line release in the 21st Century.
Outside of its service in Bachmann's line, Kader sold shells to Bev-Bel and Front Range for
use in their GP30 offerings during the 1980s and into the 1990s.
Lionel HO
GP30 Diesel
The first appearance for the GP30 detailed on this page is 1976 in the Lionel HO product line.
Lionel shows an artist illustration and also what appears to be a brass GP30 in the '76 catalog. For 1977, Lionel HO
includes the familiar Burlington Northern GP30 carrying the large 181 roadnumber. The catalog's cover includes a Conrail
GP30, though it is not featured elsewhere in the catalog. Lionel HO never displays the GP30 as a separately sold locomotive,
but examples were in the company's line as individual releases. Lionel HO roadnames included the Burlington Northern, Santa
Fe (red and silver), Conrail, and CP Rail (sold in Canada).
Bev-Bel
GP 30 Diesel Shell
No longer in business, Bev-Bel for many years released special runs of others company's items
in roadnames unavailable otherwise. The above example shows Bev-Bel's Santa Fe Freight Warbonnet scheme GP30.
The shell is the standard Bachmann GP30. Bev-Bel sold models such as this as a shell-only release. These GP30
shells offerings were not part of Bachmann's product line.
Bev-Bel also released a collection of GP30 models that featured the Bachmann GP30 shell riding
on an Athearn GP35 drive. Bev-Bel offered this combination Bachmann shell/Athearn drive GP30 in both powered and non-powered
examples. Roadnames in the Bev-Bel GP30 line included: Undecorated; Baltimore & Ohio; Burlington Northern;
Chessie System; Pennsylvania; Santa Fe; Southern; and Union Pacific.
Front Range
GP30 Diesel
Front Range offered a variety of freight cars and a few diesels in the HO-scale market beginning
in the late 1980s. Front Range offered better performance drives built to ride under shells produced by other companies.
Among the offerings of this type, Front Range sold a drive made for the Kader GP30 shell. Later, Front Range went a
step further and offered a complete GP30 model that featured their drive and included a Bachmann shell. Towards the
end of Front Range's existence, they announced an all-new tooling GP30 shell, as seen in the advertisement above. This
all Front Range GP30 never was produced. Front Range listed GP30 decorated for the following: Undecorated
(8100-1); Santa Fe (8101-2); Burlington Northern (8102-3); Chessie (8103-4); Southern (8104-5); Pennsylvania (8105-6); Milwaukee
Road (8106-7); Southern Pacific (8107-8); Rio Grande (8108-9); Baltimore & Ohio (8109-10); and Chesapeake & Ohio (8110-11).
Front Range image
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