This is obviously a fantasy model. Had Rock Island ordered SD45T-2's in the early 1970s, this is what they may have looked like. Rock Island was known to pool power with Southern Pacific so perhaps a few Rock Island units got tacked onto the end of a Southern Pacific order.
The model itself is a stripped Athearn ready to roll Kansas City Southern model. Using standard Rock Island practices, I added a five chime horn and firecracker antenna. I also added new cut bars, MU hoses, a new plow, lift rings, air lines, a speed recorder and other details.
After a thorough abrasive blasting, everything was washed and dried. Paint consisted of Floquil primer, Scalecoat II white, custom mixed RI yellow from part Floquil UP armor yellow and Scalecoat II reefer yellow. The red is Scalecoat II CP bright red that has been tinted a little more. The gray is Scalecoat II NYC dark gray. The walkways are painted antiskid black, which is a mix of Floquil engine black, grimy black and primer mixed until it looked right. The grilles were masked and backfilled with Floquil grimy black. The decals are a combination of Microscale and the clearcoat is part Testor's glosscoat and part Testors Dullcoat.