03-10-2011, 11:57 AM
I was curious about the new Athern Genesis GP15. My hope to get an MP based UP GP15 to be used in the LA area vanished after I learned the UP GP15 will be based on the CNW model.
I tried another approach and got a Conrail GP15 and put the shell of an P1K UP GP15 on it. The low end P1K shell got some details and the Conrail drive a gray UP paint job. The result looks ok but not great to me but it runs very smooth and silent. That is a good deal for my poor eye sight but excellent ears.Those of you with good eyes would call it possibly a down grade :o
![[Image: Img_0574.jpg?t=1299778979]](http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149/faraway52/Misc-1/Img_0574.jpg?t=1299778979)
![[Image: Img_0575.jpg?t=1299778979]](http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149/faraway52/Misc-1/Img_0575.jpg?t=1299778979)
Some remarks about the conversion:
The P1K shell has four extra screws to mount it to the drive. This four parts in the corners of the shell must be removed up to the roof of the long and short hood. About 2,5 mm styrene must be glued inside under the couplers. They will hold the shell by the coupler screws as usual.
Two very bright LED can be attached to the PCB directly where the bulbs have been connected. 1.5 Volt is not a lot for LED but if you use very bright LED it will be ok. That prevents any modifications to the Athearn drive and shell. The more expensive Athearn Genesis GP15 will be left untouched. The trucks and tank have been painted with custom mixed TAMYA flat paint. That paint is not very stable and can be washed off if required later.
My Athearn drive did not show any problems reported here. The current pickup is very stable and it runs smooth and silent after about 30 minutes break in.
ps. I got a Conrail because the shell is a good base for a possible layout in the east. The shell can be easy patched to NS spanning a large time frame.
I tried another approach and got a Conrail GP15 and put the shell of an P1K UP GP15 on it. The low end P1K shell got some details and the Conrail drive a gray UP paint job. The result looks ok but not great to me but it runs very smooth and silent. That is a good deal for my poor eye sight but excellent ears.Those of you with good eyes would call it possibly a down grade :o
Some remarks about the conversion:
The P1K shell has four extra screws to mount it to the drive. This four parts in the corners of the shell must be removed up to the roof of the long and short hood. About 2,5 mm styrene must be glued inside under the couplers. They will hold the shell by the coupler screws as usual.
Two very bright LED can be attached to the PCB directly where the bulbs have been connected. 1.5 Volt is not a lot for LED but if you use very bright LED it will be ok. That prevents any modifications to the Athearn drive and shell. The more expensive Athearn Genesis GP15 will be left untouched. The trucks and tank have been painted with custom mixed TAMYA flat paint. That paint is not very stable and can be washed off if required later.
My Athearn drive did not show any problems reported here. The current pickup is very stable and it runs smooth and silent after about 30 minutes break in.
ps. I got a Conrail because the shell is a good base for a possible layout in the east. The shell can be easy patched to NS spanning a large time frame.
Reinhard