GP38-2 Athearn RTR shell on Trainman drive
#1
Athearn has a wide range of RTR GP38-2 engines. I was interested in the CSX in YN1 paint scheme but I do not like the old RTR drive at all. It is very simple to put the Athearn shell on a Trainman drive.
(The same is true for the RTR GP40(-2) shells)

- Do some very moderate milling on the shell
- Close the gap in the shell under the couplers (do it well, it will hold the shell!)
- Remove the weights from the drive (no problem for those of us switching on ISL only. Otherwise you need to do some more severe milling of the metal parts to fit into the small shell)
- Make the very simple new LED support as shown on the photos (far from perfection but at least a good first shot to be improved later)

You will be done in less than two hours and have perfect powered engine Big Grin

[Image: file-15.jpg]
[Image: file-14.jpg]
Reinhard
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#2
We're talking individual preference here, of course, and in the end you can't argue with that. But current RTR Athearn runs very well. The ex-bluebox models like the GP38-2 and GP40-2 have the same motor as the more sophisticated new-issue RTR like the GP35 and SD45, they MU perfectly well together. I haven't looked at this really closely, but I believe they have pretty much the same starting voltage and pretty much the same speed curve, so although the Atlas drives are just a little smoother and quieter, I haven't seen the need to remotor the RTR (as I used to do with bluebox) or replace the chassis (never done that).

I'd be interested to see any specific demo you might make to show how big a difference we're dealing with here!
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#3
jwb Wrote:We're talking individual preference here,....
And even more what factors count more and what factors are less important for each of us.
The noise of the motor as well the trucks and the noise of the engine on bad isolated tracks like mine are the key point for me to avoid the RTR drives of GP38, CF7 etc. (not the very new ones like SW1500 etc.). But the is me and my extreme sensitive ears on poor isolated track in a very silent room.
But I do absolute agree they are great runners. My preferred DCC decoder has no problems to get a smooth low speed start, run steady and pull much more than I need on my small layout.

However, I wanted to demonstrate how easy that shell can be transplanted for what reason ever.
I did add a small brass sheet over the front window to isolate the window glass from the head light and road numbers.

Some weathering will cover the difference between Athearn and Polly Scale CSX blue.
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Reinhard
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#4
One thing to double check when you swap chassis is the fuel tank size. Both Athearn and Atlas have been providing two basic fuel tank sizes (short and long) on their GP models, and these varied by prototype, so you'd want to check photos when you do this. It turns out that CSX 2557 has the correct long fuel tank that you have here.
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#5
There is one other thing I am not sure if I understood it correctly

The first CSX paint scheme was blue and gray only. No yellow at.
The next one is YN1 with a yellow front and rear but no yellow at the sides at the front and the end. It looks like there are two sub version of that scheme. One with no other yellow and one with a yellow stripe along the sill. All photos of the 2557 I could find and the Athearn shell have that yellow stripe. A wider sample of CSX GP38-2 with the YN1 paint scheme shows no specific pattern if this strip is used or not. Some run without that stripe well after the year 2000. However most YN1 engines do not have that stripe on early photos. I "decided" therefor my model is a very early one and has no stripe (I painted it over with blue) even I could not find an early photo of 2557 without the stripe. I prefer the plain scheme.

This is an YN1 engine like mine with the yellow stripe
http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/1/...587920.jpg
and this one has no yellow stripe
http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/3/...514180.jpg
Reinhard
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#6
I think we're talking merger situations and patches over all these railroads like Conrail, CSX, etc. I think the only CSX GP38-2s without dynamics were former Durham and Southern locos, so we're in repaint-patch country. Do what you think is best!!

By the way, I've ordered an NCE DCC starter set, so I'd be interested to see what you do with the lights on Athearn GP38-2 bodies, since I'll have several in line for work now.
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#7
jwb Wrote:...I'd be interested to see what you do with the lights on Athearn GP38-2 bodies, since I'll have several in line for work now.
I am afraid I will be of very little help with those engines because I did never convert one of those drives with lights to DCC due to the/my motor issue we discussed yesterday. But the CSX GP38-2 has a fixed electric connection between the motor and the frame. You MUST isolate the motor! Failure to do so will cost you a decoder :o
However I did some conversion with other Athearn RTR and converted the lights to LED.
I used two 1/2" long pieces of fiber optics from one side and a LED from the other side in shrink hose. The two fiber optics go through the light holes and the LED gets connected via a 1.5kOhm resistor with blue-white/yellow wire. The blue wire is "plus" and needs to be connected to the anode (longer wire) of the LED.
Reinhard
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