A potentially use discussion thread would be one dealing with known practical body swaps. A current post about the Intermountain "Smart Dummy" has led me to wonder what non-Intermountain bodies might fit its chassis without major surgery. Question, of course, can/should extend to all manufacturers.
What's your experience?
I've done a couple: Lionel GP30 onto Athearn GP frame/running gear and a Rivarossi E8 onto a Model Power E frame/running gear. In the old days when good versions of each were not available
Sorry, can't help with the IM frame.
It's interesting as to what can work. Oftentimes, one manufacturer's shell will work on another manufacturer's drive just fine.
Many incarnations of GP9s and F7s in HO are copied directly, or not-so-directly, from Athearn's offerings. Here's what I know for sure will fit:
These are the shells that will fit the Athearn GP7 mechanism, either straight across or with slight shell modification:
Athearn GP7/9 shells regardless of year manufactured
Lionel Virginian rectifier from the late '50s (rare, and also available in other roadnames)
Lionel GP9 in late '50s and mid '70s incarnations
Cox GP9M (copy of the Athearn body with a new low nose)
Model Power GP9 lownose (copy of the Cox)
Walthers GP9M (copy of the Cox)
Lionel U18B (made to fit their GP9 frame)
These are the F-unit shells that will directly (or with slight modification) fit on the Athearn F7 mechanism:
Athearn F7A and F7B shell regardless of year manufactured
Revell F7 (their own tooling)
Tyco pre-1975 F7A and B (direct Athearn clones)
Mantua Deluxe F7A and B (same)
Cox F3 (favors the Athearn nose, windows, and roof contours, but with new sides and detailing)
Stewart F3/F7/F9 (with slight modification)
Intermountain F3/F7/F9 (engineered for the Athearn F7 frame)
Highliners F2/F3/F5/F7/F9 B unit shells (engineered to fit the Athearn frame)
Athearn Genesis F2/F3/F5/F7/F9 (originally Highliners, A units brought to market by Athearn)
Then there are other swaps.
Proto 2000 GP38-2 shell will fit Atlas GP38/40/40-2/Trainman GP38-2 drives very easily
Proto 1000 RS10/11/18 shell fits the Atlas RS11/32/36 drive very easily
Atlas RS11 shell fits Kato RS2/RSC2 drive very easily
This is what I know so far, granted they are pretty basic:
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
I'm assuming the answer to this is "yes" - will a Proto 2000 RS18 chassis fit a Proto 1000 RS18 shell?
If somebody else has done it & can tell you about it, that's great. If not, you may have to do your own research and experimentation. If you're willing to do a bit of cutting and fitting to allow for the shape of interior components, coupler spacing, etc., then there are lots of possibilities. Just check the dimensions of the shell donor against those of the mechanism donor.
Many years before P2K released its BL2, there was a BL2 made by AHM. Details weren't great, and it had a mechanism that could charitably called Less Than Ideal. I checked dimensions and determined that a prototype BL2 had a center to center truck spacing of 35' 0". When Atlas released their early FP7, I discovered that an FP7 had a somewhat comparable truck spacing of 34' 0". Overall carbody length wasn't exactly the same, but it was close enough that the couplers came out at a workable distance. The resultant swap created a very serviceable and practical model. I cut out the poorly rendered roof fans and inserted fans from a donor Athearn shell. It looked pretty good if you ignored the incorrect fuel tank details.
Most EMD switchers from SW1 through at least SW900 used a 22' 0" center to center truck spacing. For the most part, you should be able to swap those shells and mechanisms fairlty freely, although the shorter hood of an SW1 might possibly interfere with the gear tower of the front truck. Truck spacing on switchers from other builders varied widely.
The vast majority of First Generation road switchers from EMD, Alco, and Fairbanks Morse almost all had a center to center truck spacing of 30' 0". These included GP7 and GP9; RS2 and RS3; and H15/16-44. This jumped to 31' 0" on the Alco RS27 DL640 and EMD GP20. The earlier RS1 also had a 31' 0" spacing. Fairbanks Morse H20-44's were shorter, at 27' 0"; and Baldwins generally were longer, at 32' 3".
Truck spacing increased as locomotives got larger. GP30's and GP'35's were spaced at 32' 0". GP38's and GP40's used a 34' 0" spacing. The U25B and subsequent U-Boats were spaced at 36' 2".
Early freight cab units varied somewhat from 26' 6" (EMD FTB) and 27' 2" (Alco FA1) to 30' 0" (EMD F2 through F9). Swaps may or may not be practical, depending on the amount of work you want to do and depending on the amount of compromise you can tolerate.
Passenger units were all over the place. EMD E units and Alco DL109's were spaced at 43' 0'. PA1, 2, and 3 were much shorter at 34' 2". F-M Erie Builts were also rather short at 36' 5", but Baldwin Passenger Sharks (PRR BP20) were much longer, at 46' 3-1/2".
All the dimensions cited are truck center to center.
Tom
(Dimensions from Model Railroader Cyclopedia Vol. 2, Diesel Locomotives, Bob Hayden, Kalmbach, 1980).
Another shell swap that works quite well with some frame modification and some slight shell modification is a Tyco/Mantua GP20 shell onto an Athearn GP35 drive. My road units for my railroad are these. (Seven of them for freight and two for passenger.) I found the metal handrail kits and modified Athearn stanchions to fit.
Packer did a very good job of explaining some of the swaps that I know about. Others:
Atlas Master 2 part shells can fit over current Atlas Gold chassis with elimination of the mounting tabs and fusing the shell into one piece.
Athearn GP 38-2/40-2/50 shells can fit onto Atlas Master GP38/40 or Silver/Gold chassis by removing mounting tabs and handrail nubbies from the underside of the shell and slightly chamfering the corners of the Atlas chassis. Light bezels will have to be scratchbuilt. Pilot needs filling in below the coupler box in a way that helps hold the shell onto the chassis.
- Douglas
Wathers P2K shells will fit Stewart/Kato drive frames. They snap right on.
It looks like Intermountain will fit Stewart/Kato frames. I have had both apart and the mounting system are the same. I had no reason to try it, maybe next time.
Another one that I remembered that I have personally done is the Stewart F-unit shells onto Athearn BB drives. The center hole on the sill of the shell needs to be made a little bit bigger and the coupler needs to be body mounted. (The Athearn mount removed.)
One I did around 13 years ago was to use a Athearn BB GP40-2 shell on a Atlas GP38 drive. All I had to do was trim the weight on the Atlas drive.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
The chassis from the Stewart (now Bowser) Baldwin AS-16 is a good fit into the old AHM/Rivarossi C-Liner. I did this one, with some added details and new paint and lettering, for a friend...
The C-Liner sideframes are from Detail Associates.I've also found that the old Varney (also now Bowser) cast metal boilers for the Varney "Casey Jones" 10 Wheeler and the Varney 2-8-0 "Old Lady" are, with a couple of minor modifications, a good fit on the chassis of Bachmann's old time 10 Wheeler.Here's the Bachmann 10 Wheeler...
...and the Varney boiler...
...and the modified Varney boiler...
...and the boiler (with a cab from a Bachmann Consolidation), on the Bachmann chassis...
...a few added details...
...and some paint and lettering...
...and the pair, now better pullers, are off to work...
Wayne