Varney did a metal shell. I have one, and it is very nicely done. Better than the Athearn, for one.
I don't see Cary "getting" the Varney one. For one, Cary did their bodies and boilers in some kind of soft metal that was likely not formed with the die cast process. The Varney was die cast.
I don't believe Cary did a "regular" SW/NW. They did a really crude (but heavy) SW1500. And I'm just learning they did an Alco switcher.
I seriously doubt Revell ever did a diesel shell in metal. Please recall that their specialty was injection molded plastic models. Not metal.
Ed
For the GP7 frame if it has the new narrow gold motor (not black) then you can look for Front Range Products gp7/9 shells. It will fit, plus it has a narrow hood width. If I remember correctly it uses the couplers to hold the shell on. Front range has been out of business for a long time but the shells and/ or whole Loco still shows up at train shows and ebay. After Front Range went bust Trains Unlimited sold the GP7/GP9 product line including the shell separately so you may have luck with finding just the shell.
The frame width only affects the walkway width not the hood width so you can most likely fit a proto shell GP7, GP9 or GP18 with minor modification (I have a Proto GP18 shell with the bottom tabs removed that fits on the athearn chassis) as long as it has the gold motor. The kaslo gp10 shell also fits onto the Athearn chassis but would need the couplers to hold on the shell. The kaslo resin shell kit was actually made for the proto chassis.
So I will edit this post later with the email address for kaslo shops, jwhitmore@shaw.ca. Kaslo makes a resin GP10 shell kit. It is a paducah shops rehab of the GP9 that were ordered by Illinois Central and conrail and a few others. The resin kit runs about $100 but may find it cheaper on ebay. they have a website but it is under construction, http://kaslo-shops.myshopify.com. As a matter of fact I just received parts from him today, some fuel tanks. Just email him for availability.
Regarding the sw7. Concor or revell sw7 shells would fit or have to be lightly modified to fit. IIRC Concor sold these at different times with athearn drives and kato drives.
Some say that the Concor shell is the old revell shell. Make sure the revell shell is plastic not metal. Not sure but someone made SW7s in both metal and plastic shells for a time either Varney or revell or both. The Cary metal one may have come from varney.
sandusky Old Athearn "SW7" does not have a scale width hood.
Old Athearn "SW7" does not have a scale width hood.
As Catt said, it does.
You could search EBay for Athern dummy engines. They are usually pretty cheap.
sanduskyOld Athearn "SW7" does not have a scale width hood.
Prototype SW-7 switcher hood width 7' Athearn HO model SW-7 hood width 7'.
Can't get much closer than that.
Got my information here ---> http://www.thedieselshop.us/Data%20EMD%20SW7.HTML
7j43kNo, wait. I think Walthers has a shell that is also wide, I think:
Ed,The frame will need some minor modifcation at the nubs that holds the shell on other then that it will fit.
Now then to the question..First I would call Athearn and see if they have any SW7 and GP7 parts in stock and if they don't I would buy a BB SW7/GP7 at a train show for parts..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
THAT is the best photo I ever saw illustrating the "wide body" difference.
While I implied it earlier, I'll state it plainly here:
The body width of the Athearn SW7 (the one from the olden days) is scale. And Athearn's old motor would/will fit. And so other scale width shells will likely fit, too.
But I think the body is a smidge (about .1 inch) too long. I think. So there still might be fitting problems. Or not.
The old Athearn shell is a nice thing. Not great, but nice. So I doubt I would go to the trouble of fitting a different brand shell on the drive. If I thought the Kato shell was what I needed, I'd find a Kato drive to put under it. Same for the Athearn.
The engine on the left is an old Athearn BB, and the one on the right is a Lifelike Proto model.
You can see the obvious width difference.
I'd suggest taking the frame to a train show and looking for an old junker engine you can cannibalize the shell from.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
IF ONE CARES, the Cary shell is most likely a wide body shell. It does have to fit over Athearn's old wide motor, I believe. I know their SW1500 is. Of course, if yer runnin' it with an old Athearn GP7, it may not matter.
For the SW-7 chassis, Cary cast metal ALCO S switcher bodies show up on eBay frequently. The one on there now is pretty darn rough, I wouldn't be interested. I did build two recently that were unused complete kits in box. With the weighty shells, they are really good pullers and do look nice.
I don't think anything else will fit on your (wide body) GP7. No, wait. I think Walthers has a shell that is also wide, I think:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?manu=931&family=100
Whatever shell you pick, it'll have to be wide body. And not too many manufacturers are willing to make those anymore.
More luck with the switcher. With an "appropriate" amount of work, you could likely get the following to fit: Kato, Revell, Varney, Broadway Limited, for a start.
BUT.
Why not just stick to a drop-on Athearn? It's not noticeably worse, or better, than the others.
I have two Athearn blue box frames for a GP-7 (produced appx 1989) and an SW-7 (produced appx 2000) with motors that run fine.
After many years I would like to re-enter the hobby, albeit with a limited budget, and rebuild my model railroading skills (painting, assembly, etc.).
Besides buying blue box shells on Ebay or at a swap meet, who else produced shells that could fit on the above mentioned chassis?
Thanks.