I recently came accross 3 running chassis. 2 Athern sw7s and a newer bachman f7. I want to get them back up and running with new bodys. What bodys would fit on there besides the stock ones?
I would think it would be best to find the shells that were made for the chassies, especially the Athearns, unless you want to do some type of fantasy build.
The F7, I'll go out on a limb and say that most F7 shells will fit other F7 chassies, such has Highliner shells are made for Athearn chassies, but they will fit any other.
But, again, I think I would look for a Bachmann shell.
If your chassies came from Ebay, there's a good chance you'll find the shells too, maybe from the same seller. Lots of sellers do that, seperate and sell parts.
Mike.
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I agree with Mike that it would probably be best to try and find shells made for those chassis. That being said, while I can't speak for the SW7s, I'm pretty sure that many to most F-unit shells can fit on other makes of chassis. As a matter of fact, I recently put a Varney F3A shell on a Bachmann F-unit chassis with minimal modification to the shell.
Most any body shell ought to fit, in terms of basic stuff like length and width and height. Smaller details like the location of mounting lugs, how the coupler boxes are secured, location of mounting holes, probably are different between all the makers. It is possible to make things mate up with home brew mounting brackets of some sort. It is easier to find shells from the right maker. If we ever get over this Corona virus panic and get back to having train shows again, you ought to be able to pick up junkers or parts locomotives, for really cheap. Probably less than a new shell from any maker would set you back. E-bay might work, but most of the stuff I see on E-bar is better than junker, and commands a better price (plus shipping).
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
dstarr If we ever get over this Corona virus panic and get back to having train shows again, you ought to be able to pick up junkers or parts locomotives, for really cheap.
If we ever get over this Corona virus panic and get back to having train shows again, you ought to be able to pick up junkers or parts locomotives, for really cheap.
Ringo58What bodys would fit on there besides the stock ones?
The Athearn Baldwin S12 will fit the SW7 drive.. Other then that the old Cary metal SW1500 and FM H10-44 body will fit the SW7/S12 drive.
These Cary bodies requires a lot of work and some craftman skills are needed to build these shells..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
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