Looking at a nos Proto 2000 GP9 Phase III. Any insights ? how about converting to DCC?Thanks
As in the GP 9 that's been made by Walthers for a long time?
I have two of the old ones. They didn't have DCC sockets, so I hard wired them. They were easy to add a simple decoder to. However, I had to remove a lot of weight later when I upgraded to a sound decoder.
These were the batch that had cracked axles, so I had to deal with those, too.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Those must be very early. I had the SD7 and SD9's which were clones of Athearn frames down to the crappy coupler plastic retainers and they had DCC plugs. I think I bought them around 1998 so those must be really early geeps.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
FlattenedQuarterLooking at a nos Proto 2000 GP9 Phase III. Any insights ? how about converting to DCC? Thanks
I have three Life Like Proto-2000 GP-9s, and one Walthers Proto-2000 GP-7.
These are excellent models that perform well. Only one of them has had cracked gears, but that is an easy fix. I originally used the gears that Athearn markets for the SD-40-2, but they fit fine. I have a supply of Athearn 40" axle assemblies now on hand if I ever need to make the repair again.
I know nothing of converting them to run with DCC.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
The problem with the "non-dcc ready" Proto2000 GP's is that the "cutout" in the engine weight in which the light board resides is "too short" to accept a "drop in" dcc decoder/board such as the Digitrax DH165LO.
Nobody that I know of makes a shorter version of that type board with the tab layout that would make it easy to just "swap over" existing wiring.
What I did on mine:
I used one of the "upside-down" 8 pin connection harnesses that were used on the Proto2000 GP's that -did- have a dcc connector. Then I got a small "postage-stamp" sized decoder to use with it (Soundtraxx MC1H102P8).
I removed the small portion of the engine weight under the short hood (it just connects with a screw), and positioned the harness/decoder in that area.
I did have to add new wiring to get the wire lengths right, and I had to snip out part of the translucent light pipe to the front headlight. But I got everything to fit without modifying the weight (I have no equipment to do that).
It runs as good as anything I have, although there is some "overflow lighting" from the front headlight in the cab...
I have 3 of the Proto locomotives, GP9, GP18 and GP30 that I had to replace cracked axles in and it's really easy. I just put the locomotive upside down in a foam cradle and popped the bottom truck cover off with a small blade screwdriver and lifed out the old axle/wheel assembly and dropped in the new, relubed and snapped the cover back on.
I did have one, the GP9 that the lube had become hard like glue, (this also happened on a Proto GP38-2) and if that happens it's best clean everything out and re-lube it, (probably a good idea to do that anyway). But even if you have to do either or both of these things it is well worth it because these are great locomotives with really good detail that run really well and will give you many good years of service.
Ralph
Thanks for the input. I bought. The two of them, should be here middle of next week. Paid $80 each after shipping and tax. Not sure where that falls but they are the era and road (Lehigh Valley late 50's early 60's) that I'm modeling. Will post when I get a chance to look them over.
The older Lifelike Proto 2000 geep 7 and 9s can often be found for under $50 because it is generally known they need the gears replaced.
riogrande5761The older Lifelike Proto 2000 geep 7 and 9s can often be found for under $50
Five years ago, when I finally got a workable plan to put a train room in this house, I began collecting the equipment I would need.
In 2015, it was easy to find Stewart/Kato F units and Proto-2000 Geeps for $50.00 each. They were literally everywhere. I had no problems assembling the motive power core that I needed.
Now, five years later, the market does not have anywhere near the quanitity of these models for sale. They are still there, but if you need a specific roadname, or undecorated, you might pay more and need to look a bit.
They showed up in good shape, as advertise. Haven't run, waiting on Tech6 I ordered https://imgur.com/a/2FC97Jm
So, time on your hands while waiting? It's a good time to get a tube of LaBelle grease and clean out and re-lube the trucks. To get the hood off these engines, just remove the coupler screws, then the coupler pockets, and the shell should come off easily. Examine the headlights. While the engines are apart, think about upgrading to LEDs.
The cracked axles are difficult to see by eye, so you may want to wait until the engines are running to see if you get the characteristic clicking sound. Axles can be replaced without removing the shell.
They both had cracked axles as I expected. I took them apart, cleaned and lubed trucks, put in new axles and fired them up. First one ran like a top. Second one had an inner bearing on the worm gear that was binding that I didn't catch. Fixed that and it works just fine. I installed a TCS T1 decoder and LEDS (my first install) in the second one. After sorting out a short between the original board and the chassis and fixing the reversed wires on one LED it runs slick. Got a WOW sound decoder to put in the first one but it will take a little more fiddling the the T1. Thanks for all your input
They both had cracked axles as I expected. I took them apart, cleaned and lubed trucks, put in new axles and fired them up. First one ran like a top. Second one had an inner bearing on the worm gear that was binding that I didn't catch. Fixed that and it works just fine. I installed a TCS T1 decoder and LEDS (my first install) in the second one. After sorting out a short between the original board and the chassis and fixing the reversed wires on one LED it runs slick. Got a WOW sound decoder to put in the first one but it will take a little more fiddling the the T1. I'm expecting to consist the two of them so figured one sound was sufficient for now. Thanks for all your input.