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Will An Athearn Blue Box SW7 Body Fit On A BLI NW2 Chassis?

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  • Member since
    January 2010
  • 2,616 posts
Will An Athearn Blue Box SW7 Body Fit On A BLI NW2 Chassis?
Posted by peahrens on Monday, September 13, 2021 8:27 AM

Might anyone know the answer to the title question?

I have a Broadway Limited NW2 and a fellow modeler (not nearby) has the BB SW7 body and wants to know if she can fit it to an available BLI NW2.  I fear the answer is more than just the external hood width which I can measure; e.g., the internal width might differ due to different plastic thickness. 

If you know the answer, thanks!

Paul

Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent

  • Member since
    November 2013
  • 2,775 posts
Posted by snjroy on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 10:37 AM

My reply will bump up your question back on top of the list. 

I've never done this swap, but based on the data sheets available on the Web, both locos are about the same sizes. 

Simon

  • Member since
    January 2007
  • 283 posts
Posted by Lee 1234 on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 11:07 AM
The blue box sw7 hood is longer than correct to scale. It was made to fit the s12 chassis. The width is correct.

Lee

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 4:36 PM

Lee 1234
The blue box sw7 hood is longer than correct to scale. It was made to fit the s12 chassis....

If that's the case, it should be simple enough to remove the hoods from both locomotives' walkway castings, shorten the Athearn hood, and then cement it onto Broadway walkway.

I changed one of my Athearn SW7s (at the time, they were know variously as SW1200s or SW1500s) into an NW-2, with a couple of simple cuts to the hood...

EDIT:  After some consideration, it seems that it would be simpler to just buy one of those Athearn locomotives, then paint and/or detail it as needed.

That's gotta be both easier and cheaper  than hacking up two perfectly good locomotives.

I fitted all of my Athearn SWs with can motors (Sagami in the NW-2, and Mashimas in the SW-1200-RS versions.  They were all very good runners and surprisingly good pullers for their size.

Wayne

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