Morning, (EST)
Well, I have tinkered and fidgeted with this thing since I bought it on ebay (one of my first buys, an anxious and uneducated purchase I have since become more prudent). I thought it was a great buy based on price alone. Frankly it was crap.
Anyway, I am trying to id this chassis in the hopes of finding a (working) replacement that will fit the shell in the link.
Although I have a Bachman PC loco arriving any day now, I would like to repaint this shell to a Southern locomotive from the 50's - 60's era.
Any help in id'ing this chassis or a possible chassis that will fit this shell would be wonderful.
http://i935.photobucket.com/albums/ad200/gmckenzie444cplmckenzie/2015-10-11%2014.40.44_zpsdo3vtodh.jpg
http://i935.photobucket.com/albums/ad200/gmckenzie444cplmckenzie/2015-10-11%2014.52.42_zpsl706a9p0.jpg
BTW...
My repainting conversion from a Santa Fe loco to a NS loco is almost complete. (mention in a post "Shell Conversion" last week)
I will try and post the finished loco and cars later today for help and tips for my upcoming repaint projects....Conrail, Penn Central, Pennsylvania Railroad Passenger.
Especially on how to apply those teeny weeny decals that you can barely see.
Thanks guys,
cplmckenzie
Riiight, if I remember right, about a month back you were telling me about this engine and supplied me with this diagram.
Would you happen to know of any other mfgs chassis that would fit this shell?
Well, depends on how much work you want to put into it. Most anything would 'fit' if you do some grinding on the chassis and/or inside the shell. It's a rather unique loco. If you really like the style of the loco - look for some Proto 1000 C-Liners on ebay. It's a much better version with a good motor and better detailed shell than the AHM ones.
Supposedly the Bachmann H16-44 chassis will fit under the shell, but that drive leaves a lot to be desired as well.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I remeber DocterWayne saying that some sort of bowser chassis fits inside the shell. I'll try to find that post...
Charles
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Modeling the PRR & NYC in HO
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/@trainman440
Instagram (where I share projects!): https://www.instagram.com/trainman440
According to some diagram books I have, the prototype C-Liner B-B units had a truck center-to-center dimension of 34' 0". That's exactly the same as the equivalent dimension of an EMD FP7, GP38, and GP40. A BL2 was close, measuring 35' 0". There may be other units that also match this dimension, but most freight cab and hood units of the early 1950's had a shorter wheelbase around 28' to 31' center to center. I don't know how accurate the AHM body casting is, so I don't know how applicable these dimensions might be to your model. If the C-Liner body and FP7/GP38/GP40 frame are correctly dimensioned, they should be compatible, but there may be some fitting needed. Correct C-Liner truck frames should be available from Atlas, Bachmann, and possibly others. Back around the 1970's I remember putting an Atlas GP40 frame under an AHM BL2 shell with good results.
Tom
This is actually the IHC Mehano version. They suffer from dirt and corrosion. This and improper lubrication lead to very poor performance. I have shown techniques on my blog that vastly improve the running qualities of these drives.
Having said that, you can't make a Lexus out of a model T. The unit requires two traction tires. If one is missing it will run rough or not at all. These open frame motors have a stall current in the range of 3.5 amps. Because of the traction tires, the average operating current will approach 2 amps. Even with the best tune up, the motors have a growl. This is agrivated by vibration interaction between the shell and the chassis.
if your wanting to run DCC, it will require a special decoder. A sound system is probably a wasted effort.
The units are great pullers and will run reliably on DC. The speed to voltage curve tends to be on the high side. This means the lowest train speeds will be around 15 SMPH.
The prospect of putting a new drive in the shell would help with the speed and current issues above. I have heard that a P1K F3 drive will work. It may or may not. The chassis on these units had three or four variations because of shell features. Some may work where others will not. In any event, these shells are not that good a representation of the real locomotive. You would likely spend $30 for an F3 drive when you can find a P1K C-liner for under $50. That is a much better model with all the benefits of the F3.
If your just looking for a reasonable DC loco, I would just tune up what you have. I your wanting to be able to go to a sound system, then I would look for a P1K C-liner.
Larry
www.llxlocomotives.com
So many trains, so little time,
RR_MelI have a pair of AHM/Rivarossi Krauss Maffei ML4000s with the same drive system and the only good fix is a new chassis. I like the shells but the mechanisms are the pits. I don’t think there is any fix for the original mechanism, it’s worthless!
They must be kind of hit and miss. My Krauss Maffei did have a split gear, but after replacing it, it's been a great runner. They redid the U25C recently, so maybe they'll also give us a new ML4000 sometime!
The Rivarossi KM and E8 drives were both based off the C-LINER chassis, which was originally developed by Rivarossi in the 50's before it went to Mehano. They all got cheaper as time went on, but Rivarossi at least maintained all metal gearing and a decent motor. The AHM motors got pretty bad after a while.
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Haven't heard much from you lately, Darth. Your projects are always fascinating. Anything new?
OK. Back to the original topic now.
(Edit:) OOPS! Just saw the thread about your move. That 'splains it.
The chassis from the Stewart/Bowser AS-16 will fit the Rivarossi C-Liner shell, and you can use Detail Associates C-Liner sideframes, which are a press-in fit:
Wayne