Shell Compatability

[Anonymous]

I am interested in providing quality power to a few Athearn shells I have. Are Athearn shells compatible with Proto 2K engines? Or for that matter which shells work with what power units? I particularly enjoy Proto 2K so I would be interested in placing shells from other manufacters on their power supplies. Also wanted to know about Kato and Atlas, will those powered units work with other shells? Thanks everyone.

[DTomajko]

I have modified all of my earlier Athearns with Mashima motors available from A-Line / Proto Power West. A-Line also sells ready-to-run chassis for Athearn engines. You can adapt other chassis as long as the wheelbase is similar unless you are willing to shorten or lengthen the donor chassis. Adapting different brands of shells and chassis can sometimes require some inventive methods of mounting the two together,like grinding away metal or adding styrene blocks for screws.I once mounted an Atlas SD35 shell to an Athearn SD40-2 chassis successfully, although I still prefer to repower & replace the wheels on the stock Athearn chassis. The result is a fine runner equal to any Proto, new Atlas,or Kato. I have also heard that the newest Athearn Genesis locomotives are very good running engines.In the end, I can only recommend that you do whatever works best for you and enjoy yourself. Good luck.

[ndbprr]

As I recall Overland made some universal drives in the 80's that had smooth running mechanisms and can motors. They left lots of room for weight and decoders. When trying to drop one makers shell onto another makers chassis a lot of patience and ingenuity is needed but it can be done. You just start with one area of interference and eliminate it and go onto the next one. It helps if you can test fit at a hobby shop before buying to see if it is even possible. Sometimes you need to remove an obstruction on the shell and sometimes it is the chassis. It all just takes patience and sometimes a big hammer (just joking).