When Atlas makes a new engine, is the inside always unique to that engine, say for instance has the motor and frame assembly on a Alco C-420 used on another model , say a RS-3 the reason I am asking is I have some old engines that I would like to put the shells on the newer , much better running frames. I did get a new RS-3 and installed the shell from an older RS-3 from Atlas , one without flywheels, and while it took a little work and cutting , it came out great. I have some older engines , a GP-7 and a RS-11 that I would like to upgrade. Any info om thos would be great
The RS-11 should fit on the new RS-3 drive with a similar amount of cutting and fitting, since it was designed to ride on the same old RS drive. The GP may not be so flexible.
If it’s one of the very early (1970’s) Roco drives, the shell will be too short for the current Atlas drive. If it’s one of the mid 1980’s GP’s, you’ll also be out of luck. That shell was distorted to fit on the RS drive as well, and the result is a carbody that’s too long.
If you have a GP that was made after 1995, you’re in luck. It will fit the new drive without much finegling at all.
There is a certain amount of interchangeability to the Atlas mechanism, but they are not “universal.”
To wit: GP 7 and 9 share a drive, as do
RS-1 and RS-3
GP-30 and GP35
GP-38/GP 40/GP-40-2
There may be others, but these are the ones I have direct experience with.
Hey , thanks for the info. I am pretty sure the RS-11 abd GP is b4 1995 , will have to check. Also I do have the old one , made by Roco , just could not remember the people who made it it still rins OK and is paired with a newer GP, so i am not going to replace it
Not all Atlas engines are created equal…Some have slow speed motors and DCC ready,some have slow speed motors but,isn’t DCC ready.
What does that mean? Some units can not mu together because of their motor types.I have one with the older motor that doesn’t play well with my GP9s with the slow speed motor.
A quick way to check is to see if the GP has body mount or truck mount couplers. The truck mounts would be the old one. Also the drive will look identical to the RS with the exception of the trucks and fuel tank.
