Has anyone tried to fit an athearn gp38-2 shell on a modern atlas drive? It looks like the shell’s 4 mounting tabs will have to be snipped, but I’m curious about any adjustments to the inside of the shell, the weight, and the frame, and anything else, that might be needed. I have a couple of extra BB shells and an extra Atlas drive, but before I got started I was hoping someone who has any info on this project could be of help. Thanks.
The Athearn BB shells have wider cabs, so it should slip on easy. You will have to fabricate some sort of coupler mount though. What kind of Atlas is it your using Roco or Kato drive?
Yeah, forgot…Silver series. I thought those are usually referred to as “China”. How 'bout “the current ones with the dual mode decoder.”
I would take some measurements and find out length, height, width, and measure the inside of the shell. Sounds like you might have to do some cutting and grinding. A dremel can do allot of the work you need done. I would do most of this work on the chassis if you can. Hacking up the shell, if its painted will not give you the right affect you might be looking for. Check for coupler mounting, and clearance, and for the built in decoder also.
I just got done chopping up one of our members MDC running chassis, to accept an Atlas RS3 shell, it worked fine, but spent allot of time cutting and grinding the diecast chassis, had to repaint it after final sanding. Had to fabricate coupler boxes out of some older Kadee’s and use horn hook as per his request. Anthing is possible if you have the time and desire to do it.
Yes it can be done…You will need to grind some of the weight on the Atlas drive before the Athearn shell will fit.