Can anyone tell me if Athearn GP7s and 9s ran on the same chassis?
Unless I am mistaken, yes they run on the same chassis.[swg]
Yes, ironically, just like the prototypes.
Being quite uneducated about the GP7 and 9 versions, how does the same chassis matter?
Are you asking about the current GENESIS model or the old Blue Box or Ready to Roll model?
Considering the degree of similarity of the prototypes, I would think the GENESIS models would be on the same chassis. But I don’t own any to check. All my GP units are Proto2000.
The old Blue Box model was not overly correct for either version if I recall, labeled as a GP9 but closer to being a late production GP7 if my memory is correct. Since only one shell was ever offered for the Blue Box model, yes they all had the same chassis - that is at any specific time, because the drive did go thru a number of up grades over the many years it was produced.
Sheldon
I seem to recall that Blue Box models were packaged such that the “GP-9” models had dynamic brakes, and the “GP-7” models did not. However, the body was the same except for the brake blister (or not), and was not completely correct for either locomotive.
Yes, the Blue Box GP-7 and GP-9 used the same chassis.
-Kevin
Dynamic brakes or not, GP7’s and GP9’s are not exactly the same externally, and there are “phases” within each model.
I don’t have them all memorized, but small changes in grills, equipment boxes, doors, etc, etc, separate early and late versions of both locomotives and separate them from each other.
Yes, at casual glance, they are the same. To the rivet counting crowd, not so much.
One example is most GP7’s have a series of three louvers under the cab. GP9’s typically have one in this location. There are also variations in the side louvers of the engine compartment doors.
More GP9’s were built with dynamic brakes, but both were built in versions with and without dynamic brakes.
And then you had the variations based on different roads.
Locos built for passenger service, but without dynamic brakes typically had their air tanks on the roof to make more room for water tanks underneath.
Some were built with the long hood marked “front” and the control stand on the opposite side. Some were built with dual control stands.
I’m not one to obsess much
So now that my memory is woken up on this subject, a quick look at the old Blue Box loco, always labeled as a GP9, actually has the features of a late production GP7 with dynamic brakes and a passenger steam generator.
Sheldon
I can add that the Athearn Blue Box locos’ hoods were too wide.
IIRC, it was because of the side to side size of the motor.
Because I have a chance to buy a shell advertised as GP9 and wondered if it would fit on my GP7 chassis. That’s why it matters!
Thanks, but that doesn’t answer the question!
I thought I asked a “YES” or “NO” question, not a test of everyone knowledge.
Oh yes you did, you just didn’t know it. At least what you asked dose have an exact answer, many questions asked on this forum do not.
Well, excuse all the knowledgable people that replied to your thread!
Good greif!
Mike.
And we still need to know if it is a GENESIS model or a Blue Box model because those shells will not interchange with each other.
You cannot put a Blue Box shell on a GENESIS chassis, or a GENESIS shell on a Blue Box chassis.
A point I think I covered in my first post.
Sheldon
I believe you’re thinking of the old Lionel O engines. Same bodies but “GP-9s” had dynamic brakes, “GP-7s” didn’t.
Thanks… that must be what I was recalling.
-Kevin
Well, Sheldon and Stix already showed I don’t know what I’m talking about, so I guess I failed the test.
[(-D]
-Kevin
Welcome to an Internet Forum. The only surprising thing is the thread hasn’t veered off to F-3’s vs F-7’s…yet
GP 7 & 9’s are popular so this thread is going to go on for days if not months.
Not to worry, if someone was asking about some modern locomotive in common use today, I would be clueless.
Sheldon