I have just aquired an Athearn streamlined RPO and I would like to add interior detailing and lighting. Can anyone tell me how to remove the body? I have the assembly diagram and it clearly shows where the joint is, but the two pieces will not separate despite the use of significant force. Using a screwdriver or other tool to pry at the joint will surely mess it up. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Dave
P.S. The car is in Canadian Pacific livery but it says “United States Mail Railway Post Office” on the sides. No offense to our neighbours to the south but that cannot be correct for a Canadian railroad. Any suggestions on how to remove just the lettering?
The top half should easily slide off the bottom half. If not, perhaps somebody glued them together. If glued together, I suggest not opening the car and saving your interior detail work for cars that will open.
Funny about the lettering for US Post Office on Canadian Pacific.
I bought an Amtrak passengr car not too long ago. The shell wasn’t even secured on, and popped off without force. The trucks are screwed in though, and after lifting off the shell, I used a small flathead screwdriver to remove the trucks. Of course I put it back together, but I was running it at the time. Either way it shouldn’t be that hard. And I found that pushing hard while running your finger along the lettering is the best, free way to remove lettering.
I have a pair of the Athearn Streamlined RPOs in Amtrak colors and they have been impossible to open since I got them. I finally resorted to using far more force than I wanted, but did bust them loose, They did not appear to have been glued, but were extremely tight fitting. I have some very thin blades that I worked into the slots at the bottom of the card sides. I took my time and worked them loose a little at a time and it will take more than one blade to accomplish it. Once separated the car frame and the inside of car body will have to be dealt with. I very slowly slid a body on one of the cars and each time I felt significant pressure I backed out the body and made appropriate changes to the edges using a dremel tool and files, carbon sanding cloth and any tool I felt appropriate to remove the excess plastic. I can now remove the bodies rather easily. I did get a scratch on the side of one of the car bodies, but that just makes it a focal point to start my weathering.
Dave, Take your time and you’ll be ok. There are no dirty little surprises, just excess plastic.
I had some Athearn streamliners that were extremely difficult to take apart. Once I had them apart and was ready to put them back together, I put a “puff” of some graphite powder along the outside of the lower half. 1) It slid together much easier, and 2) came apart a LOT easier.
The body came off with the application of brute force. I grabbed the fuel tank with a pair of waterpump pliers and pulled - hard! After a few attempts (and with me frustrated to the point that I didn’t care if the whole thing was smashed to pieces!) it let go with a loud bang. I appears that something was gluing the car and frame together at all four corners. I don’t think anyone intentionally glued it together. The contact points were very small and there was no trace of glue on the surfaces. My suspicion is that the paint was soft when the pieces were put together at the factory and the two painted surfaces ‘glued’ themselves together all on their own. Minimal damage was done to the fuel tank - nothing that can be seen unless you turn the car over and with all that fantastic underbody detail (not!), that won’t happen very often.
As for the unwanted lettering, it did indeed come off easily with the application of a little Micro Sol.
Mine were tight in the corners, as well. After I fixed the trucks I put it back together and it still wouldn’t come apart easily. That was when I resorted to trimming the plastic. When you put yours back together make sure the fit isn’t to tight.
Nobody caught my bonehead comment! I said that “I grabbed the fuel tank”! Pardon - what? I was talking about a Railroad Post Office car. As far as I understand things, an RPO would not have had a fuel tank underneath. Am I wrong? By the way, just what were they hiding under there? Jason Shron where are you when we need you? (No disrespect intended at all Jason).
I am totally disappointed that nobody caught my goof. Where are the rivet counters when we need them?!?[}:)][D)][(-D]
They’re too busy counting rivets to take your call, please try again in exactly 59 minutes, and 47 seconds.
Anyway, what you “grabbed” is probbaly the condesors and welders for air as well as all the lovely junk for the braking systems (three air resivoirs), and most likely, there w2ould not be a fuel tank, though it is possib;e. You’re more likly to have a water tank (toilets, sinks, maybe a water fountain) under there, though if the car is equipepd with a generator not powered by HEP/Steam or from the axle, it’s possible. Remind me, I’ll shoto a pic of what’s under the coaches at ITM, they are almost dead ringers for the Athearn coaches.
