Extending fule tanks on passenger gp-9

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hello All,

I am currently detailing an Athearn GP-7/9 as a passenger GP-9. Since I am a BIG SP fan, I thought I would add a couple of these to my S.P. fleet of engines. I was wondering if anybody would share and/or have an idea on how to extend the fuel tanks on the Athearn engine. This would be the section that has the plastic air tanks. I was thinking of using a piece of wood as a filler but, I am not sure what to do. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks,

SPFAN101

2

For modeling N&W Redbird Passenger GP9, the easiest is to use a LL P2K GP20 frame and walkway. I am not familiar with the SP units, but this may work for you.

A lower budget approach would be a Mantua GP20 chassis.

3

Styrene and putty worked for me. It took some time, but it came out alright.

-dave

4

Juneco in Canada had a set of parts specifically for this project, with white metal castings that fit right into the front of the fuel tank where the air tanks were. It was just a matter of attaching the parts and filling in the gap with some putty. Unfortunately I don’t know if this kit is still available and if so where it might be found. They never had a website, although their main firm does or did. Maybe someone else can help.

I did the conversion many years ago on one of my Athearn GP-9’s, to make a “torpedo geep”, with the roof mounted air tanks. The kit came witht these tanks too.

Bob Boudreau

5

What I did was: After removing the standard bottom-mounted air reservoirs, I put scotch ‘magic tape’ along the contours of the fuel tank, covering the end where the air tanks had been. Then I placed the chassis in a vise with the taped end facing up. I mixed some J-B Weld ‘steel’ epoxy and poured it inside the taped areas of the fuel tank, letting it cure ~18 hours. After that I peeled off the tape and, voila! - there was an extra-long fuel tank. A bit of corrective sanding, then painting, and nobody could tell it didn’t come that way from the factory.

{Gosh I wish I had photos to describe this process…[sigh]}

6

Thanks for all the tips. I have a couple of these torpedo geeps to do. I hope to get a photo or two up for some thoughts.

Thanks,
SPFAN101