I’ve been looking around online and can’t find a list contain any shell swapping or a list containg Ho locomotives width and length. If there is a such list, where would I find it. I think it would be a good thing to have . I bought a life like shark nose for the shell only and then I bought a Roco shark nose for the mechanism. As it turns out, the Roco mechanism is about an inch or 2 longer than the Life Like shell. This is just 1 of many other cases that I came across and If a list of what shells that could fit a certain mechanism would be great. Why would it be a good thing to have? Because there’s certain top brand locomotive that are dirt cheap and good quality. I’m hesitant as of now. I have an Athearns F7 unit. I want to replace the mechanism with a better one. Bachmann Plus makes a “so call” smooth and quiet running FT unit. I have yet to try any Bachmann plus or Specturm. I don’t want to take the chance of getting one and the mechanism don’t fit. I’m not bashing Athearns, just too much work to put in to make them run better. If you could get a better mecahnism, then why not. know I’m not the only one who feels like this. Responses please!!!
Putting any Bachmann drive under an Athearn shell would be a step down in performance. Bachmann’s diesel mechanisms - regular, Plus and Spectrum - are all inferior to Athearn in smoothness, consistency and durability.
Generally, swapping of shells requires modifications to both shell and mechanism. About the closest you’d get to the listing you describe is a list of truck spacings to determine which drives could be modified to accept particular bodies. Such a listing may be out there, but I’ve not seen one.
Consistency and durability of Atheans are good. Smoothness is not. Like I said, it takes a lot of work to make that smoothness possible. I was just giving the viewer some examples of what I mean. Anyway, you couldn’t just think that all 6 axle locomotive are in the same lenth. A E8/9, 6 or 7 is longer than a F45. Although it’s a 6 axle diesel. For someone who is still learning about prototypes and what they should look like when modeled wouldn’t know these things. I know a lot, but not as much as veterans. I know there’s always some modification that have to be done to the mechanism and shell to make one fit, but what do you do when you don’t know which one to get. Here’s another example. I have an kato F40 shell and don’t want to pay the money for a Kato drive unit because it expensive, even on Ebay. So what did I do? I got an Atlas/ Roco FP7 for $50 less than a kato. Yep only $23 bucks. The shell fit perfect. The only thing was the fuel tank of an F40 wasn’t on the FP7. Problem solved by buying a detailing kit for a F40 which include the fuel tank. Total ran me about $35. That’s the kind of info I’m looking for.
Actually, the new Spectrum and standard mechanisms (Plus line is gone) are smoother than any Athearn and are pretty durable. They stopped using nylon gears that everyone knows split so easily.[:)]
What do you mean by “consistency”?
I have yet to see any Bachmann diesel drive that would compare favourably to a standard Athearn drive’s starting voltage, initial speed and smooth acceleration/deceleration. Futhermore, the Bachmann diesels I have seen in action were all prone to failures or degradation in running quality much sooner than Athearn.
By “consistency” I mean how well any two examples of a given model will run together, and how well they will last when compared to each other. Bachmann is a crapshoot in this regard as far as I have seen.
I have never seen a need to test a new Athearn product prior to purchasing because I know from experience that any given Athearn will run well and reliably. Bachmann, on the other hand, I wouldn’t dream of buying without a test run just to see if it runs at all. I’ve had Athearns that were still going strong after more than a decade of regular operation, and seen Athearns that were 30 years old and still running reliably and smoothly without major servicing. I have yet to see a Bachmann diesel that matches this.
Hate to agree here, but if my father-in-law’s E33 is an example of the new ‘quality’ Bachmann, I’ll pass, thank you. It’s LOUD, has very poor low speed running, starts with a jerk, and has the worst headlight I’ve ever seen. Did I mention it came with so much grease oozing out that the impressive packaging was an oily mess inside?
–Randy
I once bought three Bachman Spectrum locomotives, two GP’s and a 6-axle unit. All three were dead within an hour’s running time. They all squealed like stuck pigs, and the louder they squealed the slower they went. Eventually the stopped squealing, and stopped dead. I think the pig finally died inside, poor little oinker!
NEVER buy a Bachman diesel. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.
Luckily the vendor took them back and refunded my money without asking any questions. I think he’d had a few doing the same thing.
Mark in Utah
Wow, that’s big news about Bachmann diesels. Thanks for telling me. I already knew about the first line of Bachman with the pancake motor, but thought the “Spectrum” line with flywheel would be much better. I also heard a couple of people in the fourm saying to never buy an Bachmann but I thought they meant the first line of production. So, Bachmann Spectrum is out. Still, Did anyone of you guys every place a shell on a mechanism that wasn’t it’s original belongings? I want to try something really different like putting a on a E8/9 shell on a AMD 103 chassis and make it a 4 axel diesel. Sure my layout could go with 6 axel, But it’s just a thought. The lenth of the chassis looks long enough. What do you guys think?
covering 90% of the city it’s “A TRAIN”
NYC
mark wrote:
“I once bought three Bachman Spectrum locomotives, two GP’s and a 6-axle unit. All three were dead within an hour’s running time. They all squealed like stuck pigs, and the louder they squealed the slower they went. Eventually the stopped squealing, and stopped dead. I think the pig finally died inside, poor little oinker!”
This is one of the major bachmann problems. They don’t use oilite bearings in the products. They need a LOT of maintainence in the form of keeping the bearings oiled.
“NEVER buy a Bachman diesel. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.”
I wouldn’t say never but if there was another brand of the prototype you want I’d go with that or plan on scratchbuilding your own mechanisms for the shells with Athearn parts.
BTW where in Utah are you? I went to school in Ogden for a year. Is Warren still runing the hobby shop at the union station?
A train wrote:
“Did anyone of you guys every place a shell on a mechanism that wasn’t it’s original belongings?”
I kitbashed a B-23-7 from a bachmann BQ-23-7 and athearn parts. A couple of years later they came out with their own B-23-7 and now an unmolested Q is probably worth something. !@#$%&* Bachamnn.
Eric
Bachmann’s “train set” F unit drives are great for stuffing into Tyco Baldwin RF16 shells. Not only do you lose the Tyco drive, but it’s an easy conversion–simply remove the stock couplers and file down the mounting lugs. Of course mounting Kadees is a pain, but I’d rather go through all that than stick with the Tyco drive.
I thought about putting a spare Athearn F7 chassis in there, but that would have required some serious machining, as it won’t clear the sides of the shell.
Bachmann’s F40PH drive (the Spectrum one) is pretty good. It’s a bit noisy, but I have yet to meet a prototype F40 that wasn’t 
I have never had any problems with any of my 3 bachmann diesels, except for the one that had a wire come off a contact adn all it needed is to be soldered better. I have noticed that they require lubrication a bit more often but still run well and pull great!
A train asks:
“Did anyone of you guys every place a shell on a mechanism that wasn’t it’s original belongings?”
Yup…
- A Bachmann/ Spectrum GP30 shell on a Athearn GP35 drive and added a Cannon & Co short high hood.A easy project
2.A Walthers GP9m on a Athearn GP7 drive.Added other parts and made a stand in GP10…Not easiest but,if one has experience should be no problem.
3.2 Athearn GP40-2 shells on 2 Atlas GP40 drives…NOT for the beginner or faint of heart…Lots of Dremel tool work.
All I’ve swapped is Athearns of the same type (for example taking a DRGW SD45 shell of a dummy undercarriage and putting it on a powered one) in fact a dealer at the GATS show does that for people if they ask. I only swap within a brand and loco type.
I’ve put a Lionel HO GP7 shell (ca 1960) on an Athearn mechanism amd swapped out the Blomberg sideframes with the correct (for the Lionel GP7) Alco sideframes. It turns a dog into a nice runner.
Shell Swapping! Has this forum turned into the Jerry Springer show? [}:)]
What do you mean by “turned into the Jerry Springer show”?[%-)]
[#ditto][#ditto] Although I’m probably to young to remember the Jerry Springer show…
It’s a baaaad joke, have you never seen the Springer show? I don’t want to explain too much as we do have young ones, just the horros of swapping shells, I thing engines have morals. Think those bad daytime talk shows, Rikki Lake, Sally Jessie etc. I must be too old [:(]
ATrain,
For you F7, instead of swapping, consider repowering with a Mashima motor. As for the trucks, where most of the noise comes from, take them apart and clean them using the Pearl Drops method. You will notice a big difference.
The newer Athearn Genesis F7s are more expensive, but they look nice and run quietly.
Peace!