Hello I have an athearn ho scale RTR dash 9 44cw and it runs very badly at my club but fine at home. i am looking to put the athearn shell on to a kato AC4400 or dash 9 44cw frame would it work ? will the athearn shell fit the kato frame? if anybody has done this let me know.
It’s going to take some frame surgery to make it happen. This leads to a couple of questions:
- Why does it run fine at home, but poor at the club?
- By the time you buy a Kato engine, you are going to have lots of money in this project - Is there something about the shell that is important?
Jim
Jim is correct. Why not just go with a Kato unit?
Another consideration is what is the variable effecting the operation at the club? Where is the problem - turnouts, curves, sidings, etc.? Different size rails (i.e. code100 vs 83 or smaller) Obstructions at the club - spikes or drops soldered inside the rail?
The point is maybe the problem is not your locomotive but rather a combination of factors.