Going on 50 year old memories, I recall a fellow club menber that owned a GP20. Now he was a big fan of Hobbytown and had a set of RS3’s that would pull the wall down. I was under the impression the GP20 was also metal, but I can find no mention of either Cary or Hobbytown making such a model. Is this a symptom of advancing age…
I did find a Hobbytown of Boston Universal type geep chassis that would fit the plastic shells of the day.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ho-vintage-hobbytown-universal-geep-151737526
I haven’t found anything about a Hobbytown of Boston metal shell, as of yet.
In my search, I also seen mentioned KMT models.
Mike.
Mike,
I have everything packed away now but I have two RS-3s from Hobbytown with metal shells. They showed up with a batch of stuff from a flea market and that is all I remember at this point. They do have a nice heft to them. Not sure if that helps. J.R.
I would inject the possibility that an older-Geep shell in metal might have been used on the Hobbytown chassis described, and bashed sufficiently to represent a GP20 (e.g. with a little creative-surgeon rhinoplasty).
I think most of the prevalence of the “GP20” as an HO model is an artifact of Tyco molding the shell (in plastic) rather than any demand for a metal version (as in the RS Hobbytown shell, an older and more pervasive prototype than the GP20 (or 24) would have represented in its relatively brief era).
Cary marketed a cast metal GP9 for a while. Down in the “too good to toss” box in the basement, I have a Hobbytown GP chassis with a Pittman type motor. If assembled with a Cary shell, the combination would probably weight two pounds.
My Athearn SD40-2 frames with Cary E7 bodies weight 33 ounces with 8 ounces of drawbar each. An AB pair will pull your socks off. I watched eBay for about 4 years for Cary/Hobbytown metal E7 bodies, ended up with four pairs of AB metal bodies.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Hobbytown of Boston did not offer a GP-20 in their line. In addtion to the RS-3, FA-2, PA-1 and E-7s, they also produced a “universal” power chassis usable under the modeler’s choice of body shells. The earliest GP-20 models in HO were from Tyco, a plastic toy and, Tenshodo of Japan, in brass by Pacific Fast Mail, in the early 1960s.
Lawrence had a cast metal GP7 in the 1950s and perhaps someone kitbashed it into a GP20 or low nose GP18 with photos in a magazine? Kemtron had a metal GP20 but that was O scale. Gem Models had some etched brass EMD diesels for a while but I do not recall a GP20 being among them.
Dave Nelson
Hobbytown had a power chassis specifically for the GP30 And stated it would work on the GP20 and GP9. Well I never saw an Athearn GP30 to see if it fit but it did fit the Mantua GP20. It was a fixed length frame so it could not be used anywhere else. There was no metal body that was made for that frame.
Rick Jesionowski
Look at the Darth Santa Fe E7 restoration thread. In it now is a ‘current’ Hobbytown catalog that lists item 67408, a “GP9/20/30 chassis”. There is no indication of a body to use with this. Pretty sure that making the Tyco shell into less of a toy locomotive was one of the stated intents.
Hobbytown never made a GP 20 shell . They did and still produce a chassis that will fit GP7,GP9. GP 20 ,GP30 chassis drive kit 67408. It was originally for the Athearn GP7/9 , GP 30 and the Tyco/ Mantua plastic shell. I have also fit this into a couple of the Bowser FM H-16-44 metal shells. I intend to fit it into a couple of Proto GP 18 shells
I have fit this drive into many of the Athearn shells as well as the Tyco GP20 . I have also installed the drive into Proto GP9 shells. I run DC only so there is no concern about fitting decoders or sound all the more room for weight and led headlights.
I have fit the newer universal road switcher chassis kit #77408 into the GP 9 and Proto GP 18 shells as well as Atlas RS11 shells.
It may be that the Tenshodo ? GP 20 brass shell might fit the either drive but that is just a guess on my part.
Hobbytown is still running and producing kits https://hobbytownofboston.com/
Ron High