I have a GP18 Proto 2000 BN shell I would like to get a power chassis for. Is the GP18/GP20 power chassis the same? Meaning will the GP18 shell fit the GP20 power unit?
Thanks for any info.
Mark
Yes. All the GP7, 9, 18, 20 drives/chassis are the same. Be aware that many of these had a problem with wheel gears cracking and splitting. You can order replacements from Walthers and/or Athearn. If there’s a clicking sound or the engine hops , then the gears need to be replaced. Otherwise it’s a good drive.
The trucks can be different (sideframes/length), so just watch for that. Their are differences in the motor from the older brown boxes to the newer version too, but that won’t affect the shell fitting.
And I totally agree, the axle gears split, all of my have.
I assume the gp18 shell and the gp20 chassis you’re talking about are from the same runs? You know, there were three different runs of gp18, brown box, blue box, and grey box; and two different runs of gp20’s, blue and grey, with two different nose heights of the grey’s.
I think the shells of the blue and grey box gp18’s will fit on any gp20 chassis, regardless of nose height. Note that the grey box runs have two small screws to hold the shell on for which the blue box shells do not have recepticles, but that should not impede the fit.
The brown box gp18 will not fit on any gp20 chassis without some modification to the shell. Those goofy moveable grills on the inside of the brown box gp18 shell catch the weight of the gp20 chassis’. You’ll probably want to remove them anyway.
Edit: Come to think of it, I tried to fit a low nose brown on the chassis of a grey gp20 and it was impeded by the weight near the battery box as well as the goofy louvers. However, that shell is now on a chassis of a newer run gp18…hmmmmm. I have some from each of the different runs I can experiment with this weekend and post the results here if you like. Again, if they are from the same runs I think you’re okay.
The shell I have is the GP18 Burlington Northern #1996 GP18. I am not sure what run this was. I beleive it was the blue box. I would like to find a power chassis to put the shell on. Since this has been discontinued for awhile I cant find one in person try it out so Ebay seems to be my only option. I would think the GP18 and GP 20 would both fit with no problem.
Thanks for all your help and info.
Mark
Mark,
I think the brown boxes came in # 1994 and #1996
If your gp18 has movable sunshades with a rather thick add on grooved piece holding them in place, it is the older brown box gp18. Also, look for two movable doors on the cab. If it has the grooved piece, the sunshade, and the movable doors, it will also have the movable louvers behind the horizontal grills that are near the top of the locomotive, two on each side. Because of the louvers, it will not fit directly onto the gp20 chassis since the plastic piece that holds the louvers protrude into the shell’s cavity preventing the shell from clearing the gp20’s lead weight… You’ll have to remove the grills, take the louvers apart and discard the part that protrudes inside. Then glue the outside grills back on, which isn’t that easy to do since they are made of delrin rather than styrene.
Since the drive of the older gp18 stinks, I went through exactly the same issue you are attempting, putting a gp18 shell on a gp20 chassis. Trust me, if you have a brown box gp18, they do not automatically fit each other.
Depending on the price of the gp20 drive, it may not be worth the purchase of the drive to make the modification. Assuming you can find a drive only and not have to purchase the gp20 shell too.
Why not just go with this, you get the same drive as the newest gp20, with likely finer details than your gp18 shell has now.
http://www.trainworldonline.com/catalog/category/detail.php?id=12172&find_section=791
Yes, that’s the one I have exactly. Well after going to the link you sent and giving it much thought. I decided to wait on the Proto 2000 GP18 because Trainworld had for the same price a GP7 Atlas Burlington Northern #1550. I have been wanting this one so it will be a Christmas present to myself. I have always been pleased with the Atlas Quality and from all the problems with the Proto 2000 line, I think I will be happy with my choice.
Thanks for all the info and help.
Mark
The Atlas GP7 is a good choice. Be aware that the shell is different than your proto. The Atlas GP7 has the walkway and side sill molded as part of the metal underbody. The shell is just the long and short hoods as well as the cab. Consequently, the handrails sort of link the underbody to the shell at the cab, and can easily be broken if you don’t detach them from the cab before you remove the shell, if you have to remove it for some reason. That locomotive is kind of unique in that respect from many other models.
Nothing is ever perfect in this hobby, is it.
After you get your Atlas loco why not look for one of the older Proto GP18s for your shell, just go into it “assuming” that the gears need to be replaced and buy accordingly, then either install a replacement set or pull the motor and the gears and make it a dummy to pull behind your Atlas engine.
I have bought those older Proto’s as cheap as $5 with the gears shot as apparently some people seem to assume it is a major project to replace them when actually it’s about a half hour job.
I wouldn’t mess with Walthers at all, just get yourself a set of Athearn gears, it’s a quick and easy fix.
Mark
Well I got an e-mail from Trainworld and they are sold out of the GP-7. Darn, Darn, Darn.
Well back to square one. The best price for a old GP18 on Ebay is around 40 bucks. I guess I will go that route for now. I have not seen them any cheaper and since there out of production there not that easy to find for a cheap price.
Thanks for all your help.
Mark
Forty Niner–
Do you have a part number for the Athearn Gears? Will they work to fix all Proto 2000 locomotives?
Thanks,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Well, as these things go I now can’t find the part number info, another “senior moment” I guess, should have written it down. Hell, I can’t even find the gears at the moment but I bought a bunch of them.
But, all is not lost, you can do what I did. There is a vendor on Ebay called “SOOO-MUCH-STUFF”, so with 3 O’s. He is lacated in the state of Washington and he handled these parts, I bought mine from him quite some time ago and his service is excellent. As I remember I had the parts in 3-4 days of ordering them so that would be my suggestion.
Also, you could email Athearn and ask them as I don’t beleive they show them in their parts list on their web page.
Another option is to use Intermountain gears as they are also the same thing, I just happened to get the Athearns as they were available and advertised on Ebay along with hundreds of other parts that he carries for Atlas and a few others, patrs are about all he carries and he started off very small but has gotten to be a major supplier of factory parts within the last couple of years.
If I run across my info on those part numbers I will post it here for you but in the mean time I would suggest contacting him or Athearn direct.
Sorry I didn’t have the numbers ready but I hope this helps…
mark
Athearn part number as listed on their parts page:
|
60024 |
HO Drive Axle Gear, SD40-2 |
6 |
$ 4.98 |
|
(Current Production) |