Would a Kato shell fit on athearn chassis?

G

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
Apr 4, 2005
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Hainesport NJ
Hello!

i have an Athearn C44-9W, that just broke one time to many, and the shell is pretty much scrap. however, the chassis and trucks are fine. unfortuneately i can't seem to find a shell to put on it. Kato sells undecorated shells though, so i figured i could just paint a new paint scheme for the new shell. however i have no expierence with Kato, and do not know if i could use one of their shells. I heard of Rail Power Products, but i haven't been able to check them. they aren't on walthers either.

I would have just bought a new shell from athearn, or even a dummy, but they stopped selling blue box kits of the C44-9, or atleast blue box locomotives arent being made now.
i'm also aware that a AC4400W would fit on there as well.
 
I put an Athearn SW-1500 body on an Kato NW2 frame,A little work and it works fine.:)
pict00026ph.jpg

one of these is the Athearn body on the Kato chassie:D
JIM
 
Athearn has supplied spare parts in the past. That may have changed a bit since Horizon is now having the line manufactured in China. The Kato shells can be made to fit. You will have to check it out yourself for your specific model. The most common difficulty in fitting a Kato shell to an Athearn chassis is that the Kato shell will have an interior in the cab. Sometimes the cab floor will interfere with the Athearn mechanism. The cab interior is removable, but if it can be modified to fit, that would be better. The reason you can't find anything on Railpower Products is that they were bought out by Athearn before Athearn was bought by Horizon. Most of the new Athearn r-t-r locomotives are built using railpower molds that were cleaned up for better detail by Athearn. Generally when Athearn does their own new molds, they go in the Genesis line where the return on investment is faster. Recent examples of Athearn r-t-r manufactured with railpower molds are the Gp60 and the Cf-7.
 
I don't know what is going on here but it tells me that "message is to short"Brakie you are right:oops: :thumb: it is an SW-7 but is still an athearn shell on a kato running gear. I allso have an NW2 kato shell on athearn running gear:D

They all work fine
JIM
 
oleirish said:
I don't know what is going on here but it tells me that "message is to short"Brakie you are right:oops: :thumb: it is an SW-7 but is still an athearn shell on a kato running gear. I allso have an NW2 kato shell on athearn running gear:D

They all work fine
JIM
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Jim,The Athearn GP38-2 and GP40-2 will fit on the Atlas GP38 drive..But,there is a lot of milling needed on the Atlas weight..Also the Athearn SD40-2 will fit on the Kato SD 40 drive again with some work.
 
brakie said:
Russ,Speaking of the CF7 that is a hot model locally..Like Varney's Lil' Joe of the 50s I think every modeler has one or two.. :D
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Once the Santa Fe sold off all of the Cf-7's, it seems that every shortline and industrial railroad in the country bought one or more, so a model that used to fit only 2 prototypes (S.F. and subsidiary LAJ), is now good to go all over the country. Another locomotive that is getting the same way is the Sd40-2t. Tunnel motors used to be found only on SP and DRGW, now they have been sold to leasing companies and smaller railroads all over the country.
 
I think i'm not gonna get a new shell and details. I have a Bachmann E-60CP in HO, and its old motor is failing, and the gears are slipping, its just not running well at all anymore. i decided i'm just gonna cannabalize it for parts. the wheel base and stuff are the same, so i just need new side frames, and to modify the chassis.
 
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