Opinions on GP38-2 shells and GP50 drives

[squirrelhunter]

So I have a couple of questions I'd like to pose to the board, maybe y'all can help me decide the path of least resistance on a couple of projects before I start them.

I am modeling spring 1984 on the MoPac in Texas, just as UP traded 20 SD45's, and 107 UP, RI and WP GP40's and GP40-2's for 30 MP GP38-2's. MP still had 296 GP38-2's on hand and of those:

130 were 88" nose/corrugated radiator grill/angled air filter box
52 were 81" nose/corrugated radiator grill/angled air filter box
84 were 81" nose/chicken wire radiator grill/square air filter box

I want to have 4-5 total MP GP38-2 for my modules, so I'll need 2-3 locos to represent the first group.

I have 3 Walthers MP GP38-2's, but I'm not happy with the color of the blue, the fan hatch/fans, or lack of sight glass. I figure I have two options-
1. Re work the Walthers units with new paint, add a BLMA sight glass, and get some undec Atlas GP 38-2 shells and salvage the fan hatches.
2. Get undec Atlas GP38-2's with one panel radiators, replace the radiator grills and replace the noses with Atlas SD50 noses with the toilet hatches removed.

I'm inclined to go with option 1, but I wanted to see what others who might have tried to either upgrade the Wathers locos or modify the Atlas ones might have to say about it.

My second question is much shorter- I have a Kato GP50 I will repaint for MP that has quit running. Is it worth it to try to fix with the old drive or should I just find an Atlas GP drive and drop the Kato shell on it?

[chessie system fan]

If you go route two, don't forget about the anticlimber.

[tehachapifan]

One thing about the SD50/60 shells, the noses on them appear a little shorter to me as compared to, say, the LL GP60 or the Kato GP50. I discovered this with my recently-completed Phase I GP60 bash and the Atlas nose definitely does not reach quite as far forward as the original LL nose. Can't say for sure which one is most correct, thought, as I don't have that precise of measuring equip.

[jagged ben]

I don't know if a Kato GP50 shell will just 'drop onto' an Atlas mech without major modifications.  The GP50 was not among the family of mechs that Kato made for Atlas, it was quite different.  It may be fine but I wouldn't assume. 

I know the Kato GP50 drive pretty well, it was the first quality loco I owned, but without knowing more about how it stopped running I couldn't give advice on how easy it would be to fix. 

[ryan_wilkerson]

I know this is not the question originally posted but....would a Fox Valley Models GP60 mechanism fit under a Kato GP50 shell?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I have been told the GP60 has a longer wheelbase than the GP38/39/40/50 series.

As for the Kato unit, the side still/walkway also serves as a mounting point for the chassis. You would need to do one hall of a Dremel job to get it to fit on top of an Atlas GPx chassis.

As for the W-LL GP38-2, it is very easy to replace the fans as the shrouds pop free from the body. Drill out the fan opening and replace with Trainworx or BLMA etched parts. It takes about 15 minutes.

The sight glass can either be a BLMA part or a simple black decal.

[Catt]

There was a article several issues back in NSR on a rebuilt KATO GP 50 where the author showed just exactly what he did to mate a ATLAS DCC ready GP40-2 chassis to the KATO unit.

Mine runs so good that it may just stay pure KATO unless I decide I want to DCC the loco.

[cjm413]

88" nose from a SD50 would also need a ratchet hand brake in addition to removing the toilet hatch.

[Ike the BN Freak]

As for the Kato unit, the side still/walkway also serves as a mounting point for the chassis. You would need to do one hall of a Dremel job to get it to fit on top of an Atlas GPx chassis.

All you'd have to do is cut the two plastic pieces that run across the sill unit. @jpwisc  did it when he did the crew cab BN(BNSF) GP50 a few months back in N Scale Railroading.

[jpwisc]

All you'd have to do is cut the two plastic pieces that run across the sill unit. @jpwisc  did it when he did the crew cab BN(BNSF) GP50 a few months back in N Scale Railroading.

I was surprised at how easy this was. Cut away the center crossmembers and do a little sanding with a file. It didn't take long at all.

[squirrelhunter]

Thanks for all the input, its been very helpful.

On the GP38-2's I think I will keep my 3 Walthers ones, and just round up some BLMA Q fans and sight glasses and some Atlas GP38-2 fan hatches to upgrade them. This will also force me to lean to use an airbrush, so that's a plus.

One followup- I know some Walthers GP38-2's had short fuel tanks and others had long ones, but are the frames for both types the same or do the short fuel tank ones have different frames? I ask because I have Atlas units that should really have short fuel tanks, so if the frames for both Walthers versions are the same I could do some swapping around (and shimming or filing as the case may be to fit the shells) to get correct fuel tanks under the right shells.

On the Kato GP50 drive, y'all have also provided some good info. I had been satisfied with the performance of the loco, but when it quit I figured I would ask here about the ease of swapping mechanisms before trying to diagnose the problem, and then trying to find spare arts if any were needed. The other issue lurking in the background is DCC. Our local T Trak group has a good setup to allow folks to run DC or DCC, but this would be my only engine that is not DCC ready at this point. I'd guess putting DCC in one of these is difficult enough that if I really wanted to do it I'd be better off with a new DCC ready drive at that point.

jpwisc, what month was your conversion in NSR? One of our local shops usually has several of the last 3-4 issues on NSR on hand.

[jpwisc]

...
jpwisc, what month was your conversion in NSR? One of our local shops usually has several of the last 3-4 issues on NSR on hand.

Jan/Feb 2016, you can get the back issue directly from NSR: http://www.nscalerailroadn.com/093/NSR093.html