11-19-2012, 06:41 AM
I got two Athearn RTR GP38-2 in CN zebra paint scheme at a nice price to be combines with the Bachmann engines. I love the zebra paint scheme!
The Athearn shell is as generic as the Bachmann is and needs the same detailing work (not done so far). However, the old! Athearn RTR drive (motor and truck gearbox) is not worth the trouble and has been totally removed. The engines became dummys to be used with the Bachmann only at this moment.
An option to run the zebra units solo is to put the Athearn shell on a Trainman GP38-2 drive. That fits after some cutting and sanding just fine and results in the well known Atlas smooth engine.
A quick check shows that the Athearn shell is wide enough to fit on the Bachmann drive too. The Athearn shell mounting pivots prevents further testing.
ps. The shells are similar but not the same. Both have different tooling.
![[Image: file-16.jpg]](http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149/faraway52/FL2012/file-16.jpg)
The Athearn shell is as generic as the Bachmann is and needs the same detailing work (not done so far). However, the old! Athearn RTR drive (motor and truck gearbox) is not worth the trouble and has been totally removed. The engines became dummys to be used with the Bachmann only at this moment.
An option to run the zebra units solo is to put the Athearn shell on a Trainman GP38-2 drive. That fits after some cutting and sanding just fine and results in the well known Atlas smooth engine.
A quick check shows that the Athearn shell is wide enough to fit on the Bachmann drive too. The Athearn shell mounting pivots prevents further testing.
ps. The shells are similar but not the same. Both have different tooling.
Reinhard