Athearn Blue Box Switchers


DakotaLove39

DakotaLove39

Always Improvising
Hey guys. I have a custom-painted Blue Box SW1200 shell, done up as MN&S 31. I was hoping to fit it to a SW1500 RTR frame, but it's looking like a lot of sanding, grinding and fitting to pull that off.

Fortunately I have an old Blue Box switcher frame, and it looks like the RTR trucks will fit on the older frame just the same (31 had Flexicoil trucks, which my RTR frame has). Question is, the motor. The RTR motor is much smaller than the old Blue Box motor is/was, so it's not a direct fit to the frame. I can maybe rig up some kind of cradle/housing for the new motor, but I figured I'd ask for experience first. What were popular motors to dump into blue box switchers?

(I feel like I'm asking for lost knowledge!)

IMG_20210706_232211724.jpg 1978.JPG
 
I had some Mashima motors in a couple switchers, still here in a drawer somewhere if you want them.
We need our resident switcher guru to chime in but he seems to be MIA.
 
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Hey Steve. If you can find an Athearn Blue box SW-7,complete with motor,that might be one option. As it is,the shell you have, I'm sorry to say will not fit on that frame. To clarify, it seems you are trying to put an Athearn SW-7 shell,on a R-T_R SW 1500, frame, sorry my friend,it will not work. But I think A-Line Proto Power West made a retro fit frame with a cradle for that loco. Only problem is, I don't know if it is available any more.
 
I'm keeping up a good pace on this project. After some photo study last night, I masked the shell and spraypainted the belly parts and pilots black, as MNS equipment was. I suspect, also, that the sill on this loco should also be black but photography isn't clear on color here. The difference between weathered blue and weathered black in old photos is blurry, and I don't want to re-do all the white sill markings so I will leave that part as is for now. I still have to install a Hancock air whistle to replace the original horn, and spark-arrestors on the stacks. After that, the cab roof and top of the hood will be painted silver, which is also what MNS did. Right now I have a pretty good-looking rollable dummy switcher. I want to paint the underside of the frame black, and modify the coupler mounts for kadee pockets. I should even be able to roll this thing at club later today.

IMG_20210711_105217968.jpg

I had a suspicion that the SW1500 model had a Mashima can motor, and I was correct. Nice to know Athearn made this move for their factory RTR stuff. I presume my two MP15AC's have the same motor. So what I'm going to do is try and recycle what I have. If I modify this motor cradle, and build up an extension to fill the hole of the BB motor, I should be able to mount this little Mashima on the BB frame with good alignment to the trucks, and still have plenty of space for a sound system. One of my MP15AC's has an early tsunami sound decoder which doesn't quite match, so I'd like to rip it out and install in this switcher.

IMG_20210711_110158890.jpg
 
DakotaLove39 said:
I'm keeping up a good pace on this project. After some photo study last night, I masked the shell and spraypainted the belly parts and pilots black, as MNS equipment was. I suspect, also, that the sill on this loco should also be black but photography isn't clear on color here. The difference between weathered blue and weathered black in old photos is blurry, and I don't want to re-do all the white sill markings so I will leave that part as is for now. I still have to install a Hancock air whistle to replace the original horn, and spark-arrestors on the stacks. After that, the cab roof and top of the hood will be painted silver, which is also what MNS did. Right now I have a pretty good-looking rollable dummy switcher. I want to paint the underside of the frame black, and modify the coupler mounts for kadee pockets. I should even be able to roll this thing at club later today.

View attachment 129852

I had a suspicion that the SW1500 model had a Mashima can motor, and I was correct. Nice to know Athearn made this move for their factory RTR stuff. I presume my two MP15AC's have the same motor. So what I'm going to do is try and recycle what I have. If I modify this motor cradle, and build up an extension to fill the hole of the BB motor, I should be able to mount this little Mashima on the BB frame with good alignment to the trucks, and still have plenty of space for a sound system. One of my MP15AC's has an early tsunami sound decoder which doesn't quite match, so I'd like to rip it out and install in this switcher.

View attachment 129853
Click to expand...
Dakota,your project is looking good. Glad to see it coming together so well. Loooking good Dude. :) William.
 
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