For distraction I had a Stewart F3 shell and fit a BB Athearn frame.


B

Blues909

Active Member
I filed the Athearn F7 frame to fit included thinning the tab of the fuel tank so it would fit in the shell slots. I also filled the coupler pads and the two front frame tabs the shell rests on so they would clear the front cab steps other wise the frame would not move back far enough I also removed and re drilled the truck pins for the proper bolster to bolster length , used brass rod for the pins and super glue for a tight fit. . Installed a PK2 motor and flywheels from a GP30 in Athearn blomberg F7 trucks and drilled the frame for a ground screw from the motor. With the short flywheels and since Athearn don't fit I used the PK2 flywheel couplings and Athearn GP38-2 to the worms and Athearn ball ends like the flywheels on the worm shafts. I used the PK2 wheel sets replaced the 4 axle gears and soldered the top motor brass to each truck power arm. I also cut down a spare Athearn F7 super weight so it would clear the more round roof as well as the 4 roof fans which set down inside. Had some Accu Flex SP lark dark gray perfect match for the NYC paint the shell had factory to touch up a few spots. I have the port hole glass out since it hits the weight so I need to thin them down somehow or do without , it has the windshield and number boards and cab side windows installed just need to make hand rails all around where they go. I never know PK2 wheel sets were 39" guess 40" measured with a HO scale ruler at least on the GP30. Athearn are 42" Never checked before. It runs pretty good with this motor and drive couplings.

I'll post photo's if anyone is interested.
 
Here are the photo's , it did happen. I have to say cutting that weight with a hacksaw and truing with files is not fun.

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Athearn motor mounts fit the PK2 motor.

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you can see the screw with the red wire for the motor ground . I used a self tap and just soldered the red lead that already existed on the PK2 motor.
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This is with the shell installed . The weight just clears the fan's inside the shell could have removed another 1/32" yet it went on easy enough , I shined a flashlight through the windshield I could see it just clears and also woke up some intruder sleeping it there. That's all for now . I keep jumping from one loco to another. At bit at a time and before I'm 80 I might have them done that gives me a bit over 8 years. I should have got one of those lighted headband magnifiers the bifocals are worse than no glasses , got a set of 4 lenses that clip on my glasses yet never could see well with them.
 
Thanks , just need to paint the metal on the trucks then do the hand rails/grabs. It looks better than the Athearn F units. I used to have 5 Stewart F units , all F3 an undec powered A & B and 3 decorated F3A . They were nice running units plus I got their coupler kits and hand rail kits. I'm running out of axle gears. This are the trucks off the first Athearn F7 I ever got.
 
I had not realized how large that weight is! That is a lot of cutting and filing.
Nice! I have a couple Stewart units still in original boxes - never run.
I bought them for a screen wire early F-3 set.
 
Sirfoldalot said:
I had not realized how large that weight is! That is a lot of cutting and filing.
Nice! I have a couple Stewart units still in original boxes - never run.
I bought them for a screen wire early F-3 set.
Click to expand...

The Stewart F3's are nice units. As I recall the frame was one huge cast section part of it was the weight which almost hit the roof and the port hole windows were one section that held the shell to the frame , even the unpowered units had the heavy frame . I think they weighed more than the Athearn F7's , I'm not sure it's been a long time since I had one. I cut off a bit over 1/8" from the Athearn weight's top . I have two older last run of the Atlas FP7's they have a combined frame and weight when they went from the big can motor to the smaller motor same one they used in the Atlas S2 and in doing so changed the frame which is heavier. I used an undec Atlas FP7 shell and made a brass frame , used Kato Blomberg trucks and a sagami can motor when NWSL only had the round motors. I used an Athearn F7 weight in that too had to trim it down mainly had to round the top because the Atlas FP7 roof has more of an arc than Athearn yet it does not have the fans set down like the Stewart , I think did that so you had a choice of fans since they are held in a dropped area with 4 clips.

The Athearn blue box SD40-2 only has the fuel tank and motor with the brass flywheels for weight and the GP38-2 same thing ye they added a steel weight at the top of the shell under the removeable DB blister. The last Stewart AS 16's with the Kato drive began adding sections of weights inside the battery boxes and where ever they could fit them then Bowser changed the frame. Stewart also had the RS-12 and a GE 4 axle unit forget the GE loco's model they did the same with those.

I guess one could say Athearn were the first with their F7. I had a Bachman Spectrum GP-30 and they fill the shell with a two half frame same as their Baby Trainmaster which I still have, it's a unique design . As you know PK2 added a heavy weight to every diesel they put out, then there is the old Model Power E units with the large metal frame.
I have no idea what the Athearn RTR and Genesis have as far as weight. Walthers with their SW-1 and HH10/12-44 were heavy the HH was 1 pound I had 4 of each. Even Atlas S-1 ,2 ,3 &4 have the metal frame as did their GP-7 and RS-1 the RS-3 had a different frame yet they had a good size weight in them , they didn't have the metal walkways.

You probably know all of this. There used to be this small hobby shop Trokcel model trains can't recall how it was spelled he was in Hollywood CA , I got my first HO loco's there in 83 at least the ones I got when I moved here in 81 , He sold me a lot of early Atlas like new from a collection for $35 each all were Kato drive S-2 and RS-1 and GP-7 all were Southern Pacific.
 
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