Would the upgrade be worth it?

[posse]

I'm new the the forum, but I've been running trains around simple ovals for over 10 years and hope to change all that. Over the years I've purchased 4 athearn trains, a GEB (powered), F-7A (powered) & B (dummy), and a SD40-2 "snoot" (dummy). The GEB has 4 out of the 5 motor windings that are good and the F-7 will draw over 750 mA when it first starts out (the train is barely rolling at half throtle). So, my big question is, would it be worth it if I repower the GEB, F-7A & B, and the SD40 with Proto Power West motors and maybe some nickle-silver wheels?

 

[UP2CSX]

I don't know what a GEB unit is but, in general, there's no economic return in repowering and replacing the wheels on these old units. If they have sentimental value, that would be different. If you add up the cost of the repower kit and new wheels, you can certainly get an Atlas Trainman or Proto 1000 model for near the same cost. You'd have engines with modern power supplies that run well and can easily be converted to DCC. The level of detail and paint quality is also miles ahead of the old Athearns. I have a few I've repowered and equipped with DCC because they were engines I spent a lot of time detailing 40 years ago and they mean something to me. Otherwise, I would have binned them and spent the money on new models.

 

[NH Mike]

If I guessed correctly the GEB is some variation of a GE U-boat such as a U25B or U28B? If so as Jim pointed out there are better running and better detailed versions currently or recently available rather than going with a motor and wheel replacement. Every other week it seems somebody is announcing a new state of the art set of F units so there are plenty of those to choose from as well. Maybe you will want to go right into DCC and maybe not. Either way you go there are a lot to pick from. Your old engines can be engine house scenery or something to eventually bring to the bench for the repairs you mentioned and maybe some detail upgrades if you like. To get some track down and begin running something I would definetely pick up a new engine. I think you'll be amazed at how much better they look and run.