Are you sure the truck wheels are plastic? I can see what appears to be gear towers, which weren't normally used on dummy engines. It looks like someone just stripped out the motor but the motors and drive trains for that model Athearn are pretty easy to get and not expensive.
Another Newbie
- Thread starter blue02celi
- Start date
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All Athearns have the same tower as their powered counterparts. Dummies just lack gears, motors, drive shafts, and have plastic wheels on one piece axles, where as powered units have what are called half axles.
Hmm...now that you mention it, I do remember those gear towers since they were part of the assembly that held the truck in place. I wonder how much you can pick up a powered chassis for on e-bay? I think the SD-45 and the SDP-40 had the same chassis.
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jbaakko
Diesel Detail Freak
All Athearns have the same tower as their powered counterparts. Dummies just lack gears, motors, drive shafts, and have plastic wheels on one piece axles, where as powered units have what are called half axles.
Hmm...now that you mention it, I do remember those gear towers since they were part of the assembly that held the truck in place. I wonder how much you can pick up a powered chassis for on e-bay? I think the SD-45 and the SDP-40 had the same chassis.
blue02celi
New Member
thanks, something to look into when I get things straight, first things first of course, and Im assuming thats the layout
CanuckMark
Member
Welcome to the forum!
I picked up a SF SDP-40 recently on EBay for 13 bucks. Lots of corrosion but after some basic maintenance it works great. A little noisy but that's an Athearn for you.
It looks like the SD-45 and SDP-40 underchassis might be interchangeable too.
Mark
I picked up a SF SDP-40 recently on EBay for 13 bucks. Lots of corrosion but after some basic maintenance it works great. A little noisy but that's an Athearn for you.
It looks like the SD-45 and SDP-40 underchassis might be interchangeable too.
Mark
Alcomotive
Grandson of an ALCO Builder
2 weeks ago I picked up a GP60 chassis with motor for 12 bucks and a nother auction I pick up 6 motors for 5 bucks!
blue02celi
New Member
been a while since I been on the forums.
well any of the engines and what not mentioned before are long gone lol, fiance's kids ended up just playing with them, i didnt end up doing anything with them anyway so figured they could have them.
recently moved into a house, have an extra room and after some compromising about different hobbies with the fiance, got permission to set up a table
dont even know where to begin... guessing figuring out exactly what size Im aiming for, then what scale I plan on using, after that it just has soo many options
well any of the engines and what not mentioned before are long gone lol, fiance's kids ended up just playing with them, i didnt end up doing anything with them anyway so figured they could have them.
recently moved into a house, have an extra room and after some compromising about different hobbies with the fiance, got permission to set up a table
dont even know where to begin... guessing figuring out exactly what size Im aiming for, then what scale I plan on using, after that it just has soo many options
Littlefoot14
Active Member
welcome back to the forums lol
ill try and be of assistance here
for your scale of the layout your considering building, it really depends on the size of the room and how much of that room you can spare for the layout. HO scale and N scale are very popular scales, and theres lots of manufactuers for these scales. N scale is about half the size of HO. I have some HO scale equipment and love it. Another thing to consider when choosing scales is your patience, eyesite, how steady your hands are and how detailed you want your railroad to be. N scale is fairly small, and hence would probably be more difficult to model. HO is a bigger so it would be a tad easier to model. Heres a nice picture comparing the scales.
Best of luck, ill be back to help again if you need it
ill try and be of assistance here
for your scale of the layout your considering building, it really depends on the size of the room and how much of that room you can spare for the layout. HO scale and N scale are very popular scales, and theres lots of manufactuers for these scales. N scale is about half the size of HO. I have some HO scale equipment and love it. Another thing to consider when choosing scales is your patience, eyesite, how steady your hands are and how detailed you want your railroad to be. N scale is fairly small, and hence would probably be more difficult to model. HO is a bigger so it would be a tad easier to model. Heres a nice picture comparing the scales.
Best of luck, ill be back to help again if you need it
blue02celi
New Member
was thinking N because of size. I have a decent sized room, however the washing machine is there, and double doors to get to the backyard which I know the others wouldnt like me blocking, permanently anyway. picking a layout seems to be the hardest choice, then followed by what era I'd like it to be set in, what types of locomotives, etc..
Littlefoot14
Active Member
remember you dont have to model something real-life, you can always freelance something, it your money and effort that goes into the hobby, build what makes you happy Perhaps picking a location would be easier, after you pick a location, it narrows down what railroad and equipment is most likely to be seen there.
Perhaps picking a location would be easier, after you pick a location, it narrows down what railroad and equipment is most likely to be seen there.
blue02celi
New Member
went thru layouts and saw a link to this page http://www.cke1st.com/m_train2.htm
i like a few of the layouts on the 78x30" door size section. I know I would like to have a turntable and an area for just yard switching which the description on the first one hits right on the head. turntable being more for just a place to have engines for show more than for actually running.
originally im from long island, never really seen freight trains until I came out here to colorado. went from seeing the long island railroad and subways which are all passenger to seeing all the freight type trains they have out here and seeing no passenger trains (not counting the light rail, i dont really count that as a train ;p )
think Ill go with something out here, think thats bnsf (sp?)
i like a few of the layouts on the 78x30" door size section. I know I would like to have a turntable and an area for just yard switching which the description on the first one hits right on the head. turntable being more for just a place to have engines for show more than for actually running.
originally im from long island, never really seen freight trains until I came out here to colorado. went from seeing the long island railroad and subways which are all passenger to seeing all the freight type trains they have out here and seeing no passenger trains (not counting the light rail, i dont really count that as a train ;p )
think Ill go with something out here, think thats bnsf (sp?)
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In N scale, a layout on a hollow core door is both a cheap and popular way to get started. There are some nice trackplans on Mike's page, and you can always pick parts of different one and combine them into one you want.
Long Island to Colorado is quite a jump but there is a lot more railroad action in Colorado than there was on the Route of the Rushing Commuter. With the exception of some regtionals, Colorado has two major railroads, the UP and the BNSF. Both are made of many predecessor lines that were merged to form the present day lines. This would be a good time to do some research on the web and see what railroads interest you, before you start building.
Long Island to Colorado is quite a jump but there is a lot more railroad action in Colorado than there was on the Route of the Rushing Commuter.
With the exception of some regtionals, Colorado has two major railroads, the UP and the BNSF. Both are made of many predecessor lines that were merged to form the present day lines. This would be a good time to do some research on the web and see what railroads interest you, before you start building.
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