Model Railroading > Old Bachman question

I have an old Bachman unit that has wires to each axle and the motor is part of the axle.
My question is can I take an Athearn 4 axle mechanism and put the shell on that ?

Thanks
Gary

Posted from iPhone

What model like U30B or SD45?

fbe Wrote:
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> What model like U30B or SD45?


GP40-2,

Gary

Posted from iPhone

Could you?  Sure, given enough time and money.  Since the GP40-2/GP40, as well as GP38/GP38-2 all had the same truck center spacing any Athearn/Atlas/Kato model of those prototypes could provide a donor chassis for your Bachmann shell.  But will you be happy with a mediocre quality Bachmann shell, no matter how much time/money you expend trying to gold plate it?

The question I would ask myself is, would the best use of my time and money be to just use an Athearn (either budget Roundhouse line or higher end Genesis) complete locomotive rather than trying to salvage a Bachmann shell.  This is 2019; it is no longer necessary to longitudinally section a Blue Box GP35 or SD45 to get a scale width hood, like I did 30 some years ago, because those scale width hoods are available as part of complete locomotives today.  Use your hobby time/money wisely; get the commercially available complete locomotive and save your 'bashing time and energy for prototypes that are not commercially produced.  I would NOT choose the Bachmann shell option.  Use the old Bachmann shell to practice your painting/weathering skills.

While I agree in general with lnrr1066, I'd personally rather discard the Bachman GP40-2 and go with something with a bit more quality,   But I realize the cost factor may be an issue for some, and if so, the lowest cost option might be to use a complete blue box Athearn GP40-2 and upgrade it with more detail.  The mechanism is usually considered very serviceable if you enjoy tinkering.  Next best thing would be to find a good deal on an RTR Athearn GP40-2, which is an RTR verson of the old blue box GP40-2 with some miner refinements and a better paint job.  For a higher cost, Atlas makes a decent GP40-2 with a smooth running chassis; can hunt for a best price on one of those.  Regardless, there may be some more desirable yet modest cost options than trying to fit a Bachman shell onto an Athearn chassis.  

Cheers, Jim