USA Trains GP38-2 - bash to B-unit..

[PhilP]

A while ago, I succumbed to an EvilBay item of a 'bastardised' USA Trains GP38-2..

It had been well 'messed with':
Body parts missing.
Hand rails missing (except one end)
The drivers cab-section had been removed, a replacement made (rough) from plastikard.
Metal roof to cab, with a single wire to it. - RC aerial..
Both bogies had been replaced by 'home-built' 32mm versions. - These have a motor/gearbox outside the axles, and there is chain-drive between the axles on the opposite side of each bogie.
Two switches, and a charge-socket, on the tank under the loco.
A Brian jones MAC 5 (of some description) was also visible in the EvilBay photo's.

Came with an early version Axtronics charger, and a bag of lose body-bits..

 

[Sean.]

Having trouble seeing the pics..

 

[PhilP]

Having trouble seeing the pics..

Give it time, Sean.. give it time.. ..
This will be a real 'slow-burner'.. Been taking pictures, an notes.. A real mess in there..

 

[Rhinochugger]

Wassa problem - looks pretty OK to me

 

[Greg Elmassian]

wow, that one battery in the foreground looks iffy, and is that a rusting metal plate under some of the batteries?

So, what are you going to do with this? Are the motor blocks serviceable?

You can buy all the detail parts still.

Greg

 

[PhilP]

Title say's it all Greg.. The cab is a mess, and the roof used as the RC aerial. - Hitec 40MHz receiver!

So, theory was to make this a B-unit (no control cabin).. There is not a lot left, once I strip-out the batteries etc.

The batteries appear to be two 9.6volt 'packs' in parallel. Lots of diodes! Also looks like there may have been ?something else? fed from the motor outputs of the MAC 5 (speed controller).

I did start to price-up 'bits', but soon got to the price of a new loco, I reckon. - I might see if Charles Ro will 'do a deal', or if they have a 'dead' return?

The home-brew 32mm motor blocks are 'interesting'. - Does anyone recognise the motor/gearboxes?

 

[Rhinochugger]

Title say's it all Greg.. The cab is a mess, and the roof used as the RC aerial. - Hitec 40MHz receiver!

So, theory was to make this a B-unit (no control cabin).. There is not a lot left, once I strip-out the batteries etc.

The batteries appear to be two 9.6volt 'packs' in parallel. Lots of diodes! Also looks like there may have been ?something else? fed from the motor outputs of the MAC 5 (speed controller).

I did start to price-up 'bits', but soon got to the price of a new loco, I reckon. - I might see if Charles Ro will 'do a deal', or if they have a 'dead' return?

The home-brew 32mm motor blocks are 'interesting'. - Does anyone recognise the motor/gearboxes?

View attachment 246501

View attachment 246502

View attachment 246504

Well, what's interesting there is that those gearboxes don't come cheap - whoever made 'em. £60 - £80 a pop would be my guess.

 

[PhilP]

Well, what's interesting there is that those gearboxes don't come cheap - whoever made 'em. £60 - £80 a pop would be my guess.

So I flog those, and it about pays for the USA Trains originals? Result!

The 'twin' batteries are labelled Strikalite, but before they started week/year dating their packs.. - All are dead. Ex-parrot dead, as expected, especially after seeing the state of some of them.



Batteries were (nearly all) siliconed down to the chassis..
The metal strips, Greg noticed, are also stuck with silicon to make-up to level the area the batteries were fastened to.

I'll email Brian Jones, to find out about the MAC 5 (v3 I think)..

 

[Greg Elmassian]

So, making a B unit would look cool, powered or unpowered? 32mm gauge, perhaps you could sell them, but the trucks are so wide, they surely could not go on an O scale loco... so a 16mm scale diesel?

In any case, you need new trucks.

Greg

 

[PhilP]

So, making a B unit would look cool, powered or unpowered? 32mm gauge, perhaps you could sell them, but the trucks are so wide, they surely could not go on an O scale loco... so a 16mm scale diesel?

In any case, you need new trucks.

Greg

Weelllllllll................

I had not considered a 'dummy' unit..

Dummy (no motor) trucks, should work out a lot cheaper.. - It will return to 45mm.
Aside:
Having got the 'trucks' off, they run really smoothly (by hand).. I did not expect to be able to move them. Must try to power-up those motors, I think they will run real-sweet?


Have done a little research, and there were not many 'B' conversions done.. One, or two, had the option of being driven without an 'A' unit, and these tended to have a porthole in the blanking panels. - Possibly a remote control option?? Not sure if these units would be new enough for that.
May well have to have a complete change of livery, to be believable.

 

[Zerogee]

Jeez, what a mess, Phil! So after you've stripped away everything that isn't useable, you're going to be left with what, basically a chassis frame and a partial, mutilated bodyshell?
Hardly seems worth the effort to me, but each to their own.... I'm sure you'll make something interesting out of it!

If those bogies run OK, I'd think that somebody could build a nice 32mm BoBo diesel on them in 16mm scale.... although odd in design, they do look quite well made.

Good luck!

Jon.

 

[PhilP]

If those bogies run OK, I'd think that somebody could build a nice 32mm BoBo diesel on them in 16mm scale.... although odd in design, they do look quite well made

Problem is, with the motor/gearbox outside the frames (for want of a better term), it makes the loading gauge HUGE!

You have it about right, as to what is left.. 'C' cell batteries - 20! of them, and the weights still on the chassis!! No wonder it needed two sets in parallel.

I have not done any modelling for years, and did very little of worth, when I did.
Having 'something' already roughed-out, is worth it for the instant-gratification factor.

Once I got the loco back home, and saw how rough the cab was, that made me think of a B-unit.. A bit of 'Googleing' (should the 'e' be there?) and I found a few links to a scratch-built unit in a different scale. - Not many of these were made into B-here'unit's, so not a lot of information out there, it seems?

I have only found photo's of BNSF #2249 and BN #2601. The latter being a simpler colour-scheme, and green. - I likes green..
The underbody tank detail looks different on the above though?

 

[Rhinochugger]

Brian's reasonably accommodating with his kit - but he does usually supply an anti-static bag for you to send it back in

The mAh rating on the cells will often give a clue as to age, although I was surprised that my blue and yellow dismal had cells rated at 4300 mAh which were 6 or 7 ish years' old.

The motors look small - are they Canon or some such? It might be worth sending a piccy to ABC gears to see if they recognize the kit

 

[PhilP]

Need smaller allen keys..

Smallest I can find, is a 1,5mm for Aristo track screws.. One of the wheels has a smaller-than-this grub-screw. - As does the output gear wheel on the motor.
It would appear the axle could have done with moving over a little? - End does not always run in the bearing, one side of the ouput.