What is this?

Purchased this for the motor and flywheels but wondering what it actually is. Typical Athearn style trucks, wheels, and gears. Frame has more molded detail than Athearn and obviously is has a Mashima motor. Maybe Proto Power West but what model? Wheelbase is about 5.3" which equals a scale 38.4'. Any info is much appreciated.

 

Mashima motors are often used to repower engines, including Athearns. They run better and are good for upgrading or replacing motors (like getting rid of the epileptic coffee grinder noise...).

 

Thanks Mike. It runs really well, so I was thinking of putting a body on it and finishing it off. However, I'm not not sure what it is. It's wheelbase doesn't match anything I own.

 

The Blomberg trucks and fuel tank shape give it away as an EMD. The fuel tank is too long for the MP15 series. It's not the right shape for an F-unit either. The closest is a "torpedo boat" GP7 or GP9 with the air tanks on the roof instead of next to the fuel tank. This is a weird one and I'm definitely intrigued...

Did you measure the truck-center-to-truck-center distance and convert it to scale? That could be better than an eyeball estimate from the photo.

 

Truck center-to-center is 4.1" or 29.7 scale feet. Front axle to rear axle is 5.3" or 38.4 scale feet. Seems slightly shorter than any GP7/9's that I have and definitely longer than SW series switchers.

 

Looks like the GP9 is a 40' wheelbase. This is close but just a bit shorter. The fuel tank doesn't look right for a GP9 though.

 

With that wheelbase "29.7 ft", the closet EMD model could be the NW5 "31 ft".

Dan

 

The closest thing I found, nearly spot on, in my CN loco engineering drawings from 1964, isn't even a road switcher, but an F3A or F7A... 30 feet between truck centers and 39 feet between the frontmost and rearmost axles. Taking into account 0.1" plus or minus, it's a darn good match.

It's just the fuel tank that looks not quite right.

 

Thanks for the info guys. This one's an odd one. I've compared it to several of my locos but didn't check it against an F unit. I took a couple quick phone pics and it's slightly longer than a F unit and slightly shorter than a GP. I have no idea what the heck this started life as.

 

?
Is that chassis rounded on one end and flat on the other?

Doug

 

Both ends are squared off.

 

B-unit?

Considering the "artistic license" used by different manufacturers, it's well within the margin of error for an EMD F unit cab or booster. The actual truck centers of an F unit are 30.0 feet, versus 29.7 feet measured. That's about 3-1/2 inches.

Uh-oh... are we getting early symptoms of rivet counting?

 

Bingo! The crazy thing is that many, many years ago I started a GP15 and never finished it. The shell is a direct fit. Now I have the basis for a complete model. Thanks to everyone for helping out with this.

 

Wow! Mystery solved and a forgotten project resurrected from the "finish later" pile.

That was fun.