Mark... Is that an optical illusion... or is the Bachmann GP7 actually longer than the Atlas GP7TT....!!???
That's an interesting observation. There are some subtle differences for sure. The lettering on the long hood, the Wings, the cab numbers and the sill stripes. I think what you may be seeing, which is the biggest difference are the trucks. One's silver and one's black.
The trucks were black "as delivered" and painted silver later on, so technically both are correct. As for the rest of it, Atlas's rendering of the stripes, lettering and numbering appears to be more accurate (as compared to pictures in Rock Island Color Pictorial Volume 1). Cheers, -Mark
RS2m Guys, apologies offered for diverting this great discussion back to the RS2m models. Some time ago I bought a pair of LifeLike RS2s with the intention of converting them to RS2m's. However, I subsequently discovered that the usual starting point for this conversion is a Kato RS2, not a LL RS2 (which, I think, has a slightly wider mech.) From my limited test fitting, I think I'll have to do more than just remove a little of each of the frame and the Atlas GP9 hood. Has anyone ever made an RS2m from a LL RS2, and if so, how did you go about the job? Regards, Ron
The shell too. I never realized how tall the hood doors were on the the bachmann. I guess they never planned on doing a version with dynamic brakes as they wouldn't fit. Jason
Got a few chips installed the other night in the anticipation of the Rock Island F2's [video=youtube_share;dXkwHI3LC2Y]http://youtu.be/dXkwHI3LC2Y[/video]
The tracking was pretty much on schedule this time. Here she is doing what she was designed for, mated with a pair of FT's The red is a little bit darker and the white stripes are a bit thinner compared to the IMRC FT's. But once she's weathered a bit, no one will be the wiser.
From the looks of the photo... I could really not tell much of a difference in the colors or stripping. I also think the FTA/FTB/F2A is a very attractive set in that Rock Island scheme... but... I didn't get any of the FT units when they were available... Darn It!!
I agree, very striking! I just need to get some of the Red Ball Freight or Rocket Freight decals for them now.
OK, dumb question... I'm in the process of chipping some of my older fleet, Intermountain F7 A/B's I have two A's and two B's in the Red and Black scheme. When the F's wore this scheme, the B's did not carry and road number on the side of the unit like the A's did, but I think they carried the same number as what the A unit did. If the A unit carried the number 125, then the B was numbered 125B much like their FT's Now since I'm chipping these and I do not plan to have the B unit always running with the same A unit [I only have a few of these units], should I number the loco/chip one number higher than the the A units so it has a unique number for DCC purposes? A unit 123 - B unit 124 A unit 127 - B unit 128 I have never found a good picture of the ends of these B units to see if they had a road number marked on the ends or not. LifeLike's FB2's have a small number on each end just above the doors. I'm thinking I might do this or at least put the road number on the bottom of the fuel tank. Any suggestions?
I'd give this a try. I'm sure that an operating session or two will tell the tale. If it doesn't work as hoped, you should be able to make a change with no troubles.
