A couple of months ago, I purchased one of the new Atlas SD35's with ESU Loksound 73199. However, I got an NW high hood #1574 version. I thought about painting it up in SP tiger stripes but decided against that. However, I had a complete, new condition, Atlas/Kato SD7/9 shell that I decided to try placing on the new Atlas mechanism. I did have to remove a small amount of the shell plastic about mid point of the length in order to clear some decoder components. Worked well, looks good, runs well, sounds great, what more could I want. Here are some images of the completed job. My weathering doesn't match what most of you can do, but I am happy as is. One of these days, I'll post a YT vid with a 4 loco consist, all with ESU Loksound. "Drive hold" is cool! Thanks for looking and as always have fun, Carl
Looks great, and your happiness is all that matters! I am toying with the idea to do the same sort of thing.