Tyco GP-20 kitbash...

...while the folks at the Tyco forum hash out the rules to their contest, I'm already going ahead with my bash. I'll be melding a Tyco GP-20 "Chattanooga" diesel shell to an Athearn GP-35 mechanism. Initial tests show a near drop in fit that lead to the next step---cutting a perfectly good Athearn frame up.

I started by cutting a gap into the front and rear footboards and plugging the slots on the shell...



...then lopping off about a half inch of the Athearn frame, front and rear.





No Athearn trains were harmed in the making of this How-To. I received the locomotive in a good ol' boy trade. It came with a paint job that would make a school girl sob at the carnage. When I received the barn loft haul, it contained no less than 6 of these Tyco geep shells. As far as I know, Tyco was the only company to ever produce one in plastic. Noting the close dimensions of each locomotive, I felt the Athearn would rather spend its daze toting a Tyco shell than hiding in shame in the corner of my work bench. The "Chattanooga" paint just screams to be released onto an unsuspecting crowd of rivet counters at the local train show...

No, I don't take this hobby too seriously, do I?