I have a Northern Pacific F3 A 6-18145 and the non-powered B 6-18146.
If I wanted to buy another powered B and put my NP shell on it, what problems would I run into? I thought about just buying another A and B ( as they seem to only show up as an AB set) and just run it as an ABBA or ABA. Either way I would have one or two cars between the two Powered A's. Maybe that's okay.
Any thoughts of wisdom?
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It appears your engine was made in the mid '90s. Lionel has made at least 3, likely more, styles of F3s and F7s all with different frames and ways the trucks attach.
Your best bet would be to try and get another A or AB with the same number as you have. The powered units run independently so no problem having a dummy B between them.
One thing you could try is see if your B shell will fit on your A frame. If it does then you can look for powered A in other than the NP roadname.
To see if the powered A will work first go to lionelsupport.com and search for replacement parts for your Powered A. Then when you think you found another powered A check that website to verify the frames and internals are the same.
This is what is inside your A unit.
b unit
Pete
Thanks for the reply Pete.
GVDobler posted:If I wanted to buy another powered B and put my NP shell on it, what problems would I run into?
As long as you purchase one of the Pullmor motor-equipped powered B units, you won't have any troubles with the shell swap. If you stick with that spec, you won't have to worry about purchasing something that won't fit or is scale. A few other quick things come to mind:
1) There weren't a lot of the right powered B units produced, but the one that comes to mind that would be ideal for you would be the 6-14564 Canadian Pacific. Others are available, but most have silver trucks that you'd need to repaint.
2) And speaking of repainting, your Northern Pacific F-3's have frames that are partially painted light green, so that's something you'd also need to do to match.
I hope this helps.
TRW
No problems . Besides swapping shell, you may have to swap truck side frames and fuel tanks. Total of only 12 screws.
US ARMY. 1966-69
SantaFeJim posted:No problems . Besides swapping shell, you may have to swap truck side frames and fuel tanks. Total of only 12 screws.
US ARMY. 1966-69
No.
The OP's F units are postwar-based, not scale. (Note the Pullmor motor references above.)
The truck sides are staked to the truck frames, making removal and re-installation difficult.
And the fuel tank is not a separate piece -- it's molded into the frame.
TRW
PaperTRW posted:SantaFeJim posted:No problems . Besides swapping shell, you may have to swap truck side frames and fuel tanks. Total of only 12 screws.
US ARMY. 1966-69
No.
The OP's F units are postwar-based, not scale. (Note the Pullmor motor references above.)
The truck sides are staked to the truck frames, making removal and re-installation difficult.
And the fuel tank is not a separate piece -- it's molded into the frame.
TRW
My bad. Sorry about that.
Good luck in your replacement parts search.
As far as paint matching try a local automotive paint supply shop. They should be able to match the green paint on the frame pretty closely.
Or if you want an ABBA with a powered A unit on each side of the set that would work fine as well.
I've done three conversions on Lionel "traditional" F-3s from the MPC and the LTI era, primarily to convert them so they were TMCC and Railsounds equipped. I used chassis' from PWC F-3s, which were equipped with TMCC, R/S, finished interiors, directional lighting, and electrocouplers. Swapping shells is pretty easy, as is mounting the TMCC antenna in the old shell. However, mounting the older shell on the Railsounds-equipped chassis (I've done this with both B and A units) is more challenging, and required some surgery to install the speaker in the roof, install the volume control, etc., but that's another story.
In any case, if the chassis' on your engines were completely black, you'd have several routes you could go. However, your options with these particular Northern Pacific engines are limited, because, as has been noted, part of the frame sides, the fuel tank, and (on the A) the pilot are all painted green. Theoretically, it would be possible to paint these, but I won't attempt it. It would be very difficult to achieve a perfect match, and getting a smooth application, unless you could figure out how to spray it on, would be extremely difficult as well.
By far the simplist solution, and what I would do, is just buy another A-B set, and use the powered A in your consist along with your current powered A and B unit (which has the RailSounds, of course). You could also then run ABBA of course, or ABB (which can look pretty cool, incidently), or just sell the extra B unit. Before you sell the extra B, though, you should check out what the sounds are like with two RailSounds engines operating at the same time.
Probably will just get another A B set if I can't find an A for sale. Sounds easiest and either ABBA or ABA looks cool anyway.
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