Part Number needed for MTH GP 38 # 20-2156-1, Or trade my scale wheels for Hi-rail

Pickup isBD-0000025.

The truck is DA-2050006. Can't find just wheels. 

Thanks John, I wonder if you can just do the wheels? I did on my ES44AC so I thought I could on my GP 38.

Mike,

Check out this site. You would be better off with double roller pickups you might find on a newer engine. You will also need insulators to go with them.

Thanks John, you would think they would make it easy for people to fine. Guess I was looking in the wrong place. Thank you again!

That looks like an older 2-Rail MTH item. You'll need more than new wheels and pick up rollers to make that run on 3-rail AC power. 

MTH makes 3 rail wheel sets for their new "scale wheel" locomotives which includes electronics that can go from DC to AC with a flick of a switch. That's not what you have there I'm afraid. I don't think MTH stocks what you're looking for either.

If you're just looking for wheel sets that you can use, try Northwest Short Line. They make geared wheel sets for locomotives of all scales, but I don't know if they have the Hi rail variety.

Hi Rich,

Looking threw the parts manual, it looks like I can order everything. If I am wrong, please advise me.

I apologize Mike. I'm not intentionally trying to discourage you.  MTH may indeed have the parts, but that locomotive, those particular truck blocks, and the electronics inside it are no longer in current production and haven't been for some time so I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Call MTH and tell them what you need. That's your best bet.

I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

Hi Rich, I tried calling Midge, but she is out of the office. The engine has no electronics inside it right now execpt lights. I plan on putting a PS2 board in it and changing out the trucks to a GP38-2 set. If not it will just be a dummy.

mike g. posted:

The engine has no electronics inside it right now....

Well... that certainly makes everything easier!

Hi Rich,

I know its alot to do for such an Engine. The only reason I want to try and make this work is its the first O scale engine I ever had!

Wow...I could have swapped my gp 38 3 rail truck wheel assy for your 2 rail a couple of years ago. I ended up machining the flanges and adding insulators to one side of the axles for 2 rail operation..quite a pain but still in operation. let me check another engine i may have in storage.

Wow Willygee that would be great! I have tried a couple of time on here, but no luck! Thanks for looking.

It appears your wheel sets cannot be changed like drop in axle wheel sets in the premier line. But the whole truck assy should be interchangeable. These were common in unpowered units. I may have access to an unpowered gp35 3R ..thinking trucks should be same as your 38. It may be friday before i have access to it. I may be asking you the distance between the 2 screws that hold the side truck covers[x4] so you keep yours and i keep mine so repainting won't be needed.

Sounds good to me Willy.

By The way Rich, I got that cut for the lift bridge switched around. Now all I need is the bridge! LOL

One caveat..i'm not sure if unpowered trucks can be powered.Hopefully some one will chime in. Sounds like you want to turn this into a powered unit. May be post a new topic. If the driven axle has the pinion gear i would think it would be possible.

It use to be a power unit, the board inside fried, so I picked up a PS2 board for it.

Perfect candidate for PS2 You will need a tach motor though.

True, I have the tape and the mounting bracket for it already, Just thought it might come with the PS2 board.

Mike G, I am not 100% sure but I am pretty sure that the early MTH 2 rail locomotives did not come with PS1 as indicated in your first. I have one of these locomotives (a GP9) and it runs off of conventional DC with no sounds. 

As you have already found out those truck blocks have the captured axles and will not be easy to convert to 3 rail but it can be done. 

I have a SD40-2 that I would to convert to 2 rail and I would trade you those trucks and motors in a heartbeat if they were the same. Recently, I was looking for the exact locomotive you have and I almost won the 3 rail version on eBay. Now I am even madder that I didn't win that because I would have had the parts to trade you. It sold for only $80 but I am pretty sure the electronics were shot. I didn't care because I was going to gut it and put in DCC. 

I realize it has sentimental value to you but I would sell it and buy the 3 rail version. Good luck with it. 

Another thing to consider is that your locomotive has fixed pilots with Kadee coupler mounting pads. You will need larger curves to accommodate the scale coupler. If you want to install the large typical O gauge coupler you are going to have to "unfix" the pilot and hope the mounting pads don't get in the way of the large O gauge coupler. There is a lot to consider here. 

If you go the route of buying all new 3 rail trucks for your locomotive I am very interested in buying the 2 rail trucks from you or if you decide to sell the entire locomotive I am interested in that too. 

Mike G, I just read on another thread that you are using Kadee couplers. I assumed you were using the large Lionel type coupler which the majority of 3 Railers use. My bad. 

Once again good luck with your conversion. 

Good morning Hudson, All 3 of my engines have fixed Pilots, one bought that way and the other 2 I fixed my self. Whenever I get a engine or rolling stock the first thing I do is switch them over to Kadee couplers as I like the look better. I am in the process of planning a layout with the help of Moonman, there are going to be  072 & 080 curves, if I need bigger I will see what I can do. but my ES44ac seemed to work fine on that size.

If I can't make this work I might be intrested in a trade.

Did not find the unpowered gp35 [ Guilford Rail] yet at local LHS or my own fleet but still looking

Thanks Willygee, If I don't find any I got a call from MTH and they said they had everything I need, I just need to call them when I am ready to make that jump. a little pricy but might be the only way.