Atlas 8-40CW: Riding high?

[w neal]

Forgive me if this was discussed previously. Do these locomotives ride high (ala BLI F-units, Intermountain SD40-2s)? Or is it just me? Do they need the styrene I-beam treatment? Opinions please.

[tehachapifan]

I found that they appeared to indeed ride noticeably higher than the 8-40BW's. It's been a while, but I recall carving some cast-in cross member-type protrusions along the bottom of the shell/walkway, that the frame came into contact with, and this seemed to help considerably. Can't remember exactly what I carved off and where though. YMMV.

[jagged ben]

They have a rather unsightly gap between the fuel tank and the walkways, but I don't think they ride high otherwise.  I distinctly remember my disappointment with the complete lack of underframe detail when they were first released.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Is it possible to adopt the Kato GE underframe detail sets to fill in the gaps?

Or, maybe this is a great extension of an existing Keystone Details product line.
It's not a "high priority project" for me, but I'd be in for a set to spruce up my C40-8.

[mu26aeh]

Wasnt this an issue with the Intermountain sd40-2 as well ?  Think someone used a strip of c-channel styrene or something to close it up ??

[turbowhiz]

I had a good look at these at the LHS today, and it certainly appears to me that the whole locomotive is riding high. The problem is not just limited to the truck gap. This was readily apparent as the model was adjacent a Kato ES44AC, and there was a distinct difference in the walkway deck heights. The electrical pickup configuration on the trucks are also pretty ugly on this model too, with the contact plates have an outline that is not matching the side frame at all, so although painting would help its still not great.

It’s too bad, I’d like some of these -8’s, but I’m not sure if I want to go to the amount of trouble it’s going to take to make them right. The only good option I can see is to somehow get the frame into the shell further, which should solve the truck gap and deck height issue, but that is probably not a trivial exercise. And the truck/pickup configuration also would need tweaks too. 

[oakcreekco]

I had a good look at these at the LHS today, and it certainly appears to me that the whole locomotive is riding high. The problem is not just limited to the truck gap. This was readily apparent as the model was adjacent a Kato ES44AC, and there was a distinct difference in the walkway deck heights. The electrical pickup configuration on the trucks are also pretty ugly on this model too, with the contact plates have an outline that is not matching the side frame at all, so although painting would help its still not great.

It’s too bad, I’d like some of these -8’s, but I’m not sure if I want to go to the amount of trouble it’s going to take to make them right. The only good option I can see is to somehow get the frame into the shell further, which should solve the truck gap and deck height issue, but that is probably not a trivial exercise. And the truck/pickup configuration also would need tweaks too. 

And that's why I sold mine. Loved the looks of that -8, but I'm not in a "project mood or mode" to make it look as it should, and as good as a Kato.

Frustrating, and IMO, ATLAS dropped the ball by not "finishing" this model.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wasnt this an issue with the Intermountain sd40-2 as well ?  Think someone used a strip of c-channel styrene or something to close it up ??

It is, and it's the reason I worked with @Lemosteam to come up with this: https://www.keystonedetails.com/keystone-customs/2020/1/27/n-scale-intermountain-emd-sd4045-2-dress-up-kit

[tehachapifan]

I really wish I would've taken photos, but I think the process I mentioned above did help. It only lowered the shell ever so slightly, but I believe it looks a little better. It appeared to me that the protrusions that I shaved-off were possibly added with the intent to actually raise the shell, for whatever reason. So far, I haven't found any problems having removed them except maybe the shell fits a little looser now. At any rate, there were only a few of these protrusions and, IIRC, removing them was really simple using an Xacto (chisel?) blade.

[Lemosteam]

If I am not mistaken, @cbroughton67 was the one who posted a shell lowering technique, but i cant seem to find the thread.