How do I open a BLI HO Stealth GP35?

[Maletrain]

My wife just purchased a Stealth version of the BLI HO GP35, and wants me to plug in a decoder.

I am an N scale modeler, so am not that familiar with HO model construction.  Another guy at our club has a new GP by a different manufacturer that he can simply remove the radiator cowl from the top of the shell to access the decoder mother board.  But this model does not seem to have that feather - so I am thinking I am going to have to remove the shell from the frame.  And, I probably will have to do that anyway to get a keep alive in there somewhere, too.

So, how do I remove the shell from this model?

[pjm20]

My wife just purchased a Stealth version of the BLI HO GP35, and wants me to plug in a decoder.

I am an N scale modeler, so am not that familiar with HO model construction.  Another guy at our club has a new GP by a different manufacturer that he can simply remove the radiator cowl from the top of the shell to access the decoder mother board.  But this model does not seem to have that feather - so I am thinking I am going to have to remove the shell from the frame.  And, I probably will have to do that anyway to get a keep alive in there somewhere, too.

So, how do I remove the shell from this model?

I don't have one personally, but BLI has a lot of support documentation on their website to include exploded diagrams.

[Maletrain]

I tried looking through their website.  Nothing really addresses the access to the mother board on this model.

I did find the exploded view for this model, and the drawing does seem to indicate that the cowl is a separate piece, and it even looks like there are detents in the main shell part to allow it to snap off and back on.  But, physically, it must be very tight.  It doesn't seem to wiggle at all, so I am wondering if it is glued.

Anyway, at some point, I will probably need to remove the shell to add a keep alive.

A video of shell removal would be nice.  BLI doesn't seem to provide one.  Maybe somebody else does on You-tube?  I'll search there, but am getting more and more leery about clicking in stuff in search results, these days.

[Maletrain]

OK, I id find this Soundtraxx video,

. 

It seems to show that you do need to remove the shell just to change the decoder.

It also shows that there are 4 tabs on the shell-to-body connection, but only really shows the location of one pair.  Could be a lot more helpful.

[Maletrain]

OK, after Femaletrain and myself watching a lot of gabbing on You-tube, she found this for an SD, rather than a GP, but I think they work the same.

You do need to take off the shell to swap decoders.

But, the videos I have watched don't seem to think there is a place to put a keep alive in the GPs.  One does suggest milling out a part of the frame.  Another replaces the mother board with a "Decoder Buddy" and puts a keep alive under the "Buddy" that he then solders in with a lot of wires.  So, not an easy replacement if something happens to the keep alive.

I am hanging it up until tomorrow, when my wife wants to start working on this.  When I take the shell off, I am going to see if I can get access to the space inside the cab.  It is mostly empty, except for half of an engineer figure.  But, it is lighted so that he can be seen.  I am thinking that it might be feasible to put some of those tiny N scale keep alives on the ceiling of the cab to get a couple of seconds of current/voltage to get over the dirty spots and troublesome turnouts.

The decoder we will put in is a Blunami, and when that drops out, you need to reacquire the Bluetooth connection, so it is substantially more painful than with a regular DCC dropout of a sound decoder.  Hence the goal of getting at least a bit of keep alive capability.

The tiny TCS KA-N1 and the very similar Iowa Scale Engineering "Run-N-Smooth" seem like they might be the solution.  It would not be cheap to use multiples of one of those, but it looks like multiples would fit.  They are only rated to 16 volts, but use tantalum poly caps, so should at least not catch fire.  There are You-tube videos of others putting them into HO locos.

[Maletrain]

FOUND IT!

Here is the official BLI shell removal video.  (Filled under "maintenance" videos.)  https://broadway-limited.com/blogs/how-tos/ho-scale-diesel-maintenance

Considering how easy this method looks compared to the techniques used in all of the other non-BLI videos, I think this one is not usually found.

[davefoxx]

Yeah, generally, in HO scale, most manufacturers’ diesel locomotive models just need the coupler boxes removed, and you can then gently slide the shell off.  I have a couple locomotives that have a few more screws holding the shell on, but this is less common.  There are a few Atlas models that require prying tabs snapped into the frame (I use toothpicks), but it doesn’t appear that BLI uses this construction.

When sliding the shell off, depending on the construction of the model, be careful not to let the walkway separate from the hood, or you could break the handrails.  I try to push up from under the walkway to avoid this, rather than pull up on the hood.  Go slow and just watch what’s happening, so you can back off and retry, if necessary, to avoid damage.

Oh, and when that shell comes off, be prepared that there maybe wires between the mechanism and the shell for the lighting.  Some Atlas and Rapido locomotives are designed without wires between the shell and the frame, but there are quite a few (e.g., Athearn) that do.  I don’t own any HO BLI engines, so I can’t get more specific.

Hope this helps,
DFF

[davefoxx]

Oh, and I forgot to add: “We are HOers.  Resistance is futile.  Your wife’s life, as it has been, is over.  From this time forward, she will service us.  We will add her biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.  You’re next.”

Sincerely,
The HO Borg

🤣🤣🤣