Athearn GE U33B, EMD GP35, GP38-2

July 30, 2010

Ken has put a lot of thought into his questions so hopefully someone will be be prepared to give him some good answers. Good questions usually attract the best answers.

“I have a couple of old HO locomotives brought back to the living from boxes in the basement. They are both Athearn. One is a GE U33B, and the other is an EMD GP35. They were purchased in the 1970s.

I built a new layout using some old type 100 track and turnouts, along with some new.

Both of the old locos run on my track better than a new Athearn GP38-2 I just bought. The GP38-2 derails all over the track, and I can’t figure out why, since I don’t have the problem with the old locos.

As best I can measure, the flanges on the old units seem to be larger than the new unit. Can anyone confirm that?

Can I change out the wheels on the GP38-2? If so, to what?

I also have several Bachmann passenger cars that appear to replicate the wood clad cars from the 1930s give or take a decade or two. I would like to re-truck these cars and upgrade the couplers from horn hook. Can anyone suggest trucks, wheels and couplers? Would 36″ wheels help my derail problem with these cars?

I also have several boxcars, probably mostly Tyco, that I would like to re-truck and upgrade couplers. Can anyone suggest trucks, wheels and couplers?

At this point, I am more interested in function than realism, and not necessarily looking for the cheapest way to solve these problems.

Thanks for any help”

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