# How to remove the body from an Athern GP40X



## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Just got my new Athern GP40X which is DCC ready with a quick plug and I cannot figure how to get the body off. Everything is so delicate and intricately detailed with metal steps and rails and what not, I am afraid to break something. gotta see what is in there.

The snowplow is hitting the screws that hold the motor on turnouts, is that plow removable?

I have a similar loco by life like and everything is cheap plastic or molded in


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

take out the screws that hold the couplers on . sit it wheels down on the table and lift by the top of the shell. it will come off then


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

sawgunner said:


> take out the screws that hold the couplers on . sit it wheels down on the table and lift by the top of the shell. it will come off then


I tried that and found that there were two little flush mount screw hidden under the rear truck, the rear coupler did not need to be unscrewed. Did some delicate wiggling and it finally came loose, kind of a tight fit, couplers look just like the kaydees I bought.

There are two wires leading to the rear headlight and two leading to the front headlight, but only the front light works, it turns off when in reverse, what could be keeping the rear light from turning on or does that only work when it is DCC with a decoder?

OMG just found the side cab windows slide open or closed, what details this thing has


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

it could be a bad connection or the "grain of wheat bulbs" are shot. Those bulbs are known to blow, even when the unit is brand new. most loco's nowadays have directional lighting so that light should go on in reverse while the front one is off then the opposite going forward.


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

sawgunner said:


> it could be a bad connection or the "grain of wheat bulbs" are shot. Those bulbs are known to blow, even when the unit is brand new. most loco's nowadays have directional lighting so that light should go on in reverse while the front one is off then the opposite going forward.


I thought that is the way it should work, four wires to each end indicates to me, two bulbs, are they both supposed to come on steady or do they flash back and forth?

I was a bit surprised to find that circuit board on top of the motor, according to my instruction sheet it has a jumper board on so it will run on dc.


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

the 2 bulbs are steady burners. the jumper board is most commonly referred to as the "dummy plug". If you want to make it DCC then you remove that plug from the 8 pin socket and replace with an 8 pin decoder and wala you are DCC but it can still be run on DC as well with no changes


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

sawgunner said:


> the 2 bulbs are steady burners. the jumper board is most commonly referred to as the "dummy plug". If you want to make it DCC then you remove that plug from the 8 pin socket and replace with an 8 pin decoder and wala you are DCC but it can still be run on DC as well with no changes


I count 9 wires running to that plug, do you think I can get a speaker in there for sound, that would be my main reason to go DCC.

I am still fascinated with the quality compared to the stuff I have been using, In the box there is a sealed package of parts and looking at the sheet of parts I see they are for plumbing the fuel tank and some extra handrails. It has some decals I had to get a jewelers glass to read, one said fuel filler, another was Electro Motive Division of GM.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Since the loco is an Athearn, it comes with McHenry couplers (both brands are owned by Horizon Hobbies). McHenrys look like Kadees, and function like Kadees, but are made of plastic, not metal, and won't last nearly as long. Their springs are prone to failure as well. Don't be afraid to replace them with Kadees if they start giving you trouble.


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

huh. Athearn must have changed to the JST 9 pin decoder socket. noticed one in my AC4400 I'm trying to sell. it also has the NMRA 8 pin too. How odd.


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

sawgunner said:


> huh. Athearn must have changed to the JST 9 pin decoder socket. noticed one in my AC4400 I'm trying to sell. it also has the NMRA 8 pin too. How odd.


I removed that jumper just to check and yes it has 9 pins

Are those grain of wheat light bulbs replaceable?

I made a beginners mistake when I order the kaydee couplers the two pair I got were called OVERSET which made them lower then normal which indicates why they struck the frog on the turnout and derailed my transit car, now I know I have to be careful ordering them, I see they come three ways, overset, underset and centerset, the couplers on the Loco are both center set.

What is the purpose of that curved thing under the coupler, is it a uncoupler device or is it supposed to represent an air hose?


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## Grabbem88 (Feb 24, 2012)

I take it from the amazement of detail and sliding windows this athearn is from the genesis line not the rtr?

Don't assume bulbs are burnt out just yet although highly likely.
Those stupid wire holder clips give poor continuity so make sure the wires are physically touching the pad.

But since you want to go to dcc with sound and depending on decoder selection

Go leds <I know questions will be asked here so I won't add to it just yet..

On the couplers 99% percent of my stuff that curved bar that supposed to resemble an air hose gets snipped. Great for magnet uncoupling bad for dcc when it hits your turnouts..

My plow was on the low side on my athearn genesis gp49's and did the same thing hitting my turnout motors... I'm going to manual throws cause of this..

Take the plow and raise it up till stops catching the motor cover or see if you can file down the cover where it's hitting..

Athearn genesis locos for the most part are excellent in every way but they (athearn) strive to make that line as close if not exact prototypically where as our track work might not things crash when not taking it slow the first time to see how it runs..

Hope this helps a bit


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

The curved metal 'brake hose' reacts to a magnet under
the track by swinging to one side. That opens the knuckle
and the cars uncouple.

You will want to use Kadee#148 (whisker center spring) 
or # 5 (brass box center spring) for most coupler
replacements. They are center set. The upper and lower
set couplers are for more unusual situations. Kadee also
makes couplers with longer and shorter shanks.

Don


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Bkubiak said:


> What is the purpose of that curved thing under the coupler, is it a uncoupler device or is it supposed to represent an air hose?


It's both; resembles an air hose, but is used with uncoupling magnets for automatic un-coupling. If it's hanging down in the way, I bend mine up a bit; Kadee even makes special bending pliers for that....










I never cut them off, because then you couldn't do the magnetic uncoupling......unless you never intend to.....


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Grabbem88 said:


> I take it from the amazement of detail and sliding windows this athearn is from the genesis line not the rtr?
> 
> Don't assume bulbs are burnt out just yet although highly likely.
> Those stupid wire holder clips give poor continuity so make sure the wires are physically touching the pad.
> ...


How can I tell if it a genesis, the Box says RTR on it?
Took the plow off and damn it still hit the screw, thinking to grind the screw heads down
Following is some pictures of the top of the motor and how the Loco is hotting that screw
Amazing when you take a picture in macro mode every little piece of dust or hair shows up
you can see where I removed the plow a bit of paint came off with it
The four twisted together wires in front of that carburetor intake looking thing go to the rear headlights, I was wondering if I attached some wires to a 9V battery just to see if the lights work if I could screw anything up


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## Grabbem88 (Feb 24, 2012)

Ok it's a rtr lol the way you were talking about detail it seemed you had a genesis.

You might have a bent/twisted frame if the shell hits as well


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## Grabbem88 (Feb 24, 2012)

If you are hitting the screw then the turnout might be sitting too high. I even slid my motor housing back a little also it's right on a turn so the engine front doesn't track like a car does so there is a delay


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Grabbem88 said:


> If you are hitting the screw then the turnout might be sitting too high. I even slid my motor housing back a little also it's right on a turn so the engine front doesn't track like a car does so there is a delay


Problem solved, I took the screws out and ground the heads down, reinstalled them now I have clearance about the thickness of a business card. Might be able to put the snowplow back on.


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

Grabbem88 said:


> Ok it's a rtr lol the way you were talking about detail it seemed you had a genesis.
> 
> You might have a bent/twisted frame if the shell hits as well


If there is this much details in an RTR The Genesis must really be something to see


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## Grabbem88 (Feb 24, 2012)

Glad you got it figured out

Yes genesis are like a loaded baked potato lol


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Bkubiak said:


> How can I tell if it a genesis, the Box says RTR on it?


The Genesis locomotives are the high-end Athearn locomotives....they come in a Genesis box.....










They are RTR (ready to run) as well.....pretty much everything is these days....


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Yikes! That's a big, honkin' screw. What brand is it (so I never get one)? Nothing, but nothing that close to the tracks should stick up above the height of the rail.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

And, at least it really is DCC ready, if you ever want to go that route. Just yank out that small board at the end of the wires and install decoder of you choice (provided it has a 9 pin socket).


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

CTValleyRR said:


> Yikes! That's a big, honkin' screw. What brand is it (so I never get one)? Nothing, but nothing that close to the tracks should stick up above the height of the rail.


Life Like, it was only that one turnout motor the rest are fine, I ground the screw head down, plenty of clearance nope.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Is it one of your hand-me-downs. It's possible tha screw is not OEM.


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

CTValleyRR said:


> Is it one of your hand-me-downs. It's possible tha screw is not OEM.


All the turnouts are exactly the same, the loco cleared the other one I am using????

I have two trains running around, the diesel is just a tad faster then the Steamer, Since I have a twice around setup it's kind of fun to watch, kind of reminds me of the civil war great train race as one slowly catches up to the other, takes about 13 or 14 times around to do it. Both Loco's are HO but the diesel just is so much larger then the steamer in appearance.


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