Athearn GP7

Yup!

Athearn GP9 (really it's a GP7!) I believe the only difference is the battery box louvers. Externally both the GP7 and GP9 look almost identically so if your not counting rivets this model can pass for either one.  The Athearn model has been around a long time.  The hood is wider than scale and was made this way for the old round motors so there was enough clearance inside.  (rubber band drive days) 

Now the question is? Is he asking a reasonable price for it? I rarely pay more than $20 for these (I have several) at local swap meets.  Don't look at pricing on eBay as most sellers advertise these as "rare", vintage, or even some will advertize "hard to come by".   Rare is highly unlikely, most all of these are "vintage"  1990 or older!  And the are a dime a dozen!  Irv Athearn produced these by the thousands and there are still some available "unopened in the original box". I know as I have one.

If this one has brass flywheels it is of newer vintage and is more desirable because the motor is much improved.  If it is the one with steel flywheels it is older 1980's and if it has the "ring magnet" motor it's goes back to the late 60's.  No flywheels before that time.

I hope this helps,  if the price is right, buy it.

Look on Youtube for videos on how to improve the existing drive.  These can be very nice running models!

And the newer ones are easy to convert to DCC/sound! 

$20?

Thanks for the info! Great to confirm what it is

Is this not DCC? The gentleman posted it as being DCC but now you have me worried that it is not...

Hood louvers are different too

Definitely the old "blue box" Athearn GP7.  Aside from the too-wide hood, the actual mix of details on the old Athearn GP7 match no actual GP7 as built.  Can't tell for sure but it looks like it has the later inboard-bearing trucks with plastic sideframes, which makes it post 1986.  If it has DCC it was installed afterwards.  The blue box GP7s never came with DCC plugs.

Horn placement and type are options on the real locos and have little to do with what the model # is.

Scott Chatfield

No blueboxes had DCC from the

No blueboxes had DCC from the factory, but there are thousands of them out there that have been retrofitted.

Athearn Part#

Am lucky.

Bought 2 Geep 9's at train shows or swap meets awhile back.  each one had a box with Athearn stock number.

The #3156 became Southern #6249 and #3056 is now a KCS dressed in black.

For me the gp7 and gp9 did have me confused as well. 

Glad we got some of the best modelers here.

Some times I don't even refer to my books,  just tune to discussions  here.

Thanks y'all

boudreaux  B.C.E.  R.R.

GP9/GP7

  Here's one of the original Athearn models from 1957, it was originally a rubber band drive but many years ago I converted it to plastic side frame gear drive. It was sold as a GP9 but I removed the dynamic brakes and renumbered it for a GP7 .   I ran it on DC but if I ever build another HO scale layout I can convert it to DCC fairly easily.....DaveB

Apart from opening the loco

Apart from opening the loco up or having a working track going, is there any other way to test if a loco is DCC? After talking to the guy some more I think he is reselling some train stuff he got at an auction. He said the equipment that came with the tack was DCC so he assumes the loco is but as some of you pointed out, you can have a DC loco sitting around waiting for DCC. 

Picture of the bottom

Not sure if this helps further identifying the loco  

A-Line can motor conversion

It looks like the motor mount holes have lead in them, so that suggests the frame has been modified by A-Line to use a can motor.  Still doesn't tell you if it has DCC.  You'll have to open it up or put it on a DCC test track to figure that out.

Scott Chatfield

Newer drive

I looks like the model has brass flywheels and plastic side frames.  Looks original to me. By the way your worded your commet   arvanlaar, sounds like the seller want's a lot more than what I stated.  DCC installed with lights, $50 or so, add sound and add another $50?  But to be honest selling a BB Athearn DCC/Sound for a $100 is a far stretch in my book.  

Bachmann Sound Value locomotive has a far superior drive and has better tooling than the BB.  

https://www.ebay.com/c/1085535251  Check out the link for price and you will see.

Athearn "GP9"

As noted, Athearn sold this years ago labelled as a "GP9" but it actually has GP7 features. (Information obviously wasn't very good and people were kinda ignorant as a result 50 years ago. Today it's a lot easier to share information.)

These louver positions are the spotting feature for a GP7 body:

A GP9 would only have one small louver on the last hood door, a larger collection of louvers on the doors right behind (or in front of - CN's units were long-hood forward) of the cab, and no louvers below the cab.

The horns aren't really a spotting feature, and someone has added an aftermarket detail part for the bell at the end of the long hood, a prominent detail on CN units.

Otherwise, the mechanical differences are all internal, with a 1750 HP vs. 1500 HP engine, and there have been documented examples of units that were wrecked or rebuilt with body components of other units resulting in a GP9 with GP7 hoods, etc. But that sort of major rebuild just torpedoes the ability to use physical spotting features.

But this model has GP7 spotting features.

But it's also an older model with an over scale-width hood that's out of proper proportion to fit the larger electric motors available in the sixties or seventies when it was originally tooled.

The dynamic break fan is

The dynamic break fan is 48".  That would at least make it a late phase GP7?

As a 14 year old in the 70's, I got an Athearn SP SD45 for Christmas, something I wanted very much because they were very common on the rails where I lived in northern California.

But the more I looked at it, the more it looked "wrong" to me, especially the nose, which was fat.  I later learned what Chris described above, the hoods were over scale to allow for the motors.  Because "looks" matter to me, I've long long ago purged any fat body Athearn engines from my collection.  YMMV

The fat bodies did not bother me until

I had some models with scale width hoods.  At that point the extra width became so obvious that it bothered me.  I also found most of the models with over wide hoods were available with scale width hoods shortly after I got into the hobby in the 1970's.  Today there are so many models available that it makes no sense to me to buy anything with a wide hood. 

Bottom line

You're buying a pig in a poke unless you can see what's inside.  If it has a can motor and decoder the drive train might be quite useful.  On the other hand, if it's an MRC sound decoder, you should charge him a disposal fee.....

Scott Chatfield

Make sure it doesn't have the old grey motor

The old grey motor draws over 1 amp and are useless on DCC,the gold motor on late Blue box production

are useable for DCC drawing 1/2 amp or less on a hardwire conversion to DCC.

watch out for casting rot on the sideframes on the older cast trucks,late blue box/RTR has the inboard bearings/

plastic sideframes.

It is possible to get the newer gold motor from Athearn parts website,it's a drop in replacement for

the old grey motors

watch out for casting rot on

The newer plastic sideframes are actually very accurate versions of the Blomberg truck side frames. 

Open it up...

arvanlaar wrote:
"Apart from opening the loco up or having a working track going, is there any other way to test if a loco is DCC?"

Have the seller take the shell off and look at the wiring inside.
That ought to clear it up quickly.
Post a pic here.

But one last thought:
Buy something else.
I'd suggest a Proto2000 (LifeLike) GP7 or GP9. Many "new old stock" and never run and available at good prices.
Will probably run much better [that this one] once it's cleaned up.
Some of these (not all) already have an 8-pin plug for a dcc decoder.