Need ideas for Athearn Genesis MP15AC chassis

[cnr5127]

I was doing some decoder installs for another modeler and was given an HO scale Athearn Genesis MP15AC that has major damage to the shell. In short the shell is a write off as something fell on it. There is not much for usable parts from the shell. Even the cab is damaged bad.

The drive is in excellent shape and runs very good. Nice and smooth and quiet.

I tried contacting Athearn about a shell and they have no complete MP15AC shells. 

Anyone have any ideas if there are any other shells that fit the Genesis MP15AC?

Is there any resin shell kits for the drive?

Will an Atlas MP15DC shell for the Genesis drive?

I would really like to do something with it as it runs so good. My only other option is to wait and see if a Genesis MP15AC shell comes up for sale some where. Only down side to that idea is I have never ran across and shell with no chassis for the Genesis MP15AC.

[stlrail]

I have seen MP15AC shells pop up on eBay before, but they don't come up often. I would save a search on there with notifications...

[big train james]

AC and DC prototype frame lengths are different, with the AC being longer. If you plonk an Atlas DC cab and hood on the AC frame, you're going to end up with some long porches and maybe some holes that need plugging. Not to say that such a model wouldn't be interesting as a home shop rebuild or something to that effect. The extra length on an mp15ac is mostly if not fully in the radiator section, so rebuilding with an mp15dc hood with standard radiator would make some sense. It would be an interesting loco, with a big front deck, the big anticlimber, and the vertical steps. Even better as an R/C unit, with room for the guys to ride on the front. Lol, I'm really selling myself on this thing, I might have to make one now, except there isn't a viable donor mp15ac in O scale.

Otherwise, I would consider a traditional slug, or better yet a slug with cab, a la the BN tebc6 units. An Atlas cab, Cannon long hood roof blanks, a few Cannon doors, and some sheet styrene should get you there. I've always thought the BN units were pretty cool, and considered doing a similar build but with an sd40-2 chassis.

Lastly, I'd consider some sort of genset type rebuild, with the funky cab and short hood.

Sooo-Much-Stuff has the genset shells on ebay for $5.49 each at the moment.

Jim

[cemr5396]

James mentioned slugs, CN had some purpose-built hump slugs built by GMD in London. I believe I heard somewhere at one time that they had the same frame as the MP15, but which version I don't know. 

[pault]

In regards to the genset on eBay possibly that locomotive is equivalent length to an SD 35 or SD 7/9. I suppose you could probably take an mp15 sometime car made the atlas and cut the radiator section off in substitute one from a Jeep cheapy 15-1 as it's about the same configuration and I believe pretty close to the same dimensional configuration.