No need to apologize Bill.I explained my reason for using these in my first post this morning.The foot board casting on the unit now is not permanent.Athearn provided the casting without foot boards and once I paint it I'll switch them out.I left them on for pictures to give the overall effect.

Here's thee 2757 at Water Station, in Reading, showing the typical pilot treatment after the footboards have been removed.


I think kitbashing is easier in 1 to 1.

I have been following Chris's build of the 2763 with great interest. but I must admit that I won't be starting from scratch like you did Chris.
instead I do want to upgrade my Athearn 2763. I have added the cab numbers. Now my question is. Has anyone ever taken apart a decorated Athearn SW1500?" How do I get the windows out without screwing up the model? Any other ideas about it's disassembly I need to know. I want to dull coat it and dress it up a bit.

Thanks,
John Caples

Hey John...I really don't think you will need to remove the windows.The Athearn windows are installed from the outside,so in order to get them out you would need to disconnect the cab from the body and then mess with those terrible headlight bulbs and then you would have to gently push the windows out from the inside.Too much of a chance of damage and possible lost parts.
One thing that bugs me is,WHY offer a cab interior without a crew?With that said I'll explain what I did to add crews to all four of my factory painted Athearn units.
First,I removed the couplers so I could seperate body from frame.
I then carefully removed the hand rails near the rear door and disconnected the long railings where they meet the cab front.
The cab is held on by three tabs,one under the front windows and two on the rear of the cab.I pushed up on the front tab from the inside of the body till it released and then just gently worked the cab free.Now, be mindful of the rear headlight wires.There's enough wire length there to lay the cab on its side next to the body and frame and then add your crew.I used Walther's Goo to secured them,when cured just reverse the process.
Here's a pic of my three y/g factory painted units.


Now,I added crews to each unit,drip strips and weathering and sealed with dullcoat.Bottom line John,I would mask the windows and not try to remove them.I use Tamiya masking tape and never had any problems.The dull coat has never seeped through to the window glazing.I always double check that the masking is tight,no gaps,before I spray.While its still drying I use tweezers to remove the masking.Also,remember to mask the headlights and marker lights.

The third unit #2768 was numbered 2766.I removed that number using solvset,scotch tape and a pencil eraser.I renumbered with MS decals.

One reason to leave out the crew would be if you're running a multiple unit set, but that's unlikely with switchers. I glad they don't put crews in all of their road units. Of course, on the Reading the Engineer (maybe Fireman depending on the job) and Head Brakeman ride the lead unit while typically the conductor road in the unit (sometimes with the Head Brakeman).

NiteTrainJames can shed some light on this subject I'll bet.

Yes Bill...And that leaves you with one option...That crewless H.O. unit can only run as a mule and never the lead unit.And I guess we can forget about running it as a single unit.