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Included in the Model Power GP20 is the above parts sheet.
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Model Power's website includes the statement, "Powered by Mantua" and as you see the bottom of
the fuel tank carries the Mantua name. Model Power released the model in its own line and not the Mantua Classics line.
Model Power's GP20 shell is held down to its frame by two slots that mount over pins on the frame,
as seen in the image above.
This is the front truck area of the Model Power GP20.
This is the rear truck area of the Model Power GP20. One spotting change between the later era
Mantua and this new release Model Power are the trucks. Model Power is using the sideframes found on its F2-A.
There is no circuit board for the lighting in the Model Power GP20 and thus it is not DCC friendly
with an NMRA plug of any kind. The headlights are attached from the motor up into a section in the cab roof.
The Model Power GP20 is all-wheel driven and all wheels are treated with a blackening coating.
Knuckle couplers are included that have a spring and not a plastic whisker. The coupler is a plastic long shank center example.
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Above are the two TYCO shells I selected to compare with the new Model Power offering. The green
Penn Central is a earlier example; the Durango is a later version of the GP20 shell.
Can you swap shells? Yes and No. The later TYCO GP20 shell that went into production in the
mid-'70s with the introduction of the PowerTorque drives does not include the pair of screw mounting posts in the center that
hold the fuel tank in place on the older Penn Central example. Without much effort, a later example GP20 shell, say 1975
or newer will slide into place fairly easily. The earlier examples from the intro of the GP20 in the early-'60s to 1975 would
need some work to remove the posts.
The Model Power GP20 rides lower than the PowerTorque-equipped GP20s, as seen here in comparing
the new Santa Fe GP20 from Model Power with a 1979 TYCO Western Pacific GP20.
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