Thanks for the expanded clarification Ted. I had not heard the term cassette drive before. Coming out of HO and N for so many years I'm quite familiar with the gear towers coming up from the truck to a drive shaft connected inside the body. There were kits designed for Athearn and others that added gears to improve the gear ratios for very slow speed performance pre command. I think it was Rail Power Products, but that goes back to the 80's and my teens which I kind of remember?
The vertical can motors in HO and N do predate the common term of "China drive" as Rivarossi, AHM, and early Atlas used a vertical motor powering a single truck going back to the late 60's. Most were produced in Italy or Austria at the time. They were know for their speed more than anything else 
but I still have several as all the Rivarossi GG1s used this drive.
