I love working flights on those puppies.. it's ugly on the inside but amazingly flexible for our intra-Alaska flights...
Having the ability to adjust the configuration within an hour is just perfect... but the 200 a/c are long in the tooth. The -400s being converted will not have the Quick Change option... they will be set for a specific number of seats and a specific number of igloos. But will be more comfortable with larger overhead bins and a nicer interior in general. One -400 will be cargo only.
The -200s are old and beat up but man are they fun to fly. Kinda like working in a timewarp..
FYI the -200s were equipped with gravel skids to prevent damage from gravel being picked up by the tires (think metal mudflaps - minus the chrome plated female outline thankyouverymuch
) as well as a vortex dissipater (that tube sticking out under the engine nacelle) to prevent gravel from being sucked into the engine on takeoff/landing. I think that all our runways are now paved so they have supposedly removed the gravel skids to reduce drag.