Athearn F45 Questions

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hello,

This past weekend I purchased an Athearn Genesis F45 with DCC/Sound. I am running this locomotive on DC using the included remote. I have a few questions for Genesis owners as this is the first Genesis (and sound equipped) I have puchased:

  1. I can hear some gear noise when the locomtive moves foward, is this normal for a Genesis locomotive?

  2. Can the sound system be turned off using the DC remote (I want to listen to the gear noise, but can’t hear it well over the sound system and I don’t really want to take the model apart to acess the manual adjustment on the board)?

  3. What is the average range you get using your remote (mine seems rather short)?

  4. This locomotive was produced in 2008, so would it have a MRC board or a Tsunami board in it?

  5. Is there a way to activate the brakes in DC mode (not the dynamic brakes, I figured that out)?

  6. What is the purpose of a winterization hatch, and should I choose to intall the included one, where does it go on the model?

I know it’s alot of questions, but if you could answer even one it would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance to everyone, and to Athearn for including everthing I needed for DC sound operation IN the BOX!!![:D]

Jamie

2

Sorry, can only help with #6. The winterization hatch is designed to re-route some of the heat ejected from the radiator fans back into the engine compartment to keep the diesel from getting too cold during the winter. I believe they have internal vanes that close off the screened opening on top to divert the hot air. It goes over the forward radiator fan with the screened section over the fan housing. On the F-45’s, these were only applied to the GN/BN units. On the FP-45’s, it looks like the Milwaukee Road units got them. They were not applied to either the F-45’s or FP-45’s owned by the Santa Fe.

Hope this helps.

Tom

3

Thanks Tom,

I’m freelancing a small railroad in upstate NY (about 2 miles south of Canada) and it gets pretty cold here in the winter so it looks like I’ll be intalling the hatch now that I know what it’s for, and after I figure out how to intall it. Also I forgot to menton earlier, my F-45 is BN 6648.

Still looking for other answers,

Jamie

4

The Susquehanna (NYS&W) that runs (ran?) in southern NY state purchased a couple ex-BN F-45’s (with winterization hatches, of course), so I’d say your plan to run them on your freelanced upper NY state railroad has solid roots in reality. Have fun with it! Hope you get the answers you need to the rest of your questions.

Tom

5

Anyone else?

Thanks again Tom for answering #6, but I still need answers to:

I would really appereciate answers to #'s 4, 1, and 2. Mabey if I post some pictures It’ll help, so here’s a couple:

Please don’t make me beg[#dots]

6

#4: I don’t have any Athearn engines, but I though they started putting Tsunami decoders only a month or so ago. How do you like sound from your unit? MRC gets negative vibe on this board. Almost as bad as MTH [8D]

Nice engine though, can’t wait for their P42 Amtrak (although non Genesis, but I’ll take anything at this point, especially since it’s supposed to be DCC ready)

7
  1. What is normal? Actually it shouldn’t make much if any gear noise

2 and 3. I think so, but I’ve only had it on dcc and never used the remote.

  1. It’s MRC, units announced after April 27th, 2009 are Tsunami (lucky them)

  2. Turn the power down? Again,never usedit on DC

  3. already answered. I put mine on BN 6635 by cutting off the 2 tabs and supergluing it in place.

8

I like the sound quality from the MRC board (It’s good enough for me[:D]). I also like the selectable horn and bell features. So long as the sound board functions as it should I’ll be happy.

As for the gear noise, I can hear the gears moving over the sound system when it is set for low. And it’s louder if foward than in reverse. I’m assuming it’s just me and my past experiences with Athearn loco’s. I’m used to running my Kato’s which you can’t even hear moving at yard speed[:)].

Thanks guys, especially for answering my biggest question: MRC or Tsunami,

Jamie

9

Are there new P42’s coming out? I have two from the last Athearn/Walthers release. They are DCC ready too. Pretty nice running considering they are not from the Athearn Genesis line.

Unfortunately I can’t really help with the original questions. Guess that makes my response

Sorry about that.

10

okay one more,

Since I only get one shot at making this look good, is this the proper location for the winterization hatch?

Just want to confirm it before I glue it,

Jamie

11

Sorry, I’ve not had any of my F45’s even out of the box yet, so I cannot comment.

12

Jamie, that’s where it goes if you choose to have one on there. Some prototype photos show them not having a hatch. Maybe the real ones are removable.