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Athearn Genesis HO scale FEF-3
I got two FEF-2’s and was also disapointed with the starting on both. I have not had a chance to give them a good run-in, or to change the CV seting. They sure are good looking engines. ‘UP Modelers’ group on Yahoo has a good running discustion on them also.
Beautiful and smooth running locomotive. No problems,great sound,just as the challenger and big boy. Great job Athearn!!!
I purchased two FEF 484 locomotives and to say Iam very disappointed is an understatement! Both locomotives required on DCC control a setting of 30 before they would move, but it was like a hotrod at the dragstrip, it would jerk forward. i called athearn and they said to run it in forward and reverse for half an hour to break it in. I did. Still the same! I tried for three hours forward and reverse, no change. Then I played with the start voltage and acceleration cv’s and got them to start at a speed step of 2, but still the dragstrip scenario. Athearn needs to do some serious work to get low speed throttle response the equivalent of the QSI equipped locomotives.
I too had problems with start voltages.After about Eight hours of break in,and programing acceleration,start voltage,the problems of jerky acceleration have not been cured.I think I’ll try a QSI revelution when available.
The level of detail on this engine (I have the #840 FEF-3) is really good. After playing around with some of the CV’s (I use the NCE DCC system), I got the engine to start and run half way decently. It does not compare with my other BLI engines that have the QSI system, but that’s probably a function of the MRC decoder. My main concern is with the overly long crank pins on the 3rd and 4th drivers, and the lack of any kind of spacer on the main crank pin between the main rod and the side rod. The rods seem to flop around when the wheels turn. Also, I have a late run Challenger that starts and runs a bit smoother than the FEF-3. Overall, it’s a nice model.
Check the response from Tony’s Train Exchnage in VT. Their review was similar.
Hi, My friend has a Genesis FEF 4-8-4 No# 844. The sound is superb, but the lighting of the number board is yellow instead of white. The headlight should be brighter. We could barely see it. Chris
I ran one on my DC layout with hardely any problems. But it did seem too take alot to get it going.
This will be my next model, and I´m sure that Athearn will solve the problem of getting low speed throttle response quickly. Here in Portugal it´s a little difficult to see those models because we havn´t an importer, but I, has owner of a train shop, I´m trying to overpass this situation. Let´s wait and see.
Some of the details are not as thought out as they were on the Challenger and Big Boy. But it is beautiful and sounds nice…
Four stars for appearance. I don’t like the single piece siderods and their excessive play. My loco suffered from poor electrical pickup. Of 12 wipers on the loco only 4 were contacting the drivers, the 2 rear drivers with the traction tires and the 2 front drivers. In effect the loco was picking up current from one wheel per side. On the tender, of 8 wipers, 2 per side were making contact. Compounding the problem is the poor suspension. The loco’s middle 2 axles are sprung, but the springs are weak and there is very little verticle play. Three sprung axles on the tender suffer from the same problem. The locomotive is unbalanced. there is insufficient weight on the front drivers causing intermittant pickup. Removing the spring on the leading truck solved that problem. I have nothing good to say about the decoder. The sound is poor and with no BEMF, the loco will never be capable of slow speed. I have temporarily replaced the decoder with a Lenz Gold decoder while I wait for a Tsunami decoder to arrive. The loco now has excellent low speed control. Athearn needs to improve its quality control and find a better decoder manufacturer.
I purchased an FEF-3 no. 844. The sound isn’t the best, but some of the whistles sounded like the prototype. Though the sound was completely disappointing, I also had problems with slow speed. The loco was jerky and would stall at turnouts. It was the only engine doing that. Most of my locos have loksound or QSI decoders, and they have better sound and slow speed. I would like to chage the decoder to a loksound.
Mine ran well straight from the box on DCC and even better after a few minutes run in time. It also runs well on Dc with the wireless gizmo supplied. All things can be bettered but at the price this is superb.
This is a comment on the review, not the model. This is the first review I’ve ever seen mention the unrealistic nature of the now-standard automatic reversing headlights: “although a real locomotive with a train keeps its forward headlight on even when switching or backing up.” Way to go Dana! I’ve always had trouble picturing a locomotive engineer standing up, walking to the switch panel and reversing the headlights every time the locomotive changed direction, especially in switching moves. One locomotive whose models should have directional lighting is the F59PHI. Since this locomotive is usually used in push-pull commuter service, it should have headlights and ditchlights shining toward the front of the locomotive when it is moving forward, and red marker lights shining toward the front of the locomotive when it is moving backward. But the Athearn N scale (I presume HO is the same) F59PHI has no way of lighting the red marker lamps at the front of the locomotive. Instead, when the train is in “push” mode (locomotive moving backward), a silly “hostler” light comes on at the rear of the locomotive, which is hidden by the train the locomotive is pushing. And the cab control car that Athearn makes (made?) to go with this locomotive has no lights at all. It should have the same head/ditch lights or red marker lights, depending on direction of motion, as the locomotive. Come on, locomotive manufacturers, let’s see realistic headlight operation, not toy-like automatic reversing!
Awesome!Looks great!
Like the video of the loco. excelent smooth running. I’m thinking about getting one
Very impressive!
I bought my FEF about six months ago and it runs quite well with my Digitrax DCC system. I agree with many comments on sound quality and slow speed performance being fair but OK. The DC performance was scetchy at best. I will check the electric pickups as mentioned in another post. The lighting is nice but dim compared to my MTH models. Overall, I love the looks and detail of this model and I love to watch it run. I purchased this model for about $270.00 so compared to other Mfg’s offerings in this price range I think it is a good value. BLI & MTH are better quality performers but… you get what you pay for.
This model has outstanding detail but runs lousy! Start voltage is difficult to control and is not satisfactory out of the box. Sound quality is not up there with competitive products, and it occasionally just stops and goes into “spasms!” It runs so poorly that I really haven’t broken it in…makes a nice, albeit expensive, static model though. Disappointing, especially since an early Athearn 2-8-2, with added DCC, is one of my best runners, and it was right out of the box. Athearn can do better than this. I’d return it except that it sat in the box for well over a year before I had a place to operate it.