Athearn gensis GP15-1

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

http://www.horizonhobbytrains.com/products/ho-gp15-1-bn-ex-frisco-1376-ATHG68016

I’m thinking I’m going to return my bachmann gp35 and getting this genisis. I’m wondering what should I know about this locomotive? Will it run good straight out of the box (with the exception of plugging in a decoder)? I’m also thinking of using a digitrax 163p decoder. The reason I chose digitrax over nce was because most digitrax decoder have a heat shrink casing (such as the 163p). Is this a good decoder choice for this locomotive?

2

Is there something wrong with your Bachmann? Yeah, you could get the Athearn, but even some of the best companies have products fail right out of the box. So, just because you buy a genesis doesn’t mean it’ll be perfect out of the box. (I’m not slamming Athearn as I have several locos from them). I’ve got some 20+ year old Bachmann’s that I have converted to DCC with Soundtraxx decoders and they perform just fine.

The heat shrink doesn’t make the decoder. You can convert your Bachmann with a decoder from several manufacturer’s, with or without heat shrink. The heat shrink helps protect electrical contacts from contacting other electrical components and/or metal and cause a short.

What’s the real reason you want to swap locos? You can put that digitrax decoder in the Bachmann.

So,with the digitrax decoder you referenced, are you going to use the 8 pin or 9 pin plug? Maybe even hardwire? Anyway, here are some reviews for you to read/watch:

http://mrr.trains.com/en/News%20and%20Reviews/Product%20Reviews/Staff%20Reviews/2010/07/Athearn%20HO%20scale%20GP15-1%20diesel%20locomotive.aspx

http://mrr.trains.com/News%20and%20Reviews/Product%20Reviews/Reader%20Reviews/2011/04/Athearn%20HO%20scale%20GP15-1%20diesel%20locomotive.aspx

3

yaa I’ve been on a bad luck streak with them. my first one the rear truck was messed up. the second was the replacement and board frayed on it. This is why I want heat shrink. I was wondering if it ran better.

4

I’m at a loss here?
I do have the Genesis GP15, I am Chopping one up to make a custom unit, & the other may be a ficticious Amtrack Switch Engine, cuz I want a silver one…
But they both run & are strong…
However, I am missing the point on the ‘heat shrink’, or ‘heat sink’ discussion…
If I am so inclined, I can & have (inblack), any color of Heat Shrink tubing I can apply to any size circuits.
Honestly, my most longest, & strongest running Kato’s (with add-on circuits) are running as strong & perhaps smoother (imigine that) than they came in the box!!!
Explain more how the other optiuins make the model more durable & better, because I really want to know how my models are suceptable to this issue.
(I’m afraid I may be missing something really influencial here…
Fill me in, Please!

5

OK, that’s a little clearer reason. I have several Athearn’s and don’t have any problems. There are others who have nothing but problems with Athearns, and there is a strong following for Atlas locos (not to mention Kato, MTH, etc). So, (i hate to play the fence) but it depends. Like I stated, there’s no guarantee.

As stated, the heat shrink (shrink wrap) protects from electrical shorts. It has nothing to do with decoder performance. I had one digitrax decoder and it ran fine until I fried it (left to much slack in one of the wires and it wrapped around one of the flywheels).

I hope I am not confusing you. I’m trying to get him to understand that heat shrink has nothing to do with decoder performance. As you have stated, a person can take a loco that runs GOOD out of the box and make it run BETTE

6

Me and 2 friends have one and out experiences and opinions vary. All of but one of the group is sound-equipped.

Personally I like mine. It’s a looker, but I think you’re more concerned with the running. Mine was a decent runner out of the box, but required messing with some CVs to get it to be a smooth runner at low speeds. I got it to crawl smoothly after some tweaking. My only complaint is that it’s super light and doesn’t pull well. I MUed mine to 2 P2K Gp38-2, 2 Atlas GP38s, and a P2K GP30, and it works fine in switching duties when MUed to one of them (altough, I will run all 6 together on occasion)

One of my friends got one at about the same time. He says he didn’t like how his ran and wound up hooking a Lenz Gold for motor control. I don’t know if he tried messing with the CVs like I did. He says his stalled a lot (mine stalls occasionally) and the lenz didn’t help. He also said his details and stuff get damaged easily.

A second friend got his a few days ago, and was breaking it in last I saw him.

We all agree they are nice-looking locos btw.

7

To All,
I appreciate the conversation, these are really good points! Thank You!
Hey, I aint’ got no beef with the heat shrink tubing…
Funny as it is, I use shrink tubing, all over, but rarely for decoders, as in Atlas & Kato, I usually leave it on the Factory Versions,unless I got to cut it away to access a FN I need to stick in a Ginormous solderdering tip into… Ha hah…
I only use the Heat Shrink tubing to ‘electically isolate’ a circuit, not for any other reason.
I have worked in submersed fields where 100% sealed units were needed, whether in water, or oil, so I know protection is valuable.
MRR? Normal Air? well not really, if the enverionment is clean, everything will work out, corrosion is/may be on the surface, & would not affect a good solder joint.
However, if one were modelling a an Iron Ore mine & has magnets, annimated Fill cars, & 20 LBs of metal filings floating around, perhaps the heat shrink would protect that circuit.
For me I do not (knowingly) have those issues, (IA. not Salt Water bordering) so my environment may only offer 'normal Midwest humidity levels, so my Raw Boards may be OK, for the short term.
I could always cover them with a slap of silicone Caulk if I were more concerend, to seal their goodness, similar to heat shrink!
But, -heat shrink is not a seal in itself, it allows air, (& it’s ramifications) to pass through it. (like heat)…

So, that brings us back to what is right, a fully enclosed IC chip, a (siliconed glob), a slightly airated Heat Shrinked unit, or an exposed one?
I think the debate could go on for a while, & it is up to;
Personal Taste, Comfort, etc.
Enviroment…
Running tasks (related to what you do in your Environment).

It’s just my thoughts, & (to that), no one here offended me in any way, but I enjoyed the input!
Hope ya all, share a free thought, & find what is best for you, t

8

Ok let’s get some where. Is the athearn gp15-1 (http://www.horizonhobbytrains.com/products/ho-gp15-1-bn-ex-frisco-1376-ATHG68016) beter preformance wise than this(http://www.horizonhobbytrains.com/products/ho-sd40-2-bn-white-face-6770-KAT376601),kato sd40-2?

9

actually let’s bring in a third, a mth sd70ace(http://www.horizonhobbytrains.com/products/ho-sd70ace-w-nmra-socket-bnsf-wedge-9374-MTH8020700)

10

I’m sorry, perhaps I ‘comepletly missed’ the original question here…
Please…
Tell me what the original question is?
(I thought we went from specific ‘GP15’ TSU Shrinkwrapped DCC controller, to what SD&70ACE is best?)

Bang the Gong, (GOOGLE; Golden Earring; Twilight Zone) Please…

Where am I ?? I need that Mall Thingy

11

it went from how good is the athearn gp15 and would a digitrax heat shrink decoder be adacate for it to athearn vs kato vs mth. i am not wondering about that specific locomotive, because that would be like comparing aples to oranges to cherry’s, but would company is generally better in terms of preformance to detail. so basicaly what is the comprimise between detail and proformance. help?

12

Honeastly, I do not think I can answer that…

That is a complex, multifaceted question,
one in which the derivations of the resolution,
are convoluting at an increasingly increasing rate…

Yes, these are all different locomotives, with different characharistics…
They will perform differently on different layouts.
They are all supurb, & top noch units, I do not think you could go wrong with either one choice.
Good luck, choose what you like best!

13

cncsxbnsfrailway2,

I have a Bachmann GP40 and an Athearn Genesis GP15 and I can tell you the Genesis is the winner between those two (anyone would say, duh). The GP15 I got ran really well out the box but one of the ditch lights didn’t work. I haven’t had time to figure out why it doesn’t work but I’ll fix that when I install a DCC decoder in the loco. As for the decoder, I would suggest you use a DH165AO since the room inside the GP15 is limited and you might have trouble finding space for all the electronics under the shell. The DH165AO is a board replacement so all you would have to do is remove the light board that comes with the GP15 and put the decoder in its place, hook up all the wires according to the instructions and off you go. NCE and TCS also have board replacement decoders similar to Digitrax, so you’re not limited to just the DH165AO. If you get the Genesis loco you’ll be happy with it, good luck.