Join the discussion on the following article:
Athearn HO scale F7 A&B Set
You should make a note that this is the Blue Box or the RTR Athearn as you will confuse new modelers. The Genesis F3&7s have both units powered. Athearn has made great strides with the RTR Line and they are great engines.
it’s a great freight train.yep it’s a vary hard worker too.
I have a pair and pretty happy with them. I made the B unit power from parts from another Blue Box A unit.
The A unit took some work to install a decoder because of the extra weight but well worth the effort!
A unit by it self will handle 25 cars with minor grades. With both units being powered they will drag 40 cars with no problems.
Cuda Ken
I have a set that stalls pulling three cars on 2% grade (forty foot cars weighted to NMRA standards). Excess play in the bearing caps which secure the worm shaft allows the rear truck worm shaft to disengage from the driven gear. The rear axles stop turning when under load at slow speed. This can be fixed by putting shims under the bearing caps, but it should not be necessary on a new Athearn. Has anyone else had this problem?