Athearn locos

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi folks. I have been away from the hobby for about 3 years and I notice that Athearn has retooled some of it’s locos. They look better than ever. Did they chancg the running gear too> I’m asking mainly about the SD 40-2s and the Geeps. Thanks in advance!!

2

Welcome back. If your refering to “Genisis” as in Athearn Genisis, then yes all is better than the “Blue Box Athearn”

Athearn has 3 productions of locomotives.

  1. Rubber Band drive. (Something that’s not tolorated in today’s model railroading)
  2. (Blue Box RTR) Brass Flywheel drive (Much better and legendary)
  3. (Genisis) Still Brass Flywheel drive, but with better motor. Flat can 5 pole skew. and better paint with better shell detail. Also you pay a pretty penny for a very nice locomotive

Today Modelers are still within the 2nd and 3rd stages of Athearns. The 2nd stage could last a looooooooooooooong time with proper maintence. I don’t know if the Genisis is compatible to the 2nd stage durability.

3

Athearn no longer makes a rubber band drive in locomotives.The last was the RDC that was rubber band powered now discontinued.
The old Blue box engine and car kits are around but,getting harder to find in hobby shops.
Not all RTR engines is blue box.The newer RTR engines such as the GP35,CF7,SD45-2,SD50,SD60 etc is upgraded RPP shells and DCC ready…The BB RTR are just refined BB engines with the new hex drive line,plastic scale handrail and superior paint then the older BB kit locomotives.Then you have the newer RTR cars such as the 5344,5347,combo door boxcar etc that has wire hand rails…Then you have the BB and MDC RTR cars that has the molded on grabs.Both the newer RTR and BB RTR cars come with metal wheels.
The Genesis line is compatible to Atlas and Kato.

4

Where are the rivet counters when we need them? There was a 1b stage in there the direct drive “Blue Box” staples of the hobby to which we added brass fly wheels to improve their operation.
This forum is full of threads about Athearn locomotives on going evolution. The future of Athearn is unknown with its aquisition by Horizon Hobbies recently; however, the press releases and apparent availabilty, and new releases indicate that Athearn will continue to be a significant player in the industry.
Will

5

There was also another production at the same time as the rubber band drive diesels. It had an interesting “tower drive” similar to Hobbytown diesels. It had a regular gear on top driving another gear below it which had shafts going to worms above the axles.

…--------motor---------
w--w…w--w
O…O…O…O (“w” stands for “worm”)

6

Actually, the SD50, SD60 and SD45T-2 are completely new. Athearn said in their MRR ads that they were not upgraded Rail Power shells. The GP60M, CF7 and GP35 are the only RPP shells used so far. (maybe they’ll use the RPP SD90MAC shell someday and make an inexpensive SD90MAC [:D])

7

Thanks for the info guys!! Do the newer Athearn locos run with Atlas and Kato locos? How about the 2nd gen Athearns?

8

Right you are but, to keep things in perspective I just call 'em the newer RTR units…[:D] I am sure RPP had a SD50/60.Then maybe not…I never paid that much attention to the RPP shells except for the CF7.[:D]
Time was when Athearn was Athearn but, not any more since they have 2 classes of RTR engines and cars not including the Genesis line…Atlas is getting just as bad…[:D]