Athearn locos

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I just recently bought 3 brand new athearn locos ( c44-9w, sd-40-2, ac4400) So far I think, for the price, these are decent locos. They might not be top of the line but for the price I think they run good and look good. For someone like me who can’t aford the good quality locos I think aethern is a good substatute. Heck I got these three locos under the price of a kato model of the same type. Conbine these locos with the easy digitrax decoder they are a good budget loco.

Im not trying to start any arguments. Just alittle infor for some of us poor guys on a budget.

Maybe when im rich and famous I will purchese a nice fleet of katos but for now im happy with my aetherns. ( oh ill buy anything you guys desire for your layouts, when im rich and famous, also.)
[:D]

2

Athearn locomotives are the backbone of my model railroad fleet.
38 out of 48 locomotives are Athearn.
4 out of 5 locomotives waiting for me at my LHS are Athearn.
There is nothing wrong with Athearn. They are an amazing locomotive for the buck!

But that’s my two cents!

Gordon

3

I have 49 locomotives. One is Atlas, one Athearn Genesis, and 7 Athearn RTR. The rest are Athearn Blue Box.

4

Both my HO locos and 1 N loco are Athearn.

The HO AC4400 is a pretty nice model, I’m installing flush windows on mine…

5

Ahh glad to see alot of people with my same tastes.

Since I see you are railroad tycoons do you have any loco painting hits or tips?
With the 3 mentions locos all of which are in road names and colors I don’t want and I need to repaint and decal.

Any help for a newbee?

6

Well, ~90% rubbing alcohol will take off the factory paint, but other than that I don’t know much [:-^]

What roads are they, and what roads do you want?

7

Remove handrails and window glazings. Use a small pan, making sure it’s deep enough for your locomotive shells. Pour in 91% alcohol (don’t use 50% or 70% as they’re not strong enough). Submerge your units. Cover, if possible. After about 20 minutes, take a toothbrush and scub your shells. Paint should be coming off.

After you’re satisfied with the results, clean with lint free cloth. Primer and paint as needed. Hopefully you are using an airbrush.

Please give us some better details as to what exactly you want your units to look like. Also, if you’re using an airbrush or spray cans.

Cheers!

8

I want BNSF road name for my locos. Thats the railroad the rumbles through my town and I like the color schemes.

The C44-9 is Sante Fe with the red and silver paint scheme. Now I know bnsf kept this color scheme on some of their locos and just changed the logo. I think they called it the “warbonnet” scheme.

the Sd40 is a KCS

the AC4400 is a Chicago & Northwestern

I will most likly use an airbrush but have not aquired one as of yet.

9

hmm, looks like you’ll need an airbrush and some decals…

I model UP, and my 2 Athearns are DRGW and CNW so converting them will be easy [;)]

10

The road engines are good, but the switchers are garbage. I gladly ditched all my SW7s and replaced them with Life-Like GM switchers.