Here’s a link to an Athearn U-boat I rebuilt.
Nice UBoat Ray. Hopefully this week I’ll be finishing up Guilford (BM) 663, the lone U30C that GRS acquired from Detroit Edison. Handrails and grabs went on last night. Pilot details tonight if I get the chance.
Michael/SuperMicha/Acela…you do some really nice work!
Athearn make great kits it seems just for us kit bashers.I’ve made many two bay centerflow hopper cars out of the long car they have. I’ve made several 100 ton hopper cars out of 34 footers that I’ve cut just right. I like to experment and build different locos ,like a 35 cab on a sd 9 body or a gp 9 body,. or making a 35 into a road slug.The main thing is you can get parts if you know where to look .
Ray Marciano,
Great job on the U-Boat! I’m a big fan of these GE “chuggers”.
Please, don’t be offended, but if you will allow me just a small suggestion. Get a set of locomotive horns from Details West. They’re cheap, made out of metal and the front of the “trumpets” are actually open, making them look very realistic. Details West has single-chime, 3-chime, and 5-chime horns. I believe that Conrail favored 3 chimers.
I’m replacing all of the horns on my Athearns with these. The difference is quite noticeable.
Supermicha,
You have some sharp looking units! Thanks for the photos!
Thanks for the compliments on the U-boat Guys.
Yea, the DW horns sound like a good Idea. I keep knocking these ones off anyway whenever I put it back in its box.
I’ve done a few other GEs and have a couple in the making.
I’ll have to get the camera out and get some photos.
Here’s the latest project. Guillford U30C #663. Over on the Atlas forums, there is a weekly thread call Sunday Photo Fun, where members post pics of the weeks work. Supermicha is a regular as are a few others here. Post some pics of your work. You may not think it, but seeing how others have done things really helps out other modelers.
Argh! I’m missing the boat! I’ve gotta get myself an Athearn model!
dharmon
Your U30C Looks great.[tup] Nice work.
Those are really some great looking locos! Supermicha’s CS206 and Espee 8326 are beautiful!
When I first got back into HO after many years in N, i set a loop of Atlas track up on the shag carpeting in my apt, and began breaking in an Athearn CR GP38-2 and about 9 cars. As one of only 3 police in town I was called to an accident to assist.
5 HOURS later I returned home and found the gp still pulling 9 cars around that loop.
Not as dramatic as if it had crashed and burned everything down, but it made a believer out of me in both Athearn and Atlas. Havn’t been disappointed yet!
Guys,Here is a true story…I was a member of a local club and was running 2 Athearn GP7s pulling around 25 cars…I walked into the club room to get a cup of coffee and got to talking…Well we decided to go to the local fast food joint and grab a quick bite.So,we was gone about 45 minutes or so and returned to the club…When we reached the 3rd floor we heard this train running and wondered who was running the train…Upon investigation here is my 2 Athearn GP7s still running at the speed I left them pulling that those cars…Yeah,those Athearns are hard to beat…Kinda like a Timex watch…They take a beating and keep right on ticking…You can’t go wrong with a Athearn or Atlas product on your layout…[:D][:D][tup][tup]
Love that NJT GP40-2! I’ve seen the real thing in work train service before.
Just finished up a few Athearn and a couple other locos. They’re simple Penn Central dip paint jobs but turned out OK.
On the first page is an Athearn SD9 and a modified Athearn F7 drive and a couple of other locos. The second page shows the Athearn F7A-B-A set.
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=9503&page=1
NIce work Ray. It’s pretty rare to see someone do Penn Central, much less PC with the old red and white logo. You do some good stuff.
That’s a monster motor in the F unit! The SDF40-2 and the U30C I did for my roadname both have high torque low RPM Sagami motors in them. I think the fastest they can go is about scale 90. I married them up in the shot below (the Guilford U30C isn’t powered yet) and pulled a 45 car train around the club last week. The limiting factor became couplers slipping, not the power.
Ray,I missed your post on the gauge so I will reply here…Those are very nice looking units…Good Job! [:D][tup]
This topic really does offer great tips and excellent info for newbies and seasoned pros alike!
I like Athearn, too, but I’m one of those nasty “good enough” modelers. I’ve got hundreds of them to build yet!
I’m primarily a runner moreso than a builder, so my priority is to get the basement sized layout up and running. Athearn, et al are quick and easy and CHEAP and are, uh, good enough to my eye, for my purposes.
I have a concern about the availability of Athearn BB kits in the future, though. Last night I was looking for a specific car on Horizon’s web site, and as I was scrolling through their Athearn listing, I kept coming up against a really high amount of cars which were marked as “currently not in production”, “discontinued model”, etc. which caused the concern, since Horizon assured modelers and model builders that the BB kits would still be available and produced in the future.
Now I’m wondering . . .
Before Athearn was assimilated by Horizon (AKA the “Borg”!), they would only produce models in cycles. If one model sold out, then there wouldn’t be any more produced until its cycle came up again. There were shortages in the past, and sometimes modelers had to wait years until a particular model was made again. So it seems like the same thing is continuing.
My concern is that Horizon may become more enthusiastic about producing everything in their “ready to roll” line - made in China. Then everything would cost more, and would probably take even longer to appear. I assume making their models in China is appealing to such a company, because they would not have any factory or infrastructure to maintain in North America. Just place an order for a bunch of models and offer them to their dealers - if there are many dealers left!
Bob Boudreau
Bob Boudreau
Athearn bluebox locos are what made this hobby attractive to me when I first started back in 1971. I remember kitbashing a fleet of GP38’s, GP40’s, SD40’s and SD35’s so I could have a good representation of the B&O’s roster at that time. (Wish I still had them - I foolishly allowed my mother to give them to Goodwill after I had moved out, joined the Navy and ‘retired’ from the hobby the first time! [banghead] )
About a year later, Atlas/Roco hood units hit the market…
Athrean fan all the way