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may just buy an athearn loco, but what though… maybe they’ll rerelease the sounder loco and bombadier coach set. [tup]
It’s good to hear that somebody’s not raising prices. Since I got back into the hobby about 5 years ago, it appears that prices have gone up about 30-50% for N scale items. It’s dramatic, and I presume it is a result of much higher Chinese manufacturing costs.
– Tom
It is nice to see Athearn finally getting things back on track and also doing something about the spiralling prices hikes.
Personally I’m a big fan of Athearns products and while I like the Genesis line, I also am a big fan of the RTR line and want to see more things like the nice Fruehauf 40 and 45 foot trailers released in new road names etc. The SD45’s and tunnel motors are also awesome.
The production stoppage has had it’s “silver lining” or blessing in disguise because I simply wasn’t able to keep up with the rate of things being released to market, and the past year or so I"ve spent catching up on items I couldn’t afford. I’ve nearly caught up on most items, and well, it looks like the production machine is going to be started up again just in time!
I see that my boycott of all Athearn products since their refusal to honour their warranties on the 4-6-2 and 2-8-2 has finally brought them to their knees and they’re lowering prices.
You can all thank me later. 
I haven’t purchased any Athearn locomotives since they had to find a different manufacturer, but a couple of fellow club members have had nothing but trouble with them and have vowed to never purchase another. Even the Genesis models seem to have serious QC issues.
They finally have a release date on those BN SD40-2s I was wanting, sweet. Although I remember the price when they announced them (in april 2011) was to be $120. So in that time, the price went up (with no production mind you) to $155 then back down to $135. Not really a lowering in my book, but a reputable dealer should have them for a reasonable price.
Am I saying Athearn is pulling a fast one on us? I doubt it as the dollar has deflated alot since then, but it’s possbile coughRailflyercough