It’s been awhile since my last locomotive purchase and I have been browsing lately. I was thinking about getting an athearn Gp38-2 perhaps (http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH80183) It was not mentioned on the site but are there Gp38-2’s DCC ready? The last locomotive I bought from them a Dash 9 came with a DCC ready wiring harness installed, is there Gp38-2’s the same?
Also overall for those who own this locomotive how would you rate it? I noticed its not a very expensive one and I found a few places that sell it for under $50 but does the low price match the quality?
Nothing against the Athearn product, but you might want to consider the Atlas Trainman GP38-2. It is available decorated for Conrail (if that’s what you model), has the same motor and drive system as the Atlas Silver and Gold series engines, and is DCC ready. It has an 8-pin socket on its light board. All you have to do is get one of those decoders that have the 8 pins on the bottom (NCE makes one: D14SR) and plug it in.
I model NS, but conrail colors are common with NS trains… I plan on getting a Norfolk Southern locomotive, the more I look at the atlas they do seem better its just I never owned one so I’m not familiar with them. Detail wise from multiple pictures I looked at they do appear to have more detail then the athearn.
Also anyone know of some reputable online stores that could posibly sell them below retail (atlas’s) price?
Detail wise Athearn wins…Why? Because the Trainman GP38-2 is a stripped down model as far as grab irons and other basic details Atlas is famous for.It does have the same drive as the Master Series.
The RTR Athearn has the upgraded Athearn drive with the hex drive shafts.
I have 6 of the new RTR Athearn’s and have no intentions on buying the Atlas GP38-2.
I saw a couple of Athearn rtr GP38-2’s at the LHS last time I was there but I don’t remember if they were DCC ready or not. Personally I’m avoiding getting anymore of Athearn’s rtr locos. I’ve had three that came with bum motors. The latest is a SD40 that a good friend in Florida sent me. Right out of the box it had problems. On full throttle it could barely make 30 smph! I put in a motor from an old BB F7 and now it moves like greased lightning! I’m sending the motor to Athearn’s repair department so they can see what’s wrong with it. As I said, this is the third out of five that have had this problem. Also the top of the front truck on the SD40 is deformed so the worm housing clip wont snap in like it’s supposed to.
I did more research and it seems they aren’t DCC ready and they have lamp style lights (not LED) they seem to be just an updated Blue Blox, could be wrong…
Thanks for the pictures, I figured they would be easy to convert, when I got the digitrax 123AT decoder for my Athearn Dash 9 I used the conversion kit that came with it on an Blue Box Amtrak P-42 never did get a decoder for it though
As with all things, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I agree with your statement that the Atlas does not have some of the grabs, etc. However, looking at your photo, I see that the pilot of the Athearn unit has that typical large gap under the coupler, and what appears to me to be some sort of non-prototypical lump at the bottom of the pilot where the plow should be. The Atlas unit comes with a more prototypical coupler box assembly as well as a plow for those what wants one.
I also believe that the Atlas unit will be quiter running. I don’t have an Athearn GP38-2 in operation, but I do have one of the latest version Athearn SD40-2s. This has the hex drive. While quiter than the older units with all the universal joints flopping around, it is still noiser than the equivalent Atlas 6-axle units I have.
I have to say the Atlas Trainline is by far the best runner. The drive is identical to the Master series, the model just doesn’t have the added on details like grabs, MU hoses and coupler lift bars. You can buy these separately from Atlas directly or get them from Detail Associates and practice some modeling skills. I can’t stand the big unprototypical hole under the coupler of the Athearn units. You gets what you pay for.
Why not buy a Proto2000 GP38-2? They are smooth runners and the details are superb. And its easy to convert the loco to DCC. Just substitute the printed circuit board with the Digitrax DH163L0 decoder.
Max,Detail wise Athearn does win the contest and comes in a close second for operation.
In comparison the Trainman body looks like the old BB and early RTR strip of details.
I have 2 GP40-2s that I call At/At units.They are Athearn shells on Atlas Master Drives.I wanted some Chessie(C&O) GP40-2s to run with my Atlas C&O GP38s.[:O]
Why? Because of the $125.00 price tag coupled to many detail errors(according to the diesel gurus).
Of course the diesel gurus points out the detail errors on the Athearn and Trainman GP38-2s and advocates the need for a Atlas Master/Gold series GP38-2s.
Then we can’t forget the Bachmann DCC equipped GP38-2 that can be had for as low as $39.99 street**…**
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My intent was not to rekindle any controversy over which model was better. I believe that my original statement was that the OP might want to consider the Trainman, not that he should or should not buy one over the other.
The OP also asked about being DCC ready. In this category the Trainman wins. Yes you can do the motor isolation thing with the Athearn. But if it doesn’t come with the socket or JST connection, no one will be able to convince me that plugging in a decoder is not easier than doing the additional work.
You are correct about value vs price. Either should be okay in this category. However, it is possible to get a better detailed engine if you are willing to look, willing to take a little time, and are not necessarily fixated on a particular roadname. I think that you can pick up some of the earlier Atlas silver series DCC ready GP38s and GP40s in the $50 to $60 price range if you look around. I just bought a brand new Atlas GP40-2 silver series for $87, so I know it can be done.
As far as detail goes, again I say that is a matter of opinion. But the fact that a model comes with this or that detail item is not necessarily a good thing. My Atlas GP-38 silver series engine came with the roof top lift rings. Very nicely done, except they are (were) thin plastic. First time someone else picked up the engine they wiped a couple off the roof. I had to go back and replace them with Detail Associates metal parts. Now any new engines I get I go ahead and replace them with the metal parts so that I can have the pleasure of breaking off the plastic parts myself. But, if I have to replace them, why not consider just buying the Trainman in the firs
Maybe I’m leaning toward athearn now not sure yet, for $43 dollars you can’t go that wrong… By the way just throwing this in, how are the BLI Bluline locomotives? I found a place that has a sd40-2 w/Sound for $90 are they a nice locomotive?
