Can anyone tell me if there are any dimensional or quality differances between the old Athearn SD40-2 and the latest version? Thanks in advance. Gary Taylor
Some features of old vs new include:
Old: molded on grab irons.
New: no molded on grab irons.
Old: metal hand rails.
New: thinner plastic handrails.
New: couplers and body attach with screws.
New: Also slightly better motor and drive train.
Old: Body attached with visible pins
New: Body held on by clips through fuel tank and screws on coupler boxes (amendment to above)
The other difference is that now there are newer variations available, with Q fans for instance.
Out of curiousity,
Do any of you that own this unit: Does it have the GROWL?
I’ve owned Athearns for years and other than my recent purchases I had decided not purchase anymore Athearns. If the new ones do run quietly I would definetly be willing to consider them. [:D]
O.K, I know that some of you might reply and with: “Tony, check out the Genesis units!” Well, I did check out one. A good friend of mine bought an SD70 (or 75?) MAC in the EMD “demo” scheme. Beautiful looking unit.
I was shocked when he ran it around his layout for me. I was expecting Stewart Hobbies performance. Instead I hear: GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR" as she cruised around at about 40 scale mph. Sounded like my 1979 Athearn Milwaukee Road SD9 (which I may be selling if I get a Proto SD7 in Milwuakee colors) I hope that this “Growling MAC” was just a “fluke” or “lemon” as every company has one sneak through the production line.
Appreciate your feedback!
Peace!
Antonio, I have one.
It has a growl but not as noisy as the older Athearn units I have.
As said above though, it is a better looking unit as well. The paint & lettering is better & the grab irons are a much needed inprovement.
Gordon
Thank you CP5415.
It may sound like I’m nitpicking too much, but as stated on my other posts I’m very interested with installing “DCC/Sound” in my favorite units. However, I’m concerned that the “growl” will actually be quite distracting.
Don Gibson posted some good tips regarding Athearns being requipped with Proto Power West systems. I am taking this route on some of the Athearns I have.
Antonio, I could video tape the locomotive in question & ship it to you via the WWW so that you can hear for yourself? It won’t take long & I could probably post it to my Yahoo group so that anyone else can determine if the “growl” is any better.
Gordon
The new Athearn SD40s are much quieter that the old ones but not as quiet as an Atlas or LL2Pk unit. I doubt you will hear much of the growl in a newer unit with a sound decoder installed.
BC