Athearn Trains unveiled a new Genesis series HO scale EMD GP38-2 at the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show in Springfield, Mass. Watch this video of the unveiling from Athearn Trains.
Thanks!
They look nice.
I bet they have a price to match. The last run of E units from Walthers left me in sticker shock!
Just what we need. More doubly expensive plastic diesels. What new steamers are coming out?
Pete
They didn’t say in the video how much more these are going to cost than previous Genesis models, but it will probably be in the ballpark of $50 extra.
Wow !
The CN GP38-2W seems very nice, pretty similar to my trio of Atlas GP-40-2W. It has lot of prototypical detail. Will it run as good as the Atlas ones ?
Martin
SWEEEET!!! They look great. Those CN versions will be on my list of loco’s I plan to get this year for sure. I hope they come out with the Ontario Northland versions too.
I am thinking the Non Sound will go for around 179.00
179.00 is probably around the list price. Once it hits the streets though you should be able to get it for 140ish or less. I haven’t payed list price in years, you just need to know where and who to buy from…
Just found out that the No Sound will be 179.98 and the Sound will be 279.98.
I thought so. That’s fine for someone who has the money and wants the details. I can get a DCC GP38-2 from Bachmann for under $100. Details and sound don’t concern me. Money does.
They are nice but… Let me put them on my list of things to get… ah no.
Bachmann’s???
3 Bachmann GP38’s with DCC or 12 Accurail kits. More niche markets stuff that 95% of the hobby do not need or want. For those that do it is party city for the rest ho hum.
RMax
Everything is a niche product. We all model different eras, geographic areas etc. The folks at Athearn presumably have some sense of the market for these? They have no doubt invested considerable money and resources to get the product to this stage and must have some sense that there will be sufficient demand to make this a worthwhile enterprise. If these are not your era, well at least hope they do succeed because success breeds success and increases the likelihood of other projects moving forward.
Don’t understand why they’d make such a hype over such a commonly-produced model… Why not something we haven’t seen yet, like a C39-8, or a B36-7? Furthermore, I can go onto eBay, pick up an old Blue Box GP38-2, upgrade it mechanically and visually to top notch shape, and I’d still have spent less money than the retail price on these things… Not to mention the detailed GP38-2 models available from Atlas and the rest of them…
I’m a big Athearn fan, but I gotta say I’m not too excited about this announcement… Were it a unique model that hasn’t been done yet, I’d shut up about the high MSRP and buy one anyway… A GP38-2, though? Sorry Athearn, I won’t be shelling out any dough for these… There’s already enough HO GP38-2s on the market to keep me entertained…
I believe my tab comes to $0.02… Keep the change…
Watch the sale flyers.
I only saw ditch lights on the CN unit.
I think the hype is actually quite justified. What is particularly exciting here is not so much the fact that it is a GP38-2. Yes, others have done some nice GP38-2s before. The real excitement is the wide range of prototype specificness on these particular models.
Have a look at the video posted above, where they point out some of these. Athearn is not just doing one common base and adding a few prototype details here and there. Each of these is completely decked out for the particular road. It’s the modular design of the tooling that allows them to actually do this wide range in a single product run…something they have not done to quite this degree before, nor have many manufacturers out there.
The CN GP38-2W is a HUGE announcement for Canadian modelers, as it is a ubiquitous CN locomotive that has never before been done in plastic. This is a unique model that hasn’t been done before. I expect that SP fans will be thrilled by the great detail on the bizarrely unique SP units, and Southern and Mopac fans likewise.
As with any announcement, it may or may not
Well, as one who no longer models the diesel era, and who, when I did, preferred to create my own road-specific locos from commercially-available models, I must say that Athearn seems to have done a superb job on those locos. I wish them every success with these and future releases.
Wayne
Tim wrote:Just because some of you may be satisfied with the other GP38-2s on the market, doesn’t mean that this isn’t still a HUGE announcement for some of us. And hopefully, it is the beginning of a trend towards even more prototype-specifically detailed Genesis releases down the line.
While there are several “detail ready” (you detail) GP38-2s available the Southern HH GP38-2 is the first in plastic.At first I was appalled at the announcement till I watched the video and became impress.It will be hard not to buy a Southern GP38-2 or two-at street of course.
Years ago I recall seeing a beautiful brass Southern GP38-2 and couldn’t afford the-IIRC-$899.00 price tag now,I can have one for around $129.99 street.
Add the Southern MP15DC GP38,SD24,SD35,SD45,SD40-2 among the others I can’t recall and one can have a decent Southern fleet-including -if you can find one a SRR RS1!
While many may not like the changes in the hobby toward higher details and the accompanying higher prices there are still affordable GP38-2 out there but,I urge everybody to look what they are getting for their money for the new GP38-2 at $129.99 street.
They aren’t trying to sell to the 95% that aren’t interested in them, they are selling to the 5% of the people that ACTUALLY want these things. Over the last few years the amount of highly detailed Canadian equipment that is being produced is selling out VERY quickly. I think the bigger manufacturers like Kato, Atlas and Athearn with the Genesis line realize this and will continue to produce Canadian specific equipment with lots of detail that us Canadian want. We like the better stuff up here, most of us don’t play with Bachmann stuff because we don’t think its very good.
My point exactly! It’s another release by Athearn that fits a niche. The Canadians should be very happy. As should the U50 and Turbine people on those releases. I am not comparing quality of the Genesis to a Bachmann DCC on board just the fact that it seems to be another small audience being served by Athearn AGAIN! My question is are there enough of you to warrant doing so. If there are maybe we will see more of this kind of thing. If not it may be a short walk.
RMax1