Hello,
Which of the two Dash-9 engines do you guys prefer Athearn’s or Kato’s?
Which is closer to the prototype and has the most accurate details out of the box?
How about the paint scheme?
Which one performs better?
Will those two run together on the same track?
Thanks
To use a baseball analogy–Kato is the major leagues while Athearn is generally Class AA ball. I have two Athearn Dash-9’s and three Katos. There is no comparison. The Katos run much better. I would not try to run a consist mixing the two brands–the Athearn draws a lot more current and does not run as well. If you run DCC definitely go with the Kato. They are worth the extra bucks.
I agree with Jim says Kato runs much better than Athern right out of the box.There are many things you can do to make a Athern run close to a Kato,but by the time you put in a new motor and super detailed it you could as well spent the money on the Kato Loco.I rate Kato as no.1 Atlas #2,Stewart#3,Life-Like#4,Athern#5 Walthers&Intermountain not to sure of.
Hi.
Athearn is ok Value for money. Not to well detailed.
Ath Genesis is the better detail, Runs all day and puls like a bullick team.
Kato make very good stock, they pick up quick with low power, Genesis needs more power to start up. They don’t run togeather!
I find for detail Kato is pritty good. but proto 2K and Genesis are a little better.
Still Kato just has that something…
Sorry…this isn’t an answer. When I saw your post heading, it kind of reminded me of “Godzilla vs. Mothra”, and wondered if it was a modern version…too much coffee I guess.
On a more topical note, I don’t run anything that modern as Dash 9’s…the most modern diesels I run are GP-9’s. The Athearn blue box GP-7’s don’t MU with the Atlas-Kato GP-7 I have, and the Kato can pull about 75% more weight as a single unit. STILL, I wouldn’t ever get rid of my old Athearn units, and it’s not just nostalgia, it’s because they run just fine.
regards / Mike
Mike:
i agree with your assessment of the old Blue Box stuff–unless you switch to DCC. Installed decoders in a couple of newer Athearn locos and IMHO they just don’t run as well as other brands. In a DCC environment, I have found that Atlas and Katos are my favorite, followed closely by Athearn Genesis (although the Genesis seem to require more work to install a decoder). i have a couple of Stewart locos that also are good runners in a DCC environment, but I think that they are powered by Kato drives. The Proto 2000 are also ok folowwed by the Bachmann Spectrum (steam only).
Jim,I also have the blue box line of engines as well as the Atlas,P2K and 3 Walthers GP15s.I use DCC at home and DC at the club.As much as I love my Athearns I would not DCC equipt them nor the GP15s…I have 3 P2K GP9s with Sound Traxx decoders plus I use 2 Atlas GP38s on my home layout non sound equipt.These was to be replaced by Sound Traxx decoder equip RS1s.
Thanks guys. I got an Athearn BNSF as a gift, but always wondered about the Kato engines. A friend has one of those and I noticed some body differences between my Athearn and his Kato, and I was wodering if any one knows which one is more accurate? I’ve seen some pictures on the web and seems the Athearn looks closer to the prototype. I love that the Kato has working ditch lights although BNSF doesn’t mount lights under the board? Thanks again.
Well, folks. It all comes down to that age-old saying. “You’s get’s whatch’ ye paid fer…”
Myself, I don’t mind “tuning” and detailing a model, so I have usually gone with Athearn. But If you want something really great “outta-the box” Then go with the high dollar models. It all depends on how much extra work you want to put into the model. Ask yourself, “how important is it to me to have all the details exact, down to the last rivet?”. And performance, that depends on a whole lot more than just the engine. To give you an example, after a 20+year hiatus from the hobby, I recently decided to get a layout going. I still had most of my old stuff, including an MRC Controllmaster XIV. That was a “state-of the-art” powerpack in the 1970’s, and I always liked it. (don’t ask me how many lawns I had to mow to buy it). With the new layout, I needed more than one pack, so I bought a “Tech-4” MRC. The difference in operation is like night and day. So power supply has a LOT to do with performance.
I won’t comment on DCC, cause I haven’t tried it out. Sounds good though…
Todd C.
I have worked on both. The Kato is a superior unit in detailing and running, but if ya ever have to break that puppy down for Mtx, watch out!!! This is where the Athearn wins out, ease of maintenance. All lokies need to be maintained, and that is why I prefer Uncle Irv. Those puppies are very easy to ‘tear down’ and troubleshoot when the inevitable problem arises.
Todd:
You are right about getting what you pay for. But I’ll bet that when you figure in the cost of all those detail parts you attach to your Athearn blue box, the cost will come pretty close to the street price of the Kato. Obviously, when you buy the Kato, you don’t get the enjoyment of superdetailing and fiddling. To each his own.
I agree with you 100% as long as you are running DC. In a DCC environment, there is alot more work to getting the Blue Box to run and I seem to have a lot more maintenance issues on the blue box dcc locos.
Something that nobody has pointed out is the warranty. I had a kato motor bad out of the box, too bad, I had to buy another. Atlas and LIfelike will stand behind there products.
I’d like to chime in on this one. Since nobody has mentioned it, I’d like to let everyone know about the new drive that is in all new Athearn SD40-2s and C44-9Ws. Night and day between the old drive locomotives and the new ones. The old drive Athearn C44s are terrible. I mean, I have metal sideframe Athearn switchers from before I was born that run smoother… Since I don’t own Katos but have played with them on a friend’s layout (boy were they nice), I can tell you from my experience that the new drive stuff is comparable. It’s not Atlas or Kato, but it’s a huge improvement. But, even with the new drive, the Kato model is a better performer. I wouldn’t say the difference is like Major League to Double A, but there’s a clear difference.
Now, do the Athearn and Kato locomotives run together? Yes, but I find that it’s best to have all of one brand at the point of a train to be certain. My Atlases run with other Atlases. My P2K SD60s run together. My Athearn SD75Ms run together. My Athearn blue boxes run together. But, I personally don’t enjoy the inevitable tug-of-war between locomotives when I mix brands.
How do they stack up in accuracy and detailing? To me, the Kato locomotives’ biggest drawback are the handrails. They are so thick you’d think the model was N scale. Second, the detailing to my eyes just isn’t as crisp as Athearn’s. Kato’s model features trucks from the early run of C44s (I think, don’t quote me), trucks which don’t have the depth of even Athearn’s mediocre rendering of the GE Hi-Ad truck. The grab irons are oversized as well, and the cut levers and brake piping seems ‘plasticky’ to me, too. The flip side here is, nobody makes decent GE cut levers, so Kato gets an ‘A’ simply for having them. And Athearn provides no grab irons with their C44, let alone cut levers or brake piping. Kato’s plow is no more offensive than the Athearn Genesis equivalent, but here again, no plow is provided in the Athearn blue box C44. Kato offers and interior and flush fi
Which of the two would you say is closer to the prototype, I mean, the shell looks different from one another, the Athearn has the A/C unit, the Kato doesn’t. The rear of the units are different. Also the gull wings… I’ve seen some BNSF pics and seems the Athearn is closer to the real thing…
You know, I’m not a rivet counter per-se, but I just like the looks of the Athearn model better. I can’t tell you which one has the correct number of louvers or anything like that, but I was pretty stunned with the overall appearance of the Kato model when I first saw it. I couldn’t believe they had done a model Athearn just did but didn’t do it as well. That was my first instinct to the model’s appearance. Is that correct? I don’t know, but that was my first impression, and you know what they say about those…
RC
Sorry I couldn’t be of more help there, but when I actually own one instead of just playing with one, I’ll hold it against my Athearns and we’ll see whose is better.
Thanks Ryan and to all that answered my post. I’m back in the hobby after 5 or 7 years, you know, marriage, not enough room, etc. I got an Athearn as a gift and now I bought my self a Kato BNSF. Still not enough room to built any layout worth mentioning, but just seeing that Kato make a couple of loops on my make-shift layout table makes me appreciate this hobby a lot more than when I started 7 years ago… thanks again…
kato engines are superior to athern as far as running gear is concerned. as far as the details are concerned it is a tossup from my point of view. i have 55 kato engines on my layout with a dozen or so atlas. i use command control and when it comes time to lash up 3 or more engines you cannot mix athern with either brand. the problem is in the motor and the connections to the wheels. if athern ever puts good running gear in their engines they will outsell everyone.
I don’t actually own any athearns, but I have run them, and I do have Katos. Definately Kato.
I own 3 Katos*, but no athearns**.
- 3 older C425s, I’m impressed with how well they run. and the detail IMO is pretty good for it’s age
** I have a dummy GP35, of the newer run that is being converted to powered with a buhler motor.
I do have a couple of the Athearn SD40-2s, they are both dummies at this time.
I have 8 of the Kato SD40-2, they are premo. However, I am more into operation that looking at paint and detail, and the Katos win hands down for me.
Bob