I recently came across a number of Athearn freight kits in yellow boxes. I was very surprised to see that the kits come with metal sprung trucks and metal wheels. I am sure no one has upgraded the kits as they are still unbuilt.
Any idea how old these would be?
Don,Those “yellow box” Athearns with sprung trucks dates to the 50s…
I think you’re going to find out that those old Athearn metal trucks roll like a brick. And they will cause a short circuit when they derail.
I have some of those items and have eventually replaced all of the trucks.
You got that right…
I changed those out to Central Valley trucks which I bought with my weekly allowance.
Sometimes those trucks would short out even without a derailment. I think they used a laquer or nail polish for insulation and sometimes it just crumbled away. And before Athearn offered those metal trucks with springs, there was instead an odd little nub of hard rubber that had markings pressed in that sort of looked like springs. There are probably more of the yellow box kits with springs in them than there are of that particularly ill advised experiment.
On the other hand - do the boxes still have the prices on them? You got what you paid for.
Dave Nelson
They are from the 50’s and early 60’s. IIRC, the blue boxes started to appear about 1964 or 65. And even early blue box versions still had metal sprung trucks. The rigid plastic trucks came in around 1967? or 68.
The Athearn sprung trucks can be made to roll well with replacement wheel sets. Of course metal trucks can short out during a derailment - who has derailments?
I use sprung metal trucks on almost everything - my favorite is Kadee trucks refitted with Intermountain wheel sets - rolls better than any plastic truck.
And, just to be clear, the benifit is EQUALIZATION and the added low center of gravity weight of metal trucks.
I only use plastic rigid trucks when no suitable sprung/equalized truck is available.
Sheldon
On the other hand - do the boxes still have the prices on them? You got what you paid for.
Dave Nelson
That well worn and overused statement has nothing to do with that era…
Athearn cars was considered top of the line back then since they was far better then most cars of that era.
The majority of the modelers back then used Central Valley trucks because they was the best…
I posted too soon, after I checked a few more boxes I found that some of the wheels are plastic with metal axles.
Thank you all for the information on the yellow boxes.
I have replaced all of the old metal trucks which did indeed roll like a brick with TrainMinature trucks. I forget where I obtained these, but I had bought a bulk of their trucks years ago. I then swapped out the wheels with 33" Intermountain wheels I buy in bulk. .
I have, quite deliberately, purchased enough metal, sprung trucks by Athearn, Varney, Ulrich, and Silver Streak, along with a number of Kadee trucks, to equip more than 100 cars. I vastly prefer them, since unlike, apparently, most of the above posters, I do not have perfect track, and need the superior tracking abilities of sprung trucks. I replace the wheelsets with Reboxx or Intermountain (which are made by Reboxx) wheelsets. Yes, when they do derail, they can create short circuits, but then that’s incentive to fix whatever problem caused the derailment. When the correct axle length is used, they roll just as well or better than the plastic rigid trucks, even those with metal axles and wheels. And they add a free 3/4 oz. to each car and lower the center of gravity to boot.
Gary, trust me, on average your track is likely no worse than most on here, maybe better. But as I posted as well, srung/equalized trucks do track better, possibly turning good trackwork into derailment free great trackwork.
And so I ask again, derailments? who has derailments?
Sheldon