I now have a couple of the new SW 1500’s from Athearn , and I really like them in the Southern paint scheme and details , and they are really smooth and quiet operating locos .
I was wondering if any others thought the new SW 1500’s were improved and really smooth operators ?
I have two undecs and am very pleased with the new drive and can motor. Someone mentioned on another forum that this same motor is used in the MP15AC. It is smooth and quiet. I am trying to figure out how to add a LokSound Micro and small speaker in the cab. My old Athearn SW 1500 runs great, once broken in, and I enjoy the LokSound in this unit.
The detail is a big step improvement. I am happy with these. I noticed on the instruction sheet handrail set part numbers for yet to be released road names including Reading Green and Yellow units and maybe the all Green 2763. Hope they do these soon. I bought the undec for these but now I can use them for Conrail units.
Overall I would reccomend these to anyone looking for a great all arround switcher.
Chris
Want an undecorated but MB Klein is Out of Stock
i got one of the sw1000s in bn and is ever nice. smooth and quiet and the detail is awesome almost a bargain for 80 bucks.
Picked up the GN Big Sky Blue 203 today it was done very well, it pulled a decent amount of cars up the hill and about 25ish on flat terrain it also had mu/air hoses, rotary beacon with an actual bulb in it unlike the bn sw1000, and a wire that goes to the bell from the hood and a well detailed cab interior, one thing that is lacking is walkway tread plates but for the price I can live with out it.
Athearn has really stepped up on quality of the RTR line but quality control from the factory is a area that is needing improvement, I recieved the unit and upon taking it out of the box I noticed that there were some glue spots that were noticable but weathering will cover that, the other thing was that the radiator grill was bent and barely attached to the shell.
I called athearn about getting a replacement grill it turns out the old parts dept rep is no longer working there anymore I am kinda disapointed that they didnt have a extra grill nor a different unit to replace it with besides the factory samples. In the end I fixed the grill my self and glued it back on instead of waiting 2 weeks or more by sending it in perhaps the next one wont be damaged.
Out of 25 athearn locomotives i’ve bought this is the first one that has had issues but it is fixed and I am happy with it
Thanks for this post, Guys, I had a thread on here a while back asking about these locos. They hadn’t been released at that time. Sounds like They put a decent motor in them. I need to call TW & see what they have. R