OK group,
I have looked through 12 pgs of threads and Im tired,It may be already posted but I can’t find anything on the new Athern HO scale Gas Turbines…Has anyone bought one yet and how do they run ? For some reason they dont look prototypically correct,I thot they had catwalks on each side under an overhang on the long hood and the tenders were larger (6 wheels) These are what the 844 and 3985 use now for water on excursions…Am I correct on this or am I not? Thanks for your expertise…
The Athearn turbine has the orginal round tender that was made by using the 4-12-2 tenders and welding each half back to back. These were all scrapped a long time ago.
I picked up one of the Athearn tubines and it runs well, but only the inside two sets of trucks are powered. All of the wheels pick up power which helps with DCC. They are a nice model for the price but I got the idea all are sold out most places.
The ones used on the excursions were off of the 8500 HP turbines and were made from FEF-1 tenders. They are available in brass by Overland. Even those are not correct now since they have been rebuilt totally two years ago and do not look like the original turbine tenders.
CZ
This is the new Athearn Standard Turbine 4500HP
This is an Overland Standard Turbine that has the filters correct.
These are the aux water tenders from the 8500HP turbines used on the excursion trains until 2007.
This is what the the 8500 HP aux water cars look like in 2009 after the rebuilding to remove the insulated jacket. It is not available in brass or plastic at this time, but I would guess Overland will offer it.
Danny,
There were two version of the 4500 hp turbines. The first 10 had ‘full width’ car bodies and this is the version Athearn released a few months ago.
The second version is the one you are describing. It is know as the ‘Veranda’ turbine. Lionel had a cast metal model of this one about 5 years ago. Athearn just announced a ‘Veranda’ version as wel, with delivery scheduled for June 2010.
Both versions have 6 wheel trucks under each end of the tender(including the Athearn models I have seen).
Jim Bernier
I knew I could count on you guys to clarify this for me,I was unaware there were 2 different versions of the gas turbine ! I thot the Verandas were the only version they built because they were not around but a short time…I thot thats what they called them… The reason I asked was that a few dealers had a couple ea at the Temple Tx Train show a couple of weeks ago…I guess I will wait and see what the 8500’s look like before I get one,the current model does nothing for me…Kinda like buying a Santa Fe 2-10-2 and wanting the Texas&Pacific type, huh[|(][|(][|(].
I have an Athearn Turbine with the tender, and I love it![:D] Even though the side ventilation isn’t see-through, it’s a great looking model, and it’s one of my absolute best runners.[:D] Only the 8 inner wheels are powered, but once the plating wears off a little, it should be able to pull a nice long string since it’s so heavy. PHOTOS
If it’s the Veranda you really want, Athearn will also be making that one soon.[:D]
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=gas+turbine+RTR&CatID=THLD
I expect that it will beat the Lionel Veranda on every level.[:D]
Actually, almost no two of the turbines were identicle. The “full body” models had different venting set-ups and other differences, as did the “veranda” models. I have both the Lionel “veranda” and the #54 Athearn models - both run very well, I’m waiting for a chip to convert the Athearn to DCC. My [2c]