I havn’t seen too many posts about them… the p42 is my favorite engine… I have 3 phase V Amtraks and 2 phase III. They run real nice too… Anyone else here have a say on these loco’s?
Alex
I say I’ll be getting one when my financial situation allows. Other than that maybe you could bring your opinion to the forum of how they run and pull. Be sure to tell us DC or DCC (if so what decoder) etc… Thanks
Jesse
i have 3 phase III… they’re athearn rtr… they’re running real good… i like it when they pull a long train of superliners… hehehe
I have a pair of phase IIIs that I got not long after they were introduced. I’ve remotored them with A-line kits, added NWSL wheels, and done some tuning. They run pretty well on DC or on DCC address 00. I’m looking forward to adding decoders to see how they run on DCC and so I can make all those lights work. I dressed mine up with the Details West kit.
I have a few that are in my line’s commuter scheme. They’re old Athearn Blue Box locos that I got right when the P42s first came out. (yes they were actually offered as a kit before they were RTR)
I’ve detailed them and repainted them, most in my line’s blue and silver scheme but one in the older red and silver scheme. I like them quite a bit, love the detail and always liked the Athearn mechanism. DCC can be added on the older kit locomotives just like one would do any other Blue Box kit.
Eventually I’m probably going to put some nice Kato or Sagami motors in them and give em new wheels but for the mean time, I’m quite pleased with the Athearn parts.
~METRO
I have one. Its at the LHS getting a full lights setup right now. Once you put a few details on it its a great looking engine. Put a decoder in it and it runs like a P2K. Im happy
how much do they cost?
i got mine for $54…
I have a Blue Box P42 in phase 3 paint, road #9. Looks and runs great and makes a nice looking and prototypical length midwest short haul train with Walthers Horizon coaches and food service car and one Walthers MHC. Got my P42 at a train show a few years ago for $30.
I picked mine up new at the LHS for about $50 back when they first came out. Honestly, I haven’t seen many of em lately, but I’m sure Athearn is still producting them.
~METRO
athearn still makes em. I got mine last year for $26 at discount trains. I dont know if they make the BB one still. But im sure they still do the rtr version.
Picked up a pair of the older Athearn blue box kits at the local LHS that were buried under other boxes of Athearn rolling stock. 1 power and 1 dummy unit in Metro North Silver and Blue for $40. A very good deal I must say. I added a North Coast decoder (DA SR) and it runs with the Walthers Horizon commuter cars. As a bonus, i went back and dug around some more and found an undec Athearn GP7/9 that will be put into service on my MoW consist. Talk about hitting the jackpot!!! 20 bucks for that unit. The owner couldn’t believe that I found these units in the store all right under his nose. It pays to dig around, ya never know what you’ll find laying around collecting dust.
I have six of the seven produced by Athearn/Walthers. The only number I don’t have is 163. I’ve seen it pop up on ebay a few times but it looks like I’m going to have to pay more than I’d like to for it. It would be nice to just have them all. The other thing I have to consider is that I have to get a decoder for it as well. I also hope to equip them all with sound decoders. At a discount that’s a little over 700 dollars I would have to invest to accompli***his.
I have one of these, it’s a blue box model and i like it, i pull five superliners with it
The three that I have are: Amtrak 163, 184, and 207. The ones I want are 134, 146, 182, and 204 hehe…
I have three powered and one dummy blue box models. Two each P40’s and two P 42’s. Had nickel silver wheelsets put on the powered units and they now oeprate much better as they pick up less dirt.
Dale
One more thing… I just recently got Amtrak 207 but the mirrors didn’t come already connected to the engine… they are in a plastic bag waiting to be glued on but the only type of glue I have right now is plastic cement and I know that I’m gonna mess up and paints gonna strip off or something if I use that… does anyone know what type of glue I should use? Super glue maybe? So I don’t mess up the paint and ruin the model ? lol thanks
Alex
The normal plastic cement will do fine - one tip I’ve found is to put a bit on a piece of scrap card, then pick up a tiny “blob” with a piece of fine wire and transfer it to where it’s needed. A good alternative (if you can find it) is the Revell glue - this comes in a blue bottle with a “needle” applicator that allows you to put a tiny amount of liquid polystyrene cement just where you want it - I’ve used this to fit the detail parts on six Athearn Dash 9s without having any problems with smearing or paint damage. Hope this helps!
Uuuggh, I used plastic cement and messed up… I smeared the paint on both sides and I feel horrible… those mirrors are way too hard to put on (for me at least).
Alex