Hello all! Been away from trains for over 20 years. Recently went down in my basemant and found some old HO engines. I found an early Athearn diesel SD-9 engine. Athearn called this model a " Hi-Fi". It had rubber band driving the wheels.
Does anyone know if this is worth anything to a collector? Just wondering.
Thanks
Everywherewest C,B,& Q lives on!
Depends on the condition and if it has the origional box.
You might want to ask the question on the Model Railroader forum. There are many more HO scalers there. Most of us are O and S gauge modelers.
I can’t comment on value - eBay might be a good source for going prices. These were the cheapest Athearn diesels and generally cost less than $10 (minimum wage was less than $2 per hour back then); the more expensive models had gears instead of belt drives. The “Hi-Fi” was a take-off on the then new 33rpm LP (long play) records which carried the “Hi-Fi” label. The label stood for High Fidelity. Athearn wanted the Hi-Fi label to imply high fidelity to prototype. Today, I’m sure he would have been sued for copywright and/or trademark infringement.
yours in remembering
Fred W
Actually the correct term is Hi-F which stands for high efficiency. This is from Greenberg’s Guide To Athearn Trains. It was not, now, or ever Hi-Fi.
Steve