The ES44AC versions I’m interested in are Iowa Interstate’s color schemes and those are available from InterMountain only. I have 2 locos and am about to get a 3rd. They look good, the ESU sound is great. Detailing is great. I’m happy.
That said, Athearn makes fine models. I have a number of their locos. Of the Amtrak P42, I have one from Athearn and one from Kato. Good points about both.
In the end, its your choice. Which is more important: color shade (and the prototype shows many shades of a given paint job) or which sound decoder you’ll get? Or price?
I think the Intermountain with LokSound offers better value, sound and motor control. Also, Athearn still uses incandescent bulbs, you’ll be frustrated at the burn out rate, along with taking apart a fairly new loco to change them.
I have both makes, The Athearn run well enough but the Intermountain both the older ones with Tsunamis and the newer ones with Locsound run better and the Locsound has better sound.Note the Intermountain hand rails are fairly brittal and can snap with rough handling were as the Athearn ones flex more. The color should not be a big concern as looking at photos of the prototype it can vary even in the same consist due to the age of the paint work, climatic conditions and weathering etc. As PennCentral99 said the Intermountain lights are far better.
Not from my experience. While Athearn models may look great, I’ve found them to be so-so runners. And the continual use of glued-in incandescent bulbs (vs. LEDs) for headlights is a head-scratcher, as replacing them is a real pain.
And detail isn’t king my book. Personally, I’d rather have a great-running locomotive with good detailing over a great looking locomotive that runs okay - at best.
Even prototype paint color varies on occasion, and, looking at one model next to a prototype photo it appears extremely close, if not spot on.
In the painting issue of RMC (6/2015) is a point about B&O Blue, there is actually two different shades on the prototype, one very dark, the other, not so much. Yet both paint chips were B&O Blue. The accompanying photo showed a huge difference in the two, with one car sticking out like a sore thumb from the rest of the train, yet they were all indeed B&O Blue.
So long as the colors appear in the correct place, I would not worry too much about shade, as weathering is different on each unit anyway, so there most likely is a prototype unit to match it perfectly out there somewhere. EDIT: That is, unless it is way, way off, then it is noticeable.
Go with the Intermountain. I have a single Athearn ES44AH and several Intermountain ES44AH’s and ES40DC’s, and the Intermountains are vastly the better running locomotives. Top that off with all LED lighting they cannot be beat. Just be careful with the handrails. I personally prefer the earlier runs with Tsunami sound and replacing the speaker with a railmaster DSM-8 speaker. If it’s a later run with ESU, then it gets replaced with tsunami and railmaster speaker.
I don’t have this particular loco but do have Athearn and InterMountain locos with DCC/Sound and definately prefer the IM. They have LOKsound decoders and that is much better than the Athearn’s with Soundtrax. I have a Genesis Big Boy and Challenger and am disappointed in the sound of both. Detail wise the Athearn may have a slight edge on certain models but I will still take the IM versions where available.
Old Thumper is spot-on with what I was going to reply.
Athearn recently offered the E-L SDP45 and the PRR GP9-Bs which were both locomotives that I wanted for my roster.
I bought the DC versions and simply opened them to install my prefered ESU Loksound Select Direct and to replace the headlights with LEDs. Athearn makes adding sound pretty easy with a removable slug where the speaker goes.
More of a headache? Yes. But in this case there weren’t other choices for the locomotives that I wanted.
My only Intermountain engines are about a dozen EMD F7s and they all run and look exceptionally well. The number board lighting looks OK but at least they DO illuminate. (on a separate function, too [Y])
Honestly, I don’t know anything about the model in question for either manufacturer, but I am always wary of judging a whole brand based on experiance with just one or two of their products.
I only have two types of Athearn locos of recent production, 6 Genesis F units and some RTR RS-3’s.
They all run great and look great. Admittedly maybe I don’t have the light bulb problem because I use DC? I don’t know.
My experiance shows that no matter how good a company is, some products are great, some are OK, and few might be dogs.
Again, I have no knowledge of the specifc loco in question, I barely even know they exist - not in my era…
Also admittedly, I have no opinion on decoders or sound…
In general though, I like Athearn and Intermoutain, in fact most all of my F units are from those two companies, all great locos.
