Does anyone know something about this manufaturer? I have never heard about them, can anyone tell me soemthing about?
Thanks
They went out of business some years ago.
Bob Boudreau
I remember they made an SD40-2 at the same time Athearn came out with theirs (mid 80’s). My LHS still has a couple on the shelves. The price is reasonable, but I have been afraid to purchase them due to lack of knowledge about them. Anyone have any other information on them?
Morpar, I think you’re confusing Front Range with GSB. Front Range never released an SD40-2- only HO Geeps: GP7s, GP9s and GP30s. The GP30s were their mechanism with the Bachmann shell. GSB brought out an SD40-2 about the same time that Front Range was getting started. It was all that GSB released, despite their announcement of intent to produce a GP15-1, a doodlebug, and a couple other locomotives.
For a number of years, beginning in the early-to-mid 1980s, Front Range made a line of HO freight cars. Their two-bay Center-Flo covered hopper was a very nice model, at least when the tooling was relatively new. They also produced some larger 4-bay Center-Flo covered hoppers, and a number of 40-foot and 50-foot steel boxcars.
Some of these models later were produced under the McKean Models name. The centerbeam flatcars that they brought out (I believe under the McKean name, but perhaps earlier as Front Range), were some of the most maddening kits to assemble ever released. This was largely due to the thick paint they used on the kits, which made many parts too thick to fit in place.
We have 12 Front Range 40’ box cars at the Cochise & Western Model Railroad Club that were given to us by another club several years ago because there were no assembly instructions provided with them. They weren’t really that difficult to figure out without instructions, but the members of the other club just decided to give them away rather than risk improper assembly. Front Range kits are not as good as Athearn. They could barely be pulled with their original wheelsets, and continually derailed. We had to chage the trucks and couplers to get them to run, and now they are okay, but right out of the box they were not very good.
OOPS!!! Call me stupid!! Or confused, doesn’t matter! HA! HA! So does anyone know how good the GSB SD40-2 was? Even if I can’t read or remember (Oldtimer’s Disease???) quite right, those are still what is on my LHS shelf for a reasonable price (compared to an Athearn SD40-2). Should I give them a new home or not??
Hey Supermicha,
Front Range had a bunch of kits in the late '80s and early '90s. Many of their dies were bought by McKean but unfortunately, McKean ran the same car numbers as Front Range. The FR cars show up on eBay regularly. They were decent kits at one time but newer Atlas, Intermountain, LLP2K, and Red Caboose cars blow them away on detail.
BC