I’ve been eyeing the Intermountain F units for some time now, but have not seen one in person. From what I see of the Athearn Genesis F’s, they look really good as well. Can anyone give me the pro’s and con’s of each, and which you prefer?
I currently only have Stewart F’s, which i really liked until I saw the Genesis units! How do they all compare?
Genesis: Better Shell
Intermountain: Better Drive.
The Genesis units are Highliner shells, which are the best shells on the market. The drive however is slightly inferior to the Intermountain or Stewart drives.
Thanks myfroft. I’ve seen the Intermountain drives available without a shell, is there any way to make a Genesis shell fit??
I own 2 Intermountain F7A (ATSF) and some Genesis F3AB (UP) sets,
details on the intermountain trucks look better, but the Genesis has an unpainted cab interior with a driver, the warning signs and filling instructions on the sides look very accurate and sharp, the windshield wipers on the genesis are almost true to scale (look like thin steel wires were used ) as for the Intermountain body these are from moulded plastic
for the mesh ventilation on the sides on the intermountain, they used etched stainless steel wich was glued on, the UP units also have very fine mesh, wich is painted in the same color as the body, but I guess that is road specific.
did not notice much difference in running, no opinion on durability , because I only let them both run for limited time.
Thanks Lupo! I’m leaning toward the Genesis units at this point. Thanks Guys!
The Highliner (Now Genesis) ‘F’ shells will fit the STEWART drive, and a call to Intermountain will find out if their chassis fit’s the 'Highliner shell. I’m sure it fits, but it’s a matter of securing the shell.
If you want to buy the Genesis on the basis of looks, go ahead. The only obvious diiference between the Genesis and Intermountain shells is the ‘plating effect’ to simulate stainless steel on the F-7’s., and Stewart shells have solid (not see-thru) grills. Is that’s worth $100 bucks to you?
You already have one of the ‘best’ drives (Stewart). Unfortunately, only Highliner sells shell’s separately. Painting them is expensive - if you have it done, or buy the equipment to do it yourself. Actually you can buy the Genesis units and throw away the drive - and it’s still cheaper than custom painting.
I have both Genesis and Stewart F’s - The lighting system in the Genesis is superior, so I run them as long as they run… I have already had to replace two motors under warranty, (plus I have the Stewart chassis as backup).
Side note I can add a Stewart B unit to the consist for an ABB - the speeds match closely. The STEWART just uses less current.
The IM was reviewed by MR July 01, but there’s nothing better than a Don Gibson hands on evaluation.
I purchased one of the Intermountain kits and the number boards are really hard to mount correctly and the handrails are too thick. If you replace the handrails with stainless or brass, they do look good. Later on, I purchased the painted versions of the UP units and they look good too. The drives are very good.
The Genesis body shells are the best I own, including my Overland units. They are hands down the best in the market at this time. The drives have already been reviewed by Don Gibson and others and the Stewarts drives by Kato that I have are excellent. The Proto 1000 drives are almost as good as the Stewart drives and you can buy them for twenty-five bucks each many places. They do require some drilling and and taps for the coupler mounting, but the results are good.
So how easy is it to get the Genesis shells on the Stewart or even Proto 1000 drives? Will they just snap on?
I haven’t bought an Athearn model for a very long time, so I am sad to hear thier drives aren’t very good. My OLD Athearn SD-40-2 stills runs even after getting wet from a water leak in the room above the train room.
I did notice the handrails on the Intermountain units looked a little large…
I have all three. Stewarts have the best drive, in fact it is the best drive I have ever seen, nothing seems as smooth. Stewarts don’t have much added detail so you have to do it yourself.
The Intermountains look better than the stewarts after you remove the air horns which are really oversized. Some other detail parts a bit big.
The best shell by far is the Genesis but the drive isn’t quite up to the others. Just not quite as smooth. The Intermountains are outshined by the Genesis units when they are sitting next to each other. Just not as spectacularly painted and detailed. Fixing a headlight that has burned out is a nusance twith the Genesis units and is irritating as they are glued in.
The ultimate F unit would be a Genesis painted shell on a Stewart Drive. - Nevin
WES454 Asked
So how easy is it to get the Genesis shells on the Stewart or even Proto 1000 drives? Will they just snap on?
The Genesis or Highliner shells will fit directly on the Stewart chassis, but they you must lock them on with a modified method. I painted and decaled four Highliner F7B and F3B units and those fit tight on the Stewart and do not need a locking method.
The Genesis or Highliner shell fits on the Proto 1000 drives also, but you need to lock them on. The Proto units are generally very inexpensive, but they run great and pull good on the club layout. Four units can handle any of the fifty cars trains we run on the 2% grades so they are impressive.
I agree with Nevin about the ultimate F unit being a Genesis shell on a Kato / Stewart Drive,.
If you choose the Genesis drives, some improvements can be made for just a few dollars. I know most do not want to spend more money after they just purchased a new engine, but I was not happy with the wheel sets in the Genesis units. After a few experiments, I found the Kato wheel sets would fix many of the problems that the Genesis showed. The problem was, Kato did not have the F7 wheel sets available. I then found the Kato SD40-2 wheel sets were identical and replaced the wheel sets on all of my twenty five Genesis F units. This really helps them because the wheels are round and this eliminates any wobble.
LUPO:
My Genesis F’s did not come with a crew, wonder why?
The Genesis F’s don’t really have a good drive compared to the other F’s…how much would it cost to buy Stewart drives and chassis and put the Genesis shell on them?
Also do the Genesis shells snap onto the Stewart drives, or do you need to do some modifying?
Also do the Stewart F’s have molded-on handrails, or do they just have an empty space so the purchaser can add separate grabs him/her-self?
I replaced my Genesis wheel sets with NWSL wheels and boy do they run a lot better. I’m running DCC and I need very good electrical pickup.
Have a blessed day and remember SANTA FE ALL THE WAY
Bob
wes454: Athearn drives haven’t degraded, in fact the BlueBox drive has been upgraded to the ‘hex-drive’ on RTR’s and some of the newer BlueBox drives, and the Genesis drive is pretty darn good. However the baseline for drive quality, which used to be Athearn, is now Kato, who’s drives are significantly better than the old BlueBox drive.
Times change.
I just recently picked up some Intermountain Santa Fe F-7’s and they are absolutely beautiful models with great drives.
Ideally::
Buy Genesis FA powered and B dummy’shells. Replace the dummy’s with Stewart drives (available separately).
2nd choice: Intermountain’s. They now have metal handrails.
3rd choice: Stewart. best ‘bang’ for the buck, but with solid grills and molded-on handrails.
Frankly, I think you would be happy with any one of the three - adecided upgrade of old Athearn’s.
Even though it might work, I could not as enthusiastically endorse the Proto F-7 mechanism, as it would not ‘integrate’ well with Genesis, Stewart, or intermountain drive’s. In short you have to run Proto 1000 with other Proto engines.
[:I][:I][:I] Because you have better eyes than I have, ( just 1 fully functional, with glasses )[xx(]
used my optivisor to see that it just had a cab interior and what I thought was a crewmember was just something else.[:(]
Will the Intermountain FxB shells fit on older Stewart powered drives? I have two F7Bs in passenger scheme from the mid-90’s (Kato drive), and I only need one. I’d like to convert the other to freight colors without having to do any painting, so a drop-on freight B shell would be great.
Good info, but quite a bit of contrasts.
Don, guys.
I’ve thought about obtaining two Genesis F7s to paint into SCL. The body detailing looks really nice on these units. However, are they quiet hummers or do they have some growl?
On another thread, I posted that my wife’s cousin bought a Genesis SD75M, brand new. NIce looking unit. Whenever he runs it, this thing growls as loudly as the Athearn SD9 I purchased in 1978! No kidding! It doesn’t bother him though. I was hoping that this was just a “fluke” unit that came through the assembly line.
I’m asking this as I’m intend to install DCC Sound in all my E units, F units, and Athearn Cowls. The growls are actually distracting. I would prefer not to spend more money just on the drives. I’m already doing this with the BB Athearns I recently got.
Thanks Amigos!
jsalemi,
Yes, the Intermountain shell will drop on the Stewart/Kato drive. I’ve done so myself. The Stewart, Athearn, Kato/Stewart, Intermountain drive bodies are all identical. The difference is the motor and electrical components, the alloy frames are the same.