Hi guys,
Went to the train show last weekend and yes, i got a blue box Athearn SD-40 for $26…it was a deal no doubt, but as i’ve been working on it for the last three days doing the detail work, the alarms and bells finally went off in my head even though others have told me the deal long ago …I finally made the decision that this is my last Athearn locomotive!..and here are the reasons: … By the time I get all the detail stuff i need to make it look half way decient, i could have purchased an Atlas or a Proto for what i paid for the detailing parts…and 2. (and this is the big one)…I’ve had it with the way Athearn couplers mount…for one, i have to grind it to a nub before it even comes close to meeting NMRA standards for coupler height, another problem is when mounting the snowplow, i had to grind it down to nothing so that the coupler would clear it, and the worst thing was the 3/8" gap between the locomotive body and the top of the coupler…I had to whittle out a piece of block styrene plastic to fill the gap…yep…this will be my last Athearn locomotive unless they make drastic changes to their coupler and their detailing (or lack of)…and the Athearn Genesis is no better…it still lacks a lot of detailing…Chuck
Megadittoes. I just bought an Athearn PA and I am very disappointed with it. The paint (Nickel Plate) is very poor with blue showing through the white. Detail is minimal and the Rube Goldberg electric system is a joke. From now on I’m going with P2K, BLI or Atlas for diesels.
Chuck, I have to admit, that I’m with you as far as the coupler mounts go. Drives me nuts. But as far the the detailing and stuff goes…Up unitl recently, moving every few years whether I needed it or not, limited my modelling to pretty much to just that…modelling. Taking an old BB and spend some quality time building it up is a big part of what I like doing. I just don’t get the same sense of accomplishment taking it out of a box. But I hear ya…in the end it’s about the same.
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QUOTE: Originally posted by tpatrick
Megadittoes. I just bought an Athearn PA and I am very disappointed with it. The paint (Nickel Plate) is very poor with b
I used to like Blue Box locos very well. All your comments are quite valid-
both positive and negative. I don’t run any of them anymore either. There
is so much available today that is superior by other manufacturers that
old Athearn gets ignored. But, for someone just starting out, especially
a young person, and who needs a simple, reliable and largely bullet
proof loco at a really fair price, I would still recommend Athearn.
One other pet peeve with old blue box-nasty overscale wide body
road switchers. This is an area that Athearn really needs to correct.
Their GEs, first generation Geeps and SD’s and SDP40 and SD45
are difficult to accept in these days of very fine attention to detail
and scale. Yes, I know that they have re-issued the GP35 under
the old Rail Power shell-a step in the right direction-but they are
still playing catch-up and are a long way behind. These comments
do not apply to the Genesis line-they are beautiful. The only improve-
ment I could suggest is to get away from the “as delivered” detailing.
Well,…That’s my sermon for the evening.
[soapbox]
My first ever attempt at detailing a HO Locomotive was an Athearn SP SW-1500. This was back in '94 and I had a great time. Granted, its long been retired to a shelve. It’s great for the learning curve, and if you mess up you’re not out the cost of say a Kato/Atlas product. FWIW, I can’t wait to see the new SD45T-2 when they are released. For all of us SP/SSW fanatics its a long awaited product begging for a soundtraxx decoder and the typical unwashed look.
The first wave has been released. I have one SP and one SSW.
I have no intentions to stop buying Blue Box locomotives.
My first locomotive was a Athearn and I still have it along with a few more great to work on.If you don’t replace the motor it does’nt seem to cost that much in detailing parts.My choice now is Life-Like P2K’s but I would buy Athearn (undec.) today ,don’t just give up yet .
MY first , only Athearn, THE CHALLENGER! I don’t need their diesel grief.
My first Athearn BB engines were a pair of F-7s (B&O) with Rubber Band Drive!!! With a heavy train you could actually see the effect of the kenetic energy in the rubber band and the engine would literally “spring” forward.
Then when the elastic band broke or dry-rotted it was a real pain to disassemble the trucks to get the new bands on! Had a piece of hose for the flex coupling on the drive shaft…
We’ve come a long way! I, for one, am not complaining about $100 P2Ks and Atlas, Kato and Genesis, et.al… They are beautifully detailed and run like soft butter!
I’ve personally had a lot of fun bashing Athearn BB engines. When I first got back into the hobby I’d pick up used ones at local shows for a few bucks, strip the paint off and do my thing with them.
Some time ago a friend painted and decorated their SD40-2’s for CP’s headquarters, they would pass them out to customers and retiring employees. He would buy them by the case and whenever we got together he would give me a few. As a result I’ve detailed and customized many of these (dummy) engines, something I would not have done if I would have had to buy those by Kato.
Several of these BB models that I’ve worked on have appeared in my magazine articles, the latest being a CP SD40-2 with large “elephant ear” air intake hoods over the rear radiator intakes. These were similar to what SP tried for their engines encountering overheating problems in tunnels. My article on this model will be in the March issue of “Model Railroading” magazine (due out shortly). I doubt if I would have had the interest to do the same on a more expensive model.
Bob Boudreau
So this is something we’ve all heard before.
Valid points about the lack of details on Athearn locomotives
BUT!
Would you want your child to handle your nicely detailed Kato or Atlas offering?
I don’t.
I let my 3 year old handle my Athearn loco’s because they have no small dainty detailing bits & pieces that WILL readily fall off if mishandled.
Complain what you will about Athearn BB, they’re still the best bang for the buck.
Just my 2 cents!
Gordon
Guys,Think of it this way…What skills do you learn on just opening a box and placing a locomotive on the track? So,detail parts cost money…But,the dividends lay in the skills you learn in the process.
I have Atlas,P2K,Athearn(BB,BB RTR and RTR) Genesis,Stewart ,4 Katoand 3 Walther’s…
Now had I not the skills that I learn by detailing the BB locomotives I would have not had the basic skills needed to add the detail parts to my Stewart Baldwin switcher and U25B which also included drilling some holes that was not clear or to smallnor would I had the skills needded to add Bells on the short hood of my C&O GP7/9s or along the long hood of my GP30s,35,38ect.
So,what price do we put on learning skills?
These basic skills is needed for Kato locomotives since you need to add the detail parts and of course the Stewart line of locomotives…Plus there is the Walther’s line of cars that one needs to add the grabs even though Walther’s advertise these cars as RTR.
Then how about adding bells or the correct horns on the RTR locomotives as per the prototype? Again basic skills is needed and the best way IHMO is to start by detailing a Athearn BB locomotive since one is not adding detail on a $100.00 plus locomotive for the first time without the needed skills.
So,what price do we put on learning skills???
I love my Athearn F7s. It is my favorite HO loco. I always said that You can pull a fleet of cars with one or two loco with it. For what I pay for it, it can’t be beat.
i still have and use many of my BB’s yeah ive updated the motors, added nickle silver wheels, smokey valleys,ect… but i still run them. i have 3 AC4400’s and 2 C44-9W’s i lash up with Katos and run trains with, and i have a few T-motors that im bashin. i also like to take there GP60 shells and put them on P2K frames.
I love Athearn engines, pick them up cheap on Ebay. They always run good for me
Brakie’s right, to a point. Athearn BB engines have been a great benefit to the hobby, because they were inexpensive, readily available, and relatively reliable. And they made great platforms for modelers to expand their skills base, in both mechanicals and detailing.
But I suspect that for anyone past that particular learning curve, they’re nothing but a waste of time and effort. Most other diesel manufacturers (I used to model diesels, so have SOME experience with them all) make MUCH better models. If you really want fine details and top shelf performance, you should start with the best (Atlas, Kato, etc). This holds true even with us steam modelers: if we want pulling power more than looks, we stay with ancient Mantua and Bowser engines. If we want fine detailing and smooth performance (and don’t need to lug 100 cars around 22" radius curves) we gravitate towards the newer, better offerings of P2K, Bachmann and BLI.
Athearn has it’s place, but rarely on a layout whose owner strives towards fine details and better than reality performance.
One of the ways I calculate the cost of the hobby is in dollars per unit of time. A DPM kit for about 10 bucks can keep me occupied for a week sometimes, coming to about $2.00 a day, not a bad deal.
There is no comparison between a Kato and an Athearn BB loco. The Kato wins in the detail department hands down. Price wise, the Athearn wins. But, as cwclark pointed out, once you add all the detail parts etc, the price is the same. But when you divide the cost of the BB and parts by the time I can enjoy working on it, it is a better value. Better value for me that is.
Is my way of thinking superior? Of course not. It’s what works for me. For those that want highly detailed models and either don’t have the time, skill or want to add parts - then Kato/Stewart/P2K etc is the way to go.
Everyone has good points about the place in the hobby that the Athearn BB kits have. I belong to a rather large club wher we have the rule if it is on the rails anyone can run it, and I have found that many of the new offerings from Proto, Kato, ect all seem to loose details as they are being used. I have really had a bad time keeping truck details in place therefor more often than not I place the sparcly detailed Athearns out to run and I don’t need to worry. I do have quite a fleet of power (over 100, quit keeping track), and I do like to run them. As for details Proto wins hands down so many of the others have details that are out of scale. I also have my own railroad that I detail and paint and almost all is Athearn, I have found that the plastic details on the others are hard to work with and keep paint on, but that is just me. One thing is for sure all the manufactures are making great strides but sometimes the ole BB kits are still the best for the needs.
THE OLD Blue Box Athearn’s were cheap, easy, and a good learning experience for beginner’s. - Maybe still, but how much can one really learn from their third or fourth ‘Shake-the box’ kit?
I still have some B.B, engines. I didn’t throw them away, but they now have better motors, nickel wheels , and constant lighting. They run more realistically, keep the track cleaner, and now the light’s come on before the engine start’s to move - like a REAL engine.
I guessed some of us ‘Graduated’ - some of us didn’t.
I’ve “graduated” from Athearn, too.
My point was reached when to “upgrade” my Athearn blue box RI GP38-2 to Rock Island specifics required almost more money than starting with the P2K model !!
I would rather start with a SUPERIOR looking and running model (say, an ATLAS RI GP40) and buy and add the few detail parts to bring it up to snuff.
I feel I get more for my money doing things this way !!!
And as far as Genesis goes, quess which locos of mine have the most problems ???!!!
So no more Athearn for me !!!