Kato C44-9W

SOU_Fan · September 16, 2006, 7:47pm

My question,besides ebay where is the cheapest to get a Kato C44-9W? I don’t care what paint scheme it is in.

-dekruif

CAZEPHYR · September 16, 2006, 10:11pm

They have not been run for several years but some are still out there, hopefully cheaper than these…

1train1 · September 16, 2006, 10:22pm

Don’t forget the CN Units - they’re double the price.

jbinkley60 · September 17, 2006, 7:36am

Speaking of the Dash 9s, has anyone picked up the new Athearn run units ? I saw a couple of NS units at the LHS yesterday but I have one of the older Athearn Dash 9’s and the Kato unit is much nicer and runs quieter. Of course the Athearn doesn’t require hours of adding details and gluing my fingers together. Neither have sound.

zgardner18 · September 18, 2006, 11:18am

I at first wanted to buy the Kato Dash 9 but couldn’t find any so I opt for the Athearn RTR, and to be honest with you, I really like mine. I will need to add just a little more detail like hoses and wipers but other than that I think they are great. I’ll need to throw in a decoder and synchronize them and that should help make them run with others like Kato and Atlas. Personally I think that, though I was very skeptical about the RTR, I now think that I make a good choice.

wjstix · September 18, 2006, 12:03pm

Good news - I got one on ebay for a good price. Bad news - one side’s handrails are missing, and I can’t order them from Kato. Tried to find if anyone had tried using the Athearn handrails on a Kato unit, but apparently no one has.[:(]

SOU_Fan · September 18, 2006, 12:24pm

How much did you get it for. I was watching a Kato AC4400CW and it went for $60 shipped. The reason it went so cheap is because it weas missing the rear headlight housing($1) and one of the front handrails was broken in two. I just wish my dad would have let me bid on it. Oh well

-dekruif

Tilden · September 18, 2006, 5:11pm

I agree with ZAK. I forgot I had a couple of the old Athearn Dash 9’s and picked up a RTR version. I put it together last night with a MRC 1634 “drop-in” (maybe for a Gensis but not the RTR) decoder and ran it for a good hour or so. Ran well with very good low speed control and the sound was good (despite what one may hear). The diesel rumble was a bit loud for my taste, even at the lowest setting. However, I did use a smaller speaker than came with it, cause I didn’t feel like getting into a lot of shell and body work.

For the money it runs and looks good.

SOU_Fan · September 18, 2006, 5:16pm

What kind of deatil do the RTR ones have? I have had a Atlas and a P2K. How does the detail compare to those? Also how quit are they in comparison to an Atlas? Is it a part of the genesis line?

Thanks,
Andrew

Anonymous · September 18, 2006, 9:32pm

Last week I bought a Athearn RTR NS C44-9W however the model is really a C40-9W as read on the engine itself. Anyway I installed the decoder and have not run it yet. I hope for the best that it will run good. I stepped away from all Athearn RTR models a year plus ago. Since I do really like the NS engines I had to buy it for $56 on the Bay

SOU_Fan · September 18, 2006, 10:04pm

Are you sure? I found this thread trying to find the differences betweent the two.

http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/887637/ShowPost.aspx

-dekruif

Anonymous · September 19, 2006, 2:28pm

Yes I am sure, Well it actually reads D9-40CW as opposed to the box reading D9-44CW. I am looking at it right now too

jbinkley60 · September 19, 2006, 3:49pm

Speaking of the Dash 9s, has anyone picked up the new Athearn run units ? I saw a couple of NS units at the LHS yesterday but I have one of the older Athearn Dash 9’s and the Kato unit is much nicer and runs quieter. Of course the Athearn doesn’t require hours of adding details and gluing my fingers together. Neither have sound.

I at first wanted to buy the Kato Dash 9 but couldn’t find any so I opt for the Athearn RTR, and to be honest with you, I really like mine. I will need to add just a little more detail like hoses and wipers but other than that I think they are great. I’ll need to throw in a decoder and synchronize them and that should help make them run with others like Kato and Atlas. Personally I think that, though I was very skeptical about the RTR, I now think that I make a good choice.

What differences did you notice between the older and the newer Atheran units ? I have an older Athearn and a Kato Dash 9. I am interested in what improvements Athearn may have made since the older units came out a couple of years ago.

wjstix · September 19, 2006, 4:16pm

Well I did get a good deal, I’d have to go back and look but I think it was about $60 or so. To be fair, the guy who sold it was selling some stuff for a family member, he wasn’t a model railroader and just said it looked like everything was there. I got pretty far into assembling the engine before I noticed it was missing, and I looked it over pretty well when it arrived and test ran it too.

zgardner18 · September 19, 2006, 4:20pm

Speaking of the Dash 9s, has anyone picked up the new Athearn run units ? I saw a couple of NS units at the LHS yesterday but I have one of the older Athearn Dash 9’s and the Kato unit is much nicer and runs quieter. Of course the Athearn doesn’t require hours of adding details and gluing my fingers together. Neither have sound.

I at first wanted to buy the Kato Dash 9 but couldn’t find any so I opt for the Athearn RTR, and to be honest with you, I really like mine. I will need to add just a little more detail like hoses and wipers but other than that I think they are great. I’ll need to throw in a decoder and synchronize them and that should help make them run with others like Kato and Atlas. Personally I think that, though I was very skeptical about the RTR, I now think that I make a good choice.

What differences did you notice between the older and the newer Atheran units ? I have an older Athearn and a Kato Dash 9. I am interested in what improvements Athearn may have made since the older units came out a couple of years ago.

To be honest with you I rather have a Kato, Atlas, or P2K but they don’t make the Dash 9 (Kato did but now are hard to find) Athearn RTR have not been in my good list due to a bad AC4400CW that after the third time around the club layout started make some crazy noises and a bad smell. But since then I bought a SD45T-2, two SD40s and two Dash 9s and I’m very pleased with the detail.

I also have the older BB Athearn Dash 9 and supposedly when they went to the RTR they upgraded the wheels, drivesafts, and a few other things but the engines are still the sa