I’m seriously thinking about converting to HO. Other than the price, what are the major differences between the Athearn RTR and Genesis models? Does the quality and performance of the Genesis justify the price being higher than the RTR models? Thanks!
You bet the price is justified. Genesis is a whole other animal (at least for the F7s). I heard with the modern diesels in the Genesis series there are problems with warped sideframes that cause derailments. I have heard this several times.
The Athearn Genesis box cars are very detailed, much more then the standard RTR Athearn cars. Is the price justified? If you want some very highly detailed cars then yes, if your not so much into the tiny detail then no, you will be happy with just the RTR stuff. I have lots of both.
i have an athearn rtr ac4400 it has good detail but the front snowplow got caught on everything in sight i think that’s fixed for a while. i’ve yet to pull anything with it beacause it has the new bachmann e-z mate couplers and ALL my stuff has the old style also the ac4400 makes a little gear noise but it’s quieting down the more i run it.
Some of the newer Athearn RTR locos are very nice whereas others are the old blue box models with plastic handrails in place of the old metal ones. They all run well but do generate a good deal of noise. ALL of the Genesis locos are high quality with more detail.
Bob DeWoody