Anyone Selling the "bad ones"?

Dear Joe,

Hmm, for those who wouldn't notice such discrepancies, sounds like a prime time to pickup some "factory second/unloved" locos at a nice price...

and I'm sure the On30 guys would see them as a perfect bargain for a smooth running donor mech...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Yep

Everything from the window frames down looks pretty good, though I personally think they missed a chance to add some details at least on the UP. Other roads I don't know about. The mechanism looks pretty good.

The discrepancies would be noticeable on certain paint schemes that key dividing lines on areas like the windows and the radiator and intake grates -- which unfortunately does include the UP. SP black widow and schemes like the Pennsy are much less affected.

Athearn's promise to fix the errors is very good news.

Sorry but I have to laugh.

Sorry but I have to laugh, it seems the company who now makes (or claims to make) the most accurate GP7 / GP9 available just happens to be the same company who has made the worst reproduction since about forever! Best I can say is well done for making the effort to rectify it.

It's not your papa's

Athearn any more. It;s Horizon, using the Athearn name. Different ideas, that;s why bb's are gone. Actually, it's nice to see some one correct their mistakes, now if they'd only improve their motors. mh

"Horizon-era" Athearn Motor Issues?

Dear Mike,

My entire "Horizon era" (DCC ready) Athearn SW1500 fleet (just re-counted, somehow I've ended up with 9 of them)
all came factory-equipped with 32x16 Mashima can motors,

Are these somehow "not up to requirements"?

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Horizon Era

The RTR SW1500s have can motors (I have a couple and they run great).  Most of the RTR line does not; as they retain older style motors like the blue box line, and are very uneven in operating qualities.  I've encountered some of these that run very poorly.

As for the GP-7/9 Genesis models, good for Athearn in fixing the dimensional errors.  Other forums have been very busy discussing the problems with these things.  Apparently the tooling was based on scans of the old Front Range tooling, and the FR door height and grill location issues were not corrected, plus Athearn introduced some of their own with respect to the cab windows.  I appreciate their admission that mistakes were made and that they're publicly admitting that corrections were appropriate.  I wasn't planning to pick up any of the Genesis units, but with the upgrades now I likely will.

One of my modeling buddies has a three-unit set of the SP Black Widow Geeps, and they run very nicely.  He brought them over to a recent work session at my place and we were all impressed with the mechanisms.  The SP scheme also minimizes the impact of the dimensional mistakes so they looked pretty sharp too.

measure twice, cut once

I always hated the Front Range geep body mostly because the entire hood was about 6" too low overall.  If the Athearn unit retains that error it will remain off my buy list.  I'm endlessly amazed at how supposedly professional manufacturers can let basic dimension errors get into scale models.  It can't be that hard to check and recheck your information before committing to cutting metal.

Athearn Errors

Here we go again..............most of the people complaining about Athearn's errors probably wouldn't have noticed had not a nitpicker got out his calipers and micro ruler and started looking around.  And I guarantee you that most of them don't even have a working layout.

How many of us could stand up to a nitpicker inspection ?  I mean what about the size of the grass blades ?  And how about the size of your spikes ?  Hmmmmmmmm..... and your people just stand there all day and night.

And, how many of your visitors check for miniscule stuff like that when they visit your layout ?

Get a grip............Model Railroading is supposed to be fun.

I would have never noticed the problem but then again I'm probably considered a "tinplater" by most.  I'm just fat, dumb and happy and I like the looks of my railroad and most of my friends like it as well.

Sure I'd like my work to look like Six, Furlow, Shroedle, Allen, and many others but I know my limitations.

Close enough is good enough for me.

Athearn errors

Oldnslo - have you looked at them? Seriously?

All three of the errors getting fixed - the two grills and the windows, were very noticeable, especially with paint jobs that used them as dividing lines.

It's a question of respect and quality

Old, when someone announces with great fanfare that they are going to produce a line of superdetailed locomotives in their premium line and then trots out a half-baked rehash of an inferior model from 20 years ago and then ignores valid criticisms of said model, and even goes so far as to insist it is the most accurate model of that prototype available, well...that is just an insult to hobbyists who care about the accuracy of the models they put out the big bucks to buy.  Just because you don't care doesn't mean no one should.  I personally don't have fun finding out the engine I ordered a year ago and paid a lot of money for is a dog's breakfast.

Over promise under deliver

I agree with Jurgen even though I am squarely in the good'nuff camp. Athearn has a slick artist doing their ads. They are first rate in production quality. The ads, along with the bold statements, set consumer expectations very high. Then to recycle an old model was fool hearty on Athearn's part. They set themselves up for this one IMHO.

Even level

The F-unit, tunnel motor and GP15 projects set some pretty high expectations that the initial run of Geeps hasn't met. But this is probably enough on the subject unless someone has some effective fixes to offer.

Athearn RTR - Ready To Remotor

That is why I will no longer purchase Athearn, they are too dear when you factor in the cost of a new motor and the time wasted on installation.

more about respect and quality

That's one of the neat things about this hobby.  Each of us can make it what we want.  There's 45 people in the club I belong to, and there's 45 different reasons for being in the club, and 45 different approaches to doing model trains.  Some are quite interested in fidelity to the prototype, some just really enjoy watching something that moves go around in a circle.  Some know all there is about the history of some specific railroad, and some only enjoy building models and happened to pick railroads.

Personally, I'm impressed and glad that the Athearn tooling is getting changed.  I always wondered why someone would make a model that does not represent the real thing.  I'm not into it enough to count rivets, but back when I did model cars there were things a knowledgeable person could spot right away if it didn't match the real thing.  Right now, I just want my trains to be representative of railroading, not yet to any specific company, time, or place.  I know that as time goes on I probably will build models of something very specific and will then want all details to match.

It's a great hobby!!!

Well, that's my 1.1 cents.  (That's 2 cents, after taxes)

Kevin

To Oldnslo: Agreed!

It's about the fun, but I know different modelers get enjoyment from different approaches.  My best friend is an electrical engineer who, I have no doubt, set his teething biscuits in perfect rows when he was a baby.  Like you, I'm more inclined to concentrate on detail only to the point that it maintains the fun aspect of my miniature world. I scratch build industrial buildings, and have recently made a "good enough, close enough" decision on several of them, because I had piles of projects that were languishing while I spent any spare weekend time I could find adjusting the location of rooftop ventilators and rain gutter downspouts.  I've had to start leaving models for a couple of weeks, then go back to them with a fresher eye and admit that the cost/benefit ratio of additional tinkering is not worth leaving other buildings unstarted.  For those who can't stand the variations in GP7 hood height and other issues, I glad there is now going to be an alternative that doesn't grate on you every time you see it run by - I hope the new ones make you smile just to see them - we should all be smiling when we walk out of the rest of the world and see our railroads!

Rog.

Mixed Feelings. . .

I have mixed feelings about this issue.  Back in the blue box days, the GP/SD hoods were a scale 6" too wide as the motor was too wide.  The additional scale 6"  helped to clear the motor.  The engines cost only $25 so nobody complained and it wasn't a big deal.  Now, the engines are in the $200 range, made over in China and I have read complaints of broken parts being found in the packaging.  

For an engine in the $200 range and more, we should get a high quality product that is accurate in every detail.  I commend Athearn for addressing the problem but the problems with the engine should be found before they get shipped.