Early Athearn HO " Hi- Fi "

[everywherewest]

Hello all! Been away from trains for over 20 years. Recently went down in my basemant and found some old HO engines. I found an early Athearn diesel SD-9 engine. Athearn called this model a " Hi-Fi". It had rubber band driving the wheels.

   Does anyone know if this is worth anything to a collector? Just wondering.

Thanks

Everywherewest  C,B,& Q lives on!

[3railguy]

Depends on the condition and if it has the origional box.

[Dr. John]

You might want to ask the question on the Model Railroader forum. There are many more HO scalers there. Most of us are O and S gauge modelers.

[fwright]

Hello all! Been away from trains for over 20 years. Recently went down in my basemant and found some old HO engines. I found an early Athearn diesel SD-9 engine. Athearn called this model a " Hi-Fi". It had rubber band driving the wheels.

   Does anyone know if this is worth anything to a collector? Just wondering.

Thanks

I can't comment on value - eBay might be a good source for going prices.  These were the cheapest Athearn diesels and generally cost less than $10 (minimum wage was less than $2 per hour back then); the more expensive models had gears instead of belt drives.  The "Hi-Fi" was a take-off on the then new 33rpm LP (long play) records which carried the "Hi-Fi" label.  The label stood for High Fidelity.  Athearn wanted the Hi-Fi label to imply high fidelity to prototype.  Today, I'm sure he would have been sued for copywright and/or trademark infringement.

yours in remembering

Fred W

[Anonymous]

Actually the correct term is Hi-F which stands for high efficiency. This is from Greenberg's Guide To Athearn Trains. It was not,  now, or ever Hi-Fi.
Steve