John,
I did see that Bachmann was coming out with the new F7's. I own 3 of the Proto 1000 F3's and 10 Proto 2000 E's. I really like the Proto series. I haven't kept with them as much lately. If I had my way either one Bachmann or Proto would be fine as long as they are a bit nicer than the Athearn. I have a Bachmann GP38 that I like really well. Right now I am looking for DCC ease of installation.
If the competition passes the Athearn units in quality all the way around I really wonder what that will do to sells. The F like you say has been a part of the hobby for well over 40 years. If you can buy a better piece that's more accurate and modern inside Athearn will have to do something.
I did see something about the WP's!
RMax
It's only conjecture on my part. Time could prove me wrong.
I would never have believed that Athearn would take the rather dated Roundhouse Series (formerly Model Diecasting) steam engines and retool some of them into some very nice locomotives for the money, that seem to compare very favorably with Bachmann's latest offerings.
Using the words Athearn and steam power in the same sentence, excepting a few Genesis steamers, generally seems like a contradiction. However, I've owned a couple of the recent Bachmann 2-6-0's with sound, and I found that the Athearn Roundhouse 2-6-0 and 2-8-0 actually run better (though they are DCC ready and the recent runs did not have factory sound installed). The Athearn engines are simply quieter and smoother. Time will tell which is a better, more durable product on the layout. With the green glass "jewels" in the classification lights, the Athearns do seem to stand out even though perhaps based on no one specific prototype. Though I loved the Bachmann 2-6-0's when I got them, I sold them after acquiring some Athearn steamers because I preferred the Athearns.
If it was me, I'd focus my resources on products the other guys aren't already making--but then everybody also makes GP-7's and -9's, too.
John