Need Passenger Car Advice--am I getting warmer?

[dave9999]

Athearn was purchased by Horizon Hobby. I did a search on the Horizon site, but not much luck.
You may want to look around and see if I missed something. Here's a link:
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByCategory/Category.aspx?OverallCatID=TH
Good luck, Dave

[Anonymous]

Athearn is far from discontinuing their product line. Athearn products are readily available at almost every hobby shop, the largest line of diesels and cars available on the planet. Athearn moved into a new plant near Long Beach, California and has expanded production as well as increased the number of new offerings. There may be companies come and go, but Athearn will be with us for years to come. It wouldn't be far off to compare Athearn in HO as you would cars to General Motors.

Walthers will no longer be the distributor for Athearn and that is why you will not see their product line in that catalog. Athearn dates from the 1940's and has been expanding ever since. Quality to the line continues to improve and their Genesis series of diesels is considered some of the best HO locomotives ever made.

Many years ago I was an Athearn distributor in Southern California. While we had problems with some of the other brands Athearn was always the one we could count on for product.

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by murrieta

Athearn is far from discontinuing their product line. Athearn products are readily available at almost every hobby shop, the largest line of diesels and cars available on the planet. Athearn moved into a new plant near Long Beach, California and has expanded production as well as increased the number of new offerings. There may be companies come and go, but Athearn will be with us for years to come. It wouldn't be far off to compare Athearn in HO as you would cars to General Motors.

I went to the Athearn web site and looked at their passenger cars. All were marked discontinued.

[Anonymous]

My understanding was that only the kits were to be discontinued. Ready to Run cars should be available, and I would think that most hobby shops would still have a supply of both kits and ready to run.

Athearn might have chosen to reduce the variety of passenger cars in their line but from what I understand there is no intent to eliminate passenger cars from their catalog. Athearn might have made a recent decision to eliminate the cars completely but that would be very surprising since they have all the dies and machinery paid up and it takes so little work to stamp out a run. I would welcome input from anybody with recent information from Athearn.


eBay would be a great source for used Athearn cars. There just isn't much that can go wrong with the models. If they show up as clean and complete they are going to be reliable. They have been made for at least 45 years, maybe longer, so there are at minimum tens of thousands of them out on layouts operating. I remember one year that Athearn announced they had ran almost 15,000 at one clip to satisfy holiday demand, so you shouldn't have any problem finding some at very attractive prices.

[Anonymous]

Looking quickly on eBay there is a dealer offering brand new Athearn kits in packages of 6 cars for $45-49 per set.

Other dealers offering used 5 and 6 car Athearn sets from $25 on up. Now these are prices that won't break the pocketbook and will give you a reasonably nice starter passenger set that will be reliable and can handle rough track as well as any cars made.

If you decide to move up to scale length and have the curves and track work to handle them you can easily sell the Athearn, as they are popular. But for a car that kids can handle and enjoy without fear of damage, and a car that can easily be put onto the track, or re-railed when they come off, the Athearn line has to be near the top for basic enjoyment.

Pennsy passenger equipment is popular and was one of Athearn's top sellers. I suspect that if you made a few e-mail inquries of the large HO stores on the internet you could probably within a few weeks find yourself with a garage full of the cars. Con Cor also makes a nice car, as do others, just sometimes the extra money you are paying for these cars will not get the operational results you might expect by spending more for a model. Many of the cars are priced based on the prototypical realistic details that are incorporated into the model, and that is often not in the best interests of a layout where kids might enjoy playing with the trains.

[SpaceMouse]

On Walthers page 132 2004 ed, bottom of second column, there is a listing for 70' passenger cars. The color scheme is tuscany red with deluxe gold. Am I getting warm?

[Anonymous]

I got a quick e-mail from a former shop owner in New York that use to stock Athearn.

Trainworld in New York has all Athearn lightweight and heavyweight passenger cars on sale for $5.99 each. Kit and ready to roll, same price. Just use this type of pricing as your guide when you are looking at other products.


Tuscan red with dulux gold or gold leaf lettering would be correct for Pennsy passenger equipment.

[Don Gibson]

IF you want specific cars (length) (style) in UP paint, you'll have to shop. CONCOR made some decent 85 footers in UP dress. Good luck.

You are now in a forum where members at one time MADE them.

http://www.con-cor.com/instock/ho85pass.htm

[Anonymous]

Chip,
I have a set of Bachmann Spectrum Heavyweight cars that I purchased about ten years ago. The craftsmanship is excellent for the price I paid. They are standard length (80' I think), but they should work well on the club layout you are planning to run them on. I have run mine on 22" radius curves, and other than looking funny while going around the curves, they ran great. I think even some of the shorter cars would still look funny with tight turns. On the club layout, you should be fine with any passenger cars you want to run, so you should not need to have the shorty cars you're looking for. When it comes to running them at home, well, it's a different story.

Good luck on making your choice.