Athearn Proto 2000

[Anonymous]

I am not a master of knowledge on the different locomotives in HO scale but is there some kind of link to life like and Athearn? I notice that many of the parts on their locos look the same, as a matter of fact, some of the first proto 2000 locos looked like no more than a glorified athearn. Maybe they just have common parts or something.

[AggroJones]

Some P2K diesels just have very similar parts as Athearn. I think alot of the mechanism parts share the same tooling. In fact, I've read some articles were Athearn Blomberg trucks were used to replace the Proto ones on a Geep. I don't know if their businesses are linked though.

[AntonioFP45]

Spoke to a good friend of mine that rebuilds HO units. He stated that there are many similarities between the two, but the P2ks are a little better as far as gear meshing. If you notice P2ks on average run quieter than Athearns.

I recently heard an HO Proto E-unit run at my LHS. It was quieter than my wife's cousin's Athearn Genesis SD75, which to my surprise is a little noisy.

LifeLike and Athearn are separate companies competing against each other.

[BentnoseWillie]

When Life-Like introduced the Proto 2000 line, they copied a successful drive - Athearn's. There are enough minor differences between the parts (mold part lines, surface texture etc.) to indicate that they aren't made from the same molds, although the common engineering means the driveline parts are interchangeable.

Life-Like's Blomberg truck sidframes don't have as much detail as Athearn's do, which is why Athearn sideframes are a common upgrade to Proto 2000 GP7's and GP9's. The Athearn sideframes are a direct swap with no moldifications neccessary.

[AntonioFP45]

Bentnose Willie

Do you happen to know if the Proto trucks are interchangeable with the Athearn units? The P2k trucks in general are quieter than the Athearns.

Thanks!

[BentnoseWillie]

Proto 2000's Blomberg-B truck (used in the BL2, GP7, GP9 and GP18) is a direct clone of the Athearn Blomberg truck, and all the parts are interchangeable. The P2K trucks have better wheels, and the metal side plates in the trucks are made of better material from the standpoint of electrical contact.

Before doing a truck swap I'd explore relubricating the Athearn trucks, since the only differences that account for different noise levels are the amount and type of lube applied at the factory. P2K motors, on the other hand, are much quieter in their normal state than the standard Athearn motor, although it too can be tweaked for better perfrormance and quieter operation.

I relubricate my Athearn trucks, and am now installing NorthWest Short Line wheels and motors. I have five Athearns left in service: one with the NWSL wheels and motor, one with the wheels installed and the motor going in, and the other two planned for this treatment as budget allows. The resulting engines run better than my P2K GP9, but not as well as my Atlas/Kato RS11 and GP7.

[AntonioFP45]

Thanks, BentnoseWillie,

I'm familiar with the Pearl Drops method for quieting Athearn trucks, but I want to explore as many options as possible. Another friend suggested to me that when I "tweak my Athearns", to install the NWSL wheels. I'll be converting my Athearns to DCC/Sound starting with my Cowl and Cab units.

Thanks again for the tips, I'll use them!