Hey, I am modeling the late 60's and 70's and I was wondering if the Athearn Streamlined cars are of good quality, They may not be the best, but for the price, I think I should get them. Has anybody owned or see these cars? Are they good on detail? Thanks, Travis
I have some of the streamlined athearn cars. For the money, they are OK. I'm not a rivet counter, but they look good to me.
I haven't figured how to put lights in them though.
I have a set of N&W Powhatan Arrow Heavy weights not sure if they qualify as stream liners but I have no complaints what so ever. Nice looking cars pretty well detailed and smooth runners. I'm sure some others may be better but for what I paid for them at a train show I am very happy with them.
Travis,
The Athearn streamliners are decent cars as far as performance. Their weight comes within NMRA recommendations and the rolling qualities are good.
Basically "generic" in appearance with minimal details, they are loosely based on Budd Santa Fe cars, afaik. They are often referred to as "shorties" since the coaches, diners, domes, and observation cars are a scale 72' long, instead of the prototype Santa Fe's 85 foot length.
Athearn manufactured the shorties with modelers that had 18" and 22" radius curves in mind way back in the day when the typical HO layout was a 4'x8' or 5'x9' (you can't even buy 5x9 boards anymore!) .
I had a fleet of New Haven and Amtrak shorties that I sold/traded off because I wanted more prototypically accurate cars.
I don't know if these Athearn cars come with interiors (mine didn't) . If they don't, you can opt to purchase interior kits from Palace Car Company, or get the IHC interior kits (which would have to be cut down to fit inside the shorties).
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Yeah im not really a rivit counter just if it looks good to me and it has minimal derailment problems then I will probably look into them, and i would like interior but it doesnt really matter that much.
Travis Malek Yeah im not really a rivit counter just if it looks good to me and it has minimal derailment problems then I will probably look into them, and i would like interior but it doesnt really matter that much.
Athearn are releasing at the end of the month some streamliners in the genisis range that include
The Athern "Blue Box" streamlined cars are most closely modeled on the Santa Fe Chief but there are a few other liveries including SP Daylight and Pennsy. The dome cars included in these sets are incorrect but close to Santa Fe specs. It's true that they track well and are the most trouble free to operate, especially on modular club layouts and other rough track environments. They can be upgraded with diaphrams and antennas and a really dedicated modeler could install grab irons where relevant. Although I'm a KD man myself, I've found that if you just want to pull them around horn hooks work pretty well and provide close coupling to boot. I fit a KD box and coupler on the front and back which is not hard. You just file a notch into the skirt on the rear of the opservation car and screw the coupler box to the underside of the car's deck. A full set of these cars ( used ) should run less than $100.00 at a big train show. The same goes for Athern heavyweight cars as well!
Little more history for you. The cars are patterned of of the SF coaches built in 1937, and are the first of the Budd Patewnt stainless steel (or is it the welding method? ARGH I should know this I volunteer at the museum who owns the first 8) cars to be rolled out of. When I paced the cars out, they came to less than 80feet, and the Athearsn are 1 window shorter than the prototypes in question. I know of at least one thread where we debated if these were 80ft, 85, 72, 77, or 79. (Basically, the Athearns are shorter, but th eprototype is shorter than the cars the Walthers are modeleld on) These cars started as 52seaters. NJT upped them to 84seats in commuter service. When ITM got their 15 (one burned) they were backed down to between 52 and 60 seats. There is at least one more in another museum of the ATSF set. The 14 I'm familiar with also kicked around New Jersey Transit, one was in Penn Central, but there are hundreds of these cars fro various roads.
BTW: While I cannot speak for the 30 or so that ATSF owned, the 14 that ITM owns that came from ATSF rode The Scout, the Texas Chief, and the El Capitan but not the Chief.
Here's a photo of the Athearn protoytpe in service mid 2000s. http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=865274
One from her ATSF days: http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?00002283+OP-2283EDIT: And the Walthers model, you can tell by winders that the Walthers 52seater is not the 1937built 52 seater. http://images.cloud.worthpoint.com/wpimages/images/images1/1/0709/10/1_e5094e5c23bdefe756558729c4579ccf.jpg
-Morgan
If the Athearn RTR cars are the same as their Blue Box streamlined cars, then you'll probably like them. The BB cars have been called the best-tracking passenger car models on the market. Very reliable, smooth riding. I've been able to back a 6-car string of them at speed, with the Talgo couplers with which they came equipped, through crossovers and yard switches, without derailments. And with the addition of some American Limited diaphragms, they'll look great.
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Gary M. Collins gmcrailgNOSPAM@gmail.com
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"Common Sense, Ain't!" -- G. M. Collins
http://fhn.site90.net
Travis Malek Hey, I am modeling the late 60's and 70's and I was wondering if the Athearn Streamlined cars are of good quality, They may not be the best, but for the price, I think I should get them. Has anybody owned or see these cars? Are they good on detail? Thanks, Travis
They are excellent. Get some. I love mine.
Alton Junction
Yeah, the reason I wont some is cuz they r cheap, I run 22" curves and I love UP. And most of the feedback i have gotte nis positive, so i mite go ahead and get them. Thanks, Travis.
Travis Malek Yeah, the reason I wont some is cuz they r cheap, I run 22" curves and I love UP. And most of the feedback i have gotte nis positive, so i mite go ahead and get them. Thanks, Travis.
I have Athearn streamlined pennsy cars, the blue box ones, they are perfect. I don't think you can go wrong with these cars, they have weight, run great on 22" radius, I've installed Kadee's on mine and they stay hitched together nicely.
For semi scale passenger cars, these are the best on the market. Affordable and very detailed.
The Athearn cars are 'close' to some ATSF prototypes, but are shorter for the most part. They do NOT have Budd roofs or ends and really are best described as 'generic'. The 60' RPO is the the closest. They do have fluting, but the trademark pair of large ribs for a Budd car are not present. I added Evergreen 'ribs' to make a quasi CB&Q car back around 1970. I later picked up some of the Mantua metal cars(also 72') that had the correct roof(or at least close) profile. Later the IHC & Walthers cars became available.
As others have mentioned, they do 'track' quite well. I built a Rock Island 'Plainsman' for a friend using 4 of their cars. It ran for years, until he passed away and the cars were sold.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Just don't run them behind E8's and they won't look nearly as short, use the Athearn F units and they'll all fit together nicely.
Agreed, not 100% correct but for operational smoothness and low cost they're like a broken drum, hard to beat !!!!
Mark
Are the Athearn RTR passenger cars the same as what used to be the blue box line? The reason I am asking is if they can easily be taken apart, stripped and repainted as I had been doing with blue box undecorateds? For instance is the window glass glued in or can it just be popped out like on blue boxs?
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
I have to second running F units in front of the shorties. I don't have any Athearn's but I do have some Con Cor shorties and they don't look good with E's or Erie Built.
I won't give the praise to the Con Cor cars has the Athearn's have received in this post. But, with a little weight, Kadee couplers, Metal wheel sets and tinkering my Con Cor track great now. Plus they are cheap, I have $169.10 invested in 10 cars, 1 pair of new trucks, couplers and little people.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Almost the entire fleet of passenger cars on the ATLANTIC CENTRAL is Athearn, streamliners and heavyweights, and ConCor shorty streamliners.
I love the selectively compressed length and add lots of details to all of them. As well as close coupling and American Limited working diaphragms - that touch and STAY touching all the time. The effect is great, better than $50 "scale" cars going down the track with 1/8" to 1/4" gaps between the diaphragms.
Most of my passenger power is PA1's, and EMD F or FP units, but I do have a few E units and I think they look just fine.
Remember, OK, very few streamlined cars where shorter than 80', but MANY heavyweights ranged from 60' to 80' and everywhere in between.
And, I have kitbashed lot of cars never offered by Athearn, combines, full RPO's, solarium observations, dome observations, etc.
But what do I know, according to all the experts, I'm doing this train thing all wrong.
Sheldon
G Paine Are the Athearn RTR passenger cars the same as what used to be the blue box line? The reason I am asking is if they can easily be taken apart, stripped and repainted as I had been doing with blue box undecorateds? For instance is the window glass glued in or can it just be popped out like on blue boxs?
They are the Blue Box cars, but I would not be surprised if the windows are glued. I know they glue the roofs down on the Roundhouse cars. You should hoever be able to ge the athearn's apart.
Sheldon, you are priceless!! That last comment got me to laughing so hard I almost "wet" myself!!!
Ah yes..........."experts", someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything there is to know about nothing!!
If he hadn't died I would send you that moron who upon gazing at my Dad's layout, the result of almost 20 years of work, commented that a "real" model railroader could tell him everything that was "wrong" with it.
Where would we be without the "experts" to keep the rest of us on track eh?
Keep doing what you're doing now because I suspect you're actually doing it right!!!
This is gold info. Athearn's streamliners can be rebuilt and detailed into a pseudo Super Chief for those of us who cant afford the Walthers version.
The older Athearn blue box passenger cars were solid. They had the great benefit of going around 18 inch curves without a hitch. The streamline cars look a bit short to my eye, but if you don't consist them with the real long cars they look OK and they stay on the track. I like the heavyweight Athearns, they look very good and just like what we rode in back in the day.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Personally, I can't stand shorty cars. To each their own, and all that, but they aren't for me.
I bought these as a kid. I got the whole set: F7A-B-B-A, Bagg., RPO, Coach, Diner, Vista Dome, Obs., all in NH paint. I will always associate them with my days of ignorance, when I thought manufacturers wouldn't make fake models ("Authentically Scaled From Railroad Blueprints") and that they'd surely paint them correctly. Ugh. I remember feeling like a fool when I found out the truth. And seeing these shorty cars always brings back that feeling.
To my dying day, I will look at these as true toys...toys for children. No matter what angle you look at them, they are always wrong. It's like seeing a 4-axle Blomberg-trucked EF-4 (E-33), or the exploding boxcar, or the missle launching car, etc. They are remnents of our toy train past, and for me they are best left in a museum.
The only tolerable cars are the heavyweight baggage and RPO (and maybe the HW coaches, depending on the prototype), because at least they are the right length. Add new trucks and body mount the couplers, and now we're talking about something reasonable. But the rest of the Athearn shorty fleet? Not for me. Oh, I still have my old shorty cars. I keep them as a reminder of how far we've come, this hobby and I.
Paul A. Cutler III
that moron who upon gazing at my Dad's layout, the result of almost 20 years of work, commented that a "real" model railroader could tell him everything that was "wrong" with it.
Basically what you are describing isn't an "expert" but a guest with no manners and as such should be shown to the door with all due hast.
What is an expert? Someone who has accurate knowledge or someone who disagree's with your way of doing things and doesn't have the manners to be graceful about how to use that knowledge? Some people just don't have social graces or manners is what it boils down to honestly.
Paul3 Personally, I can't stand shorty cars. To each their own, and all that, but they aren't for me. I bought these as a kid. I got the whole set: F7A-B-B-A, Bagg., RPO, Coach, Diner, Vista Dome, Obs., all in NH paint. I will always associate them with my days of ignorance, when I thought manufacturers wouldn't make fake models ("Authentically Scaled From Railroad Blueprints") and that they'd surely paint them correctly. Ugh. I remember feeling like a fool when I found out the truth. And seeing these shorty cars always brings back that feeling. To my dying day, I will look at these as true toys...toys for children. No matter what angle you look at them, they are always wrong. It's like seeing a 4-axle Blomberg-trucked EF-4 (E-33), or the exploding boxcar, or the missle launching car, etc. They are remnents of our toy train past, and for me they are best left in a museum. The only tolerable cars are the heavyweight baggage and RPO (and maybe the HW coaches, depending on the prototype), because at least they are the right length. Add new trucks and body mount the couplers, and now we're talking about something reasonable. But the rest of the Athearn shorty fleet? Not for me. Oh, I still have my old shorty cars. I keep them as a reminder of how far we've come, this hobby and I. Paul A. Cutler III
Uh oh Paul, don't "poke the bear"! I too had shorty Athearn streamline cars back when I was a teenager, and thought they looked really nice at the time. Mine were the SP Daylight pained cars. They were sold off by the time I was in college. In my mid twenties, as I became drawn to particular prototypes, I began to be much more aware of the differences or short comings in many plastic models. You see, I tended to noticed the differences ever since reading the "eye spy" type features in the High Lights childrens magazines, so that transferred to trains and especially in the 1970's and 1980's it didn't take too long to notice that there were very few models availalbe in plastic that came anywhere close to real train cars.
Even now with many more accurate models on the market from Walthers, BLI and others, it is still difficult to be accurate with all cars or to have a train that looks exactly like the real thing so most of us still have to accept models as "stand-in" that look kinda close to the real thing but isn't an exact match. That is especially true for folks trying to model the Southern Pacific in the 1960's passenger trains!
But not everyone cares that much about having our toy trains look like the real thing, as long as they have the generic look - some are happy as pigs in a stye. Ultimately we have to choose how to enjoy the hobby and try to tolerate those who enjoy it differently. If we don't, we view others as the "experts" and laugh at them or consider them an enemy of sorts, which really doesn't do anyone any good.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I agree with what everyone has said, so far!
They are short.
They are solid.
They are a good value.
They are good for tight radius curves.
They are generic rather than specific.
They are nice looking but don't sport state-of-the-art detail.
In short, the trade-offs and value equation is in the eye of the beholder!
e.g. does the overhang on curves bother you more than the short length?
Do you want to run a 10 car train of "shorties" or a 8 train of 85 footers?
Do you have a budget for new Rapido or train-show BB Athearn?
Personally, they don't fit what I'm trying to do but I know a few serious, sophisticated modelers who run them.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
But of course those 18" scale gaps between the diaphragms on those expensive exact scale cars are perfectly acceptable?
I like my passenger cars coupled like this:
Rich
hobo9941 I have some of the streamlined athearn cars. For the money, they are OK. I'm not a rivet counter, but they look good to me. I haven't figured how to put lights in them though.
http://imgur.com/a/obSJx
IMO, if you're not expecting Walthers or MTH levels of detail, they're fantastic - cheap, easy to work on, great runners. When I can get my hands on a 3d printer, they'll be easy to add interiors to, too :p