Athearn RTR F7 units

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know if these units are DCC Ready or not? I'm thinking of buying the ACL A+B set. Does $50 for the set sound about right?
I'd much rather buy the LifeLike Proto 2k version of the E6A+B but I can't find the version from '99 and can't afford the version coming out this fall. I also can't afford the F3A+B Athearn Genesis locos either. Anyone know where I might find one for under $100? I constantly check Ebay, but they don't seem to be popping up very often (watching one now though).

[CP5415]

Where are my CP units!!!!!

Gordon

[BRAKIE]

Chewie,Sadly it doesn't state anything about these units being DCC ready on the Athearn web page..I suspect they are just supped up Blue Box locomotives with side glass added and MAYBE uses the new drive shaft....$50.00? I would have to look closely at these units before I can give you a realistic answer..A powered A unit and Dummy B unit-no,I would need to inspect these units first before I would shell out $50.00..MSRP of $64.98(NYC) and $69.98 for the other current road names..Shrugs.

[Anonymous]

I have found that if the box doesn't say "DCC Ready" they're not. I recently bought the SD-50 in the RTR line and the says DCC ready. After I pulled off the shell to install a decoder, I was surprised to find the old Athearn drive with a Genesis circuit board. So without seeing the engine up close, I would guess that it has the standard Athearn drive line with glass added as Brakie said is what you are going to get. I would say $50 is way to much for this set.

Have you looked at the Proto 1000 set? You will get a much better drive line set-up with an easier DCC conversion.

[Don Gibson]

50 year old Athearn shells , better motor(.5 amps vs. old 1 amp), with better paint jobs, inaccurate FP-7 boiler vents on A units. In short, a 'Starter Set'.

BETTER: Stewart F's , Good shells (with superior drive)
BETTER : Intermountain F's (with 'see through' grills and superior drive)
BETTER: Genesis F's with best paint job, shell's and directional lighting.

Cost more? - yep.. DCC ready? - nope. (Possibly on future releases - for more money).

When I bought my Athearn F's - they were the only act in town.

[Anonymous]

I have a pair of LL Proto 1000 F-3A's that run and look better than Athearn. I think you can still find them for $30 at Trainland. They are not DCC ready but it is simple to wire in a decoder.

[Anonymous]

See my problem is that I want a loco in ACL purple and silver, and it's just so hard to find. I can find the SD35's and ones like that, but I like the looks of the F's, E's, etc. I would paint my own, but I haven't ventured into that yet. Don't even own an airbrush. Maybe I'll just get an air brush and practice on my 2 dead OLD locos and go from there.

[Anonymous]

Thay're not bad. But they do lack detail (Walthers makes a decent superdetail kit). These are not DCC ready, they just have the upgraded BlueBox drive (Hex-shafts instead of dogbones). Digitrax does make a fairly easy to install decoder though. The other big issue is the light, it's the typical athearn BB light, rather than an actual headlight installation.

If possible, go with a Stewart or Intermountain F unit instead, they're cheaper than the Genesis, and better than the RTR.

The Steam Generator vents aren't necessarily inaccurate, some F7's did indeed have them, although FP7's were more common for passenger service.

[Don Gibson]

Originally posted by mykroft
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The Steam Generator vents aren't necessarily inaccurate, some F7's did indeed have them.

Educate me: My understanding was:

FT's, and their offspring (F3's, and F7's) were designed as freight units. The space alloted for a cab in the A's could be used for boilers in the B's .The FP7(A)'s were longer just so they could include the Steam boiler.

Don Gibson .............. ________ _______ I I__()____||__| ||||| I / I ((|__|----------| | |||||||||| I ______ I // o--O O O O-----o o OO-------OO ###########################

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