Originally posted by mykroft [br 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 ########################### Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 4:27 PM 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. Reply Edit Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 2:59 PM 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. Reply Edit Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 12:59 PM 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. Reply Edit Don Gibson Member sinceJune 2004 From: Pacific Northwest 3,864 posts Posted by Don Gibson on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 12:34 PM 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. Don Gibson .............. ________ _______ I I__()____||__| ||||| I / I ((|__|----------| | |||||||||| I ______ I // o--O O O O-----o o OO-------OO ########################### Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 12:30 PM 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. Reply Edit BRAKIE Member sinceOctober 2001 From: OH 17,574 posts Posted by BRAKIE on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 10:56 AM 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. Larry Conductor. Summerset Ry. "Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!" Reply CP5415 Member sinceJuly 2003 From: Whitby, ON 2,594 posts Posted by CP5415 on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 8:38 AM Where are my CP units!!!!! Gordon Brought to you by the letters C.P.R. as well as D&H! K1a - all the way Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Athearn RTR F7 units Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 8:28 AM 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). Reply Edit Subscriber & Member Login Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more! 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Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Brought to you by the letters C.P.R. as well as D&H!
K1a - all the way