Athearn BB Locos: Coffee Grinders?

[Anonymous]

A lot of people tell me that Athearn Blue Box locomotives grind like coffee grinders and chainsaw. Yet I just got an Athearn BB FP45 and it runs even quieter than my P2K SD7 (it just kind of hums). So, what's the deal?[?][?][?][:0]

[ericsp]

Exaggeration? Athearns make noise, but not near as much as I would have thought if I started coming to this forum before I bought Athearn Blue Box locomotives.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, people seem to bash athearn blue box engines because they dont cost $200 plus. Im very happy with all of mine though. I remotored an athearn GP38-2 and added some wieght and it pulls more now than my spectrum 6 axle units. Detail isnt quite as good but they run fine.

[PennsyHoosier]

My Athearn BBs are okay. Not as quiet as my Katos, but there are others that are worse.

[jdolan]

I have some Athearn BB's that I bought in the 1960's And they work fine. Less to go wrong with them.

[willy6]

All of my Athearn BB Locos don't make coffee, but they seem to run forever.

[Anonymous]

It is my opinion that everyone who bashes Athearn locos for their poor running quality are those who have enugh money that the term budget is not in their vocabulary. 2/3s of my fleet is Athearn and I am proud of it. Yes they are a little tricky installing decoders in, but I manage and if anyone comments about the nois they make. I just reply "Hey! I paid 200 bucks for that sound decoder!"

Im my opinion, Athearn's are the Fords of model train locomotives, Delux models like Atlas, Stewart, BLI, are nice. But they are priced extreamly high. Modelers like me, (Who is in college and has limited finances.) need to make their purchases of such models extreamly carefully. Plus there is the fun in taking an Athearn unit and detailing it all out to look like the Atlas or BLI. It is modeling liket hat that I am in the hobby. And lately I am finding that that enjoyment is being taken away.

Well I have ranted on eneugh,

James

[dharmon]

My opinion of Athearn BBs is similiar to James'. While they may not be as detailed as many of the new offerings, they are dependable, easy to work with and pretty tough. I acheive much my my hobby enjoyment from working on models...paint, details and occasionally remotering. Can I afford Atlas or Kato or Athearn Genesis/RTR...sure, but.....1) For the price, it needs to be exactly the model in the road name and paint I'm looking for, because 2) Over 50% of my locos are in a freelance scheme which would require me to break it down to paint and reapply details and such, which brings us back to the first point, and 3) many of the others are an eclectic bunch that required me to paint them anyway...again back to the first point.

There are many folks out there that look for flaws...the hood is 6 inches too wide, or the incorrect fans for the period of this paint scheme or the grab irons are 19 inches instead of the correct 17 inches.....and they are going to complain no matter what. And there are others that are bonafide Athearn haters, for whatever reason. I try to look for the positives in a model, and what I can do with if it.......after all it is a hobby and what matters is your personal enjoyment.

In short, I enjoy taking an old BB and making something that PLEASES ME. .....growl .. schmowl

[Anonymous]

[#ditto] dharmon, the rivet counters dont seem to like athearns too much[:P]

[ericsp]

Six scale inches is 0.06897 real inches (approximately 1/16"). That means the hood only extends about 1/32" too far on each side. Look at a ruler. That is negligible to me. For those of you who think this is horrible, I would like to point out that the prime mover is not a diesel engine and the locomotive is made from a different material than the real ones.

[Jetrock]

Personally I PREFER a loud locomotive, at least in a diesel: ever stood next to one of those things when they're working? They're LOUD! At least to me, the growl of the gearing and electrics, amplified by my mounted-directly-on-MDF trackwork, gives me just the mildest hint of the growl of a real diesel. My electrics should be quiet as the grave, but that's another story...

[Anonymous]

The Athearn BB loco has always been, to my way of thinking, the model railroad equivalent of the Remington model 1100 shotgun.

They're not the most expensive, but they certainly get the job done, and you can trick them out as much as you like. They're both easy to disassemble and work on, even in the field, and many of the parts are interchangable with those of similar models. And as long as you give them a good cleaning once in a while, they'll work forever.

[ndbprr]

Anybody who complains about Athearn engines being noisy has never owned an Alco Models brass engine. My two P5a electrics will stop conversation they are so loud. the drive consists a fiber gear on each axle and at least four gears between axles mounted on posts on the frame. Then there is another gear on one of the axles for the motor screw to engage. Everybody whon has run them refers to them as "the grinders".

[Anonymous]

I have a thread going on in the layout building forum that might be appropriate here. I'm having some kind of electrical problem on my layout that causes my P2K, Spectrum, and Atlas locomotives to balk and stall on turnouts. My Athearn uints, however, roll right though every turnout on the railroad with no hesitation whatsoever. I have NO RESERVATIONS about using the Blue Box line. They run just fine and are great fodder for a detailing project or two.

Please do not reply here about my electical problem. That would be off topic. See the layout building forum if you want to help out.

[trolleyboy]

[soapbox]] my thoughts on athearn blue box are pretty much the same as everyone else they do get the job done and a couple of bucks worth of detail parts will make them look as good as anything else out there.In the last couple of years athearn has made a real atempt at "fixing"everybody's main problems the details are better the motors have been improved and the price has not risen significantly so I say buy them use them enjoy them here endeth the rant! On a happier note it's your layout run what you want the rivet counters certainly do. trolleyboy

[Anonymous]

I've found that Athearn locos are a little variable. I have some that make an appalling racket, vibrate like crazy and won't run too well at low speed, and also some that are superb - best of these being the SD9 that I bought as my first HO scale loco, closely followed by an SD40-2 and SD40T-2 (both of these have their newer single-piece driveshafts which do seem to reduce the vibration a lot). It would seem that asking if they can do a test-run in the store before buying is a good idea, to ensure you're getting a good one. There are tricks you can use to improve them such as using toothpaste to bed the gears in, and cleaning the motor commutator seems to help too. A good Athearn is a solid, reliable performer that makes a good basis for further detailing. I think they will need to improve the product in future however - Bachmann's standard-range diesels are quieter runners, very smooth, and would be as good as Proto chassis if they had flywheels (figuring out how to fit these to my three), and are around half the price. The drive systems should have a decent lifespan if properly maintained as well.

[Anonymous]

Could it be that some BB's are noisier than others? My FP45 was made in 1995. I wonder if how old they are has something to do with it.

[mustanggt]

They might make a slight mechanical-sounding purr, but for the price, they are a good value. I own 10 or so and they all run good. the only bad thing is the lack of directional lighting, but with dcc, I could always add that.

[BRAKIE]

As I mention before a lot of that BB noise is shell chatter..Adding stick on weight to the inside top of the shell quiets this done..
The Athearn is still the Timex of locomotives..They can take a beating and keep on running.The truth is the more you run these locomotives the better they get.
So if you want a trouble free locomotive that will last for years to come then the BB locomotives is still the best buy in town..The newer Athearn RTR locomotives are great locomotives as well..
As for those that dislike the BB units..Is it because a detail Athearn GP38-2 looks just as good as the $140.00 P2K GP38-2? [:D] Or is it because Athearn locomotives can take their rightful place among the best?

[Anonymous]

Just depends on which one you got. If you got lucky, you got the quiet one, if not, your's will sound like a coffee grinder. I have a pair bought at the same time, and F7A, and an F7B. The B unit runs smoothe and quiet and stays on the track like an Atlas. The A unit sounds like a chainsaw, or a Honda Civic, and the B unit sounds like a TV on mute. Athearn's are like a box of chocolates, you never know whatcha gonna get.

Greg

[BRAKIE]

Greg,Give me 15-20 minutes with that F7A and I will have it running whisper quiet and changing nothing except adding a little stick on weight and fine turning.

Happy Christmas!

[CP5415]

Not in my opinion they arn't

I have over thirty of these things & I love the growl!
I had 3 SD40-2's lashed together on my freinds former club layout & the sound they made was incredible.
You can always tell when an Athearn BB isn't up to snuff when you can't hear them.
I find with quieter locomotives I have to keep an eye on them, especially when going through tunnels.

Gordon

[fec153]

Naah! Just ran my GP-60 NS and it sounds like my electric can opener.
Flip

[Don Gibson]

NO ATHEARN Blue Box Engines hAVE ever 'gound coffee' - but ...

their motors were cheap - pulled excessive current - vibrated - and wouldn't fit narrower bodied diesels . (GP-7, SD-45's) so Uncle Irv mofified the bodies until he found another motor for his newer 'road' diesels.

Over many years and gradually, Athearn has 'improved' their motors fom 1 amp, to 3/4 amp, to1/2 amp each - but those without a meter wouldn't know it - and the current run of CF-7's run nicely...HOWEVER ... most of the 'blue boxes in use out there are the old motors.

Those old motors lashed up CAN heat up the newer solid state throttles and shorten their life. Two 3/4 amp units X 12 vots =18VA and 3 = 24VA, and assumes you dont have any thing else hooked up..

Athearn's overlook detail, correct dimensions, and quality control from prouct to product, but are low cost. So?.....


BRAKIE: Adding a weight to the shell doesn't reduce the vibration from the motor - just changes the cavity resonant frequency. The motor is the problem.

[Anonymous]

It definitely varies from loco to loco...

My GP60 is as quiet as a mouse, smooth, with great slow performance. My AC4400 is much noisier. All its noise comes from the motor, too. When I put my GP60's motor into the AC4400 it is silent.

Then again, the GP60 is on its second motor. Maybe the ones from the LHS (can't remember if they're Athearn or identical motors from somewhere else) are quieter...

[Anonymous]

I have two athreans blue boxes, and they are quiet and my favorite locomotives. one of mine used to really make a lot of noise, but then i took off the shell, put it back on and it ran quietly.

[Don Gibson]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jwaldo

It definitely varies from loco to loco...

My GP60 is as quiet as a mouse, smooth, with great slow performance. My AC4400 is much noisier. All its noise comes from the motor, too. When I put my GP60's motor into the AC4400 it is silent.

Then again, the GP60 is on its second motor. Maybe the ones from the LHS (can't remember if they're Athearn or identical motors from somewhere else) are quieter...

I HEARTEDLY recommend the Mashima motor for replacimg Athearn's - quieter and use only 1/4 amp each. Older Athearn's used 3/4 amp - 1 amp each. See A Line.

Added bonus is more realistic speed. Downside is it will spoil you.

[Sunset Limited]

I agree. Athearn BB's are great! Affordable, reliable, basic. That's the beauty on these things. You can add details which will rival any $200 dollar train. 40% of my rolling stock is mainly Athearn Blue Boxes. Some I did purchased and ran awfull, but I like to take them apart and fixed them up. They do make some noise, but I have no complaints. As long as they can pull and perform!

[BRAKIE]

Welcome back Don..Hope you are feeling better.[:D]
About the moter..As you know one thing to check is to be sure its completely seated..I am yet to change out motors on a Athearn BB locomotive as I found NO real need to..
Happy Christmas.[:D]

[Anonymous]

i have a good number of athearns and i have found that some are quieter than others, but with a small clean up and re greesing they will all run very smoothly. i have athearns from 1965 that still run like new. they are honely great engines. mechanicaly they all share parts so once you can fix one you can fix them all. and parts can be gotton from 1 to use in another. mind there are some parts that vary engine to engine but the majority of drive system parts are the same. detail wise they are not always the best... but they still look good. and they are not that hard to modify. me and my little borother are currently working on several projects with athearn GP7s, makeing one into a UP GP9B and antoher into a SP torpeido boat.

honelsy if ya want an engine thats gonna last these will do the job and then some