QUOTE: Originally posted by LGBF7 I I remember the waiting to see if Highliners would do the A unit that never happened. As for the ATSF warbonnet being done correctly, from my digital photos of the real unit in CA and the model here in front of me, its the closest I have seen, almost perfect in my opinion. I just hope they reissue the Monon F3's with sound soon!! Cheers Mike
QUOTE: Originally posted by wjstix Right, it's still undecorated. Athearn uses Highliner bodies for their Genesis series of F units. They only offer them as decorated models - you can't buy them as RTR undec, nor can U buy the decorated bodies separately. Highliner only sells undec kits for A or B F units, they don't make assembled/painted ones.[:(] BTW is this kinda you're looking for?? I guess this an F7 but it's close anyway. (Should be possible to change a few details to make it an F9.) http://cgi.ebay.com/Highliner-F7A-D-RGW_W0QQitemZ6030573529QQcategoryZ484QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem This guy is also selling a DRGW decorated B-unit....[:)]
QUOTE: Originally posted by wjstix BTW if you search thru the Walthers website, you'll see (if they're in stock) you can order the A and B bodies with all the detail parts included to made any F2-F9 engine, the link/pics above are to the shells alone.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul3Don, How can you say Lubliner (owner of Highliner) is indifferent and short of performance? What examples can you bring forth of his behavior?
QUOTE: And, "Neither Highliner nor Athearn sell decorated shells." ??? Surely, you must have mis-typed because Athearn's been almost releasing a new painted Genesis F-unit every month for the last year or so. Highliner only sells undec.'s, Athearn only sells painted units.
QUOTE: IM's "excellent" shells are not as good as the Highliner shell, sorry. It's been said that the Highliner shell is the most accurate HO F-unit ever made in any medium...including brass.
QUOTE: And last I checked, Athearn's "chrome" looks more like stainless steel than IM's paint does
QUOTE: As far as IM having a "superior" drive...IMHO, Kato's F-unit drive under the Stewart F's are the best, Athearn second, IM third.
QUOTE: Also, for those with DCC, you don't need Richmond Control's circuit, just use a DH163 or simular decoder that can handle special lighting effects.
QUOTE: Finally, your "more show than go" comment... What's amusing is that Genesis SD70's are the current long distance champions at Chicago's giant layout having gone farther than any other loco they've tried before failure. -Paul A. Cutler III. *****************
QUOTE: Originally posted by bangert1 QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove I did not know that Genesis F9 is a Highliner shell on an Athearn chassis and drive, interesting... So the best thing must be to use a Stewart chassis and drive with a Highliner body? Then I get a superb running loco and good looking too. Have someone tried that? I purchased about twenty Highliner shells when they were first available about fifteen years or so ago. Only the B units were available from Highliner until Athearn came along, but I mounted them on Stewart drives by Kato. They are the best of both worlds and just continue to run. You can use the Proto 1000 drive units also, but you have to work on the close coupling details to use them. The Proto 1000 drives are great runners and deserve a lot of respect, but the shells are very dated and not current. The great thing about these is they were blowing them out for twenty bucks only last year. When Athearn came along and purchased the rights to market the A and B units, I was excited about the project until I started to run some of them. The first Athearn drive units were poor at best and some were so erratic, I replaced those with Kato drives. I soon learned and complained to Athearn about the problems and they always offered to fix them if I would send them in. I always refused and started replacing the out of round wheels and gear sets with the Kato wheel sets. This actually fixed most of the erratic running qualities of the first year Athearn units. They have since upgraded the wheel sets and gears and advertised that they upgraded the drive train on the F units. I do own some of the latest ones, read last year, and they do run better without too many problems. The fact remains that the Highliner shells are probably the best in the market today and have set standards that few other can meet. My Overland and Oriental F units certainly take a back seat overall to the Genesis looks. The Intermountain shells are great also, but one cut below the Athearn shells. The Genesis line does have the stainless plating for the units that require that look and it is as good as it gets. The Intermountain drive is excellent and they should get credit for their efforts also. I keep wondering, how many more F units can we stand with BLI now bringing in a complete set of F7's and I believe they will do F3's also. Maybe Lionel will come back into the HO market and finally build an F unit. Sorry about that comment. There must be an unwritten rule that you must make an F unit to be known!!
QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove I did not know that Genesis F9 is a Highliner shell on an Athearn chassis and drive, interesting... So the best thing must be to use a Stewart chassis and drive with a Highliner body? Then I get a superb running loco and good looking too. Have someone tried that?
QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul3 How can you say Lubliner (owner of Highliner) is indifferent and short of performance? What examples can you bring forth of his behavior?
QUOTE: Originally posed by Don Gibson If you want a painted shell's or kit's, you'll have to go to Intermountain which has excellent shell's.
QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove So the best thing must be to use a Stewart chassis and drive with a Highliner body? Then I get a superb running loco and good looking too. Have someone tried that?
QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove Can someone please explain what Highliner means.
QUOTE: How does it differ from a Athearn Genesis F9 or a Stewart F9 body?