Atheran Locomotives

[JeremyB]

HiGuys

Am I the only one that enjoys the sometimes loud growl emmited from Atheran engines,I would rather hear a sound naturally from my engines then spending hundreds of dollars on a sound system.But that's just me I guess, sure I would LOVE to have one of those systems but it's price is just not in my range.love to hear some feedback.

Jeremy

[JeremyB]

HiGuys

Am I the only one that enjoys the sometimes loud growl emmited from Atheran engines,I would rather hear a sound naturally from my engines then spending hundreds of dollars on a sound system.But that's just me I guess, sure I would LOVE to have one of those systems but it's price is just not in my range.love to hear some feedback.

Jeremy

[rambo1]

hey jeremy. remember that athearn engins are just as good as others and make great models with added details and paint.Shop around you can get a sound system from mrc at a good price.....

[rambo1]

hey jeremy. remember that athearn engins are just as good as others and make great models with added details and paint.Shop around you can get a sound system from mrc at a good price.....

[Anonymous]

When I hear someone bash Athearn for being noisy, I remind them that the real thing is NOT quiet! It growls too!

[Anonymous]

When I hear someone bash Athearn for being noisy, I remind them that the real thing is NOT quiet! It growls too!

[Puckdropper]

The motor in my Athearn switcher runs smooth and quiet when I disconnect one set of trucks or the other. To me, this says something mechanical is wrong, and will wind up hurting it eventually.

[Puckdropper]

The motor in my Athearn switcher runs smooth and quiet when I disconnect one set of trucks or the other. To me, this says something mechanical is wrong, and will wind up hurting it eventually.

[AltonFan]

Back when I was in HO, I discovered that in Athearn locomotives, the gears often had bits of flash on them. I used to break down the gear towers, trim the flash, clean and relubricate the gears, and the engines ran much better. I don't recall if it effected the sound though.

[AltonFan]

Back when I was in HO, I discovered that in Athearn locomotives, the gears often had bits of flash on them. I used to break down the gear towers, trim the flash, clean and relubricate the gears, and the engines ran much better. I don't recall if it effected the sound though.

[JeremyB]

rocky451 I agree with you a 100 % I say the exact same thing.

[JeremyB]

rocky451 I agree with you a 100 % I say the exact same thing.

[Anonymous]

I had an interesting problem with an Athearn SW7. It would run perfectly with the body off, but when the body was refitted it would stop, start, and surge in a very odd manner, whatever the controller (Throttle) setting. I eventually figured out it was an intermittent short-circuit caused by, of all things, the long handrails on the sides of the hood - the parts of these that fit into the holes in the hood were touching the pickups. I cured it by removing the handrails and clipping the ends so they don't protude into the inside of the body.

I've just posted this in case anyone else has the same problem. The switcher now runs smoothly.

[Anonymous]

I had an interesting problem with an Athearn SW7. It would run perfectly with the body off, but when the body was refitted it would stop, start, and surge in a very odd manner, whatever the controller (Throttle) setting. I eventually figured out it was an intermittent short-circuit caused by, of all things, the long handrails on the sides of the hood - the parts of these that fit into the holes in the hood were touching the pickups. I cured it by removing the handrails and clipping the ends so they don't protude into the inside of the body.

I've just posted this in case anyone else has the same problem. The switcher now runs smoothly.

[Anonymous]

Have no problem with Athern loco's have a cpl of them will purchase a few more easy to work on and easy to add details noise does not really matter

[Anonymous]

Have no problem with Athern loco's have a cpl of them will purchase a few more easy to work on and easy to add details noise does not really matter

[Javern]

I've purchased several in the MILW colors, and all run fine. I think it's a pain to install decoders in them though.

[Javern]

I've purchased several in the MILW colors, and all run fine. I think it's a pain to install decoders in them though.

[Anonymous]

No, you are not the only one. ALL except one of my active locos are Athearns. My 2 newest locos; a pair of GP38-2s run much smoother, and quieter than my old locos. But I do very much enjoy the natural "growl" of an Athearn loco.[:D][;)]

[Anonymous]

No, you are not the only one. ALL except one of my active locos are Athearns. My 2 newest locos; a pair of GP38-2s run much smoother, and quieter than my old locos. But I do very much enjoy the natural "growl" of an Athearn loco.[:D][;)]

[Anonymous]

Seems to me it wasn't too many years ago that Athearn locos were the defacto choice of MOST hobbyists because of price and reliable operation. I still own and operate all of my "growlers" and still buy them although other builders are making inroads. It's not annoying at all to hear those Athearn units growl down the right-of-way BUT just ordered my first sound equipped loco............If I think a sound decoder can overcome the noise (compliment the noise?) I'll equip my growlers with them. I could get on another subject here but won't. Athearn has given the hobbyist a great product over the years for such a reasonable price. They will always have a warm spot in my memories.

[Anonymous]

Seems to me it wasn't too many years ago that Athearn locos were the defacto choice of MOST hobbyists because of price and reliable operation. I still own and operate all of my "growlers" and still buy them although other builders are making inroads. It's not annoying at all to hear those Athearn units growl down the right-of-way BUT just ordered my first sound equipped loco............If I think a sound decoder can overcome the noise (compliment the noise?) I'll equip my growlers with them. I could get on another subject here but won't. Athearn has given the hobbyist a great product over the years for such a reasonable price. They will always have a warm spot in my memories.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone else had problems with the Athearn AC4400?(Original kit-form, not ready to run). When I took delivery of one recently all the wheelsets were out of gauge - they were all too wide. I had to dismantle each wheelset and file the plastic gears down a little where the stub axles plug into them to allow me to set the wheels to the correct gauge. Is this a common problem or is this a rogue loco? I've had no trouble from my other Athearn locos (apart from the SW7 I mentioned before on this thread), though I would recommend replacing the strip of metal that takes power from the trucks to the top of the motor with some flexible wire soldered in its place - this improves current collection massively.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone else had problems with the Athearn AC4400?(Original kit-form, not ready to run). When I took delivery of one recently all the wheelsets were out of gauge - they were all too wide. I had to dismantle each wheelset and file the plastic gears down a little where the stub axles plug into them to allow me to set the wheels to the correct gauge. Is this a common problem or is this a rogue loco? I've had no trouble from my other Athearn locos (apart from the SW7 I mentioned before on this thread), though I would recommend replacing the strip of metal that takes power from the trucks to the top of the motor with some flexible wire soldered in its place - this improves current collection massively.

[Anonymous]

8 of my 14 locos are Athearn, F7 A's & B's, 3 are superpower. One is very quiet and one is only noisy in reverse, the rest are noisy but nothing like the real thing! They all perform flawlessly and to me that is the most important thing when running them. If you want some real noise, I have an old Tyco 0-8-0 tender drive that did most of my switching until it died. Now that engine was noisy, no matter what I did to it!

[Anonymous]

8 of my 14 locos are Athearn, F7 A's & B's, 3 are superpower. One is very quiet and one is only noisy in reverse, the rest are noisy but nothing like the real thing! They all perform flawlessly and to me that is the most important thing when running them. If you want some real noise, I have an old Tyco 0-8-0 tender drive that did most of my switching until it died. Now that engine was noisy, no matter what I did to it!

[Anonymous]

Athearn has been around for a long time. Any old modeler and a lot of newer ones have had experience with them. They have been known to be a decent and reliable product. You can say what you want about them, but they are dependable. As for the noise, a lot will go away if you put a little toothpaste on the gears. Using this method one must be very careful as the toothpaste can ruin a motor fast and make a mess of other things

[Anonymous]

Athearn has been around for a long time. Any old modeler and a lot of newer ones have had experience with them. They have been known to be a decent and reliable product. You can say what you want about them, but they are dependable. As for the noise, a lot will go away if you put a little toothpaste on the gears. Using this method one must be very careful as the toothpaste can ruin a motor fast and make a mess of other things

[Anonymous]

I started with Athearns. A lot of the guys in my club used to run Athearns, but not too many any more. We are in the process of building a new layout. We are starting with DCC. As a result, most of the old Athearns are being left in the dust. All of my buddies new Atlas locos are DCC equiped already, I have an almost entire Kato fleet (just a few Athearn passenger locos that no one else makes!) that is plug n' play with DCC. I think Athearn can be both good and bad for newbies. All my six alxe Athearns would almost constantly derail on the tighter corners of the layout (22") and that got old fast. They are inexpensive, but they reqire a LOT of work to get them to run well. The Kato's are probably the most expensive (in plastic) but run great right out of the box. They have great detail too. The Life Like/Proto 2000 locos are okay, but they sometimes aren't as reliable as the more expensive locos.

[Anonymous]

I started with Athearns. A lot of the guys in my club used to run Athearns, but not too many any more. We are in the process of building a new layout. We are starting with DCC. As a result, most of the old Athearns are being left in the dust. All of my buddies new Atlas locos are DCC equiped already, I have an almost entire Kato fleet (just a few Athearn passenger locos that no one else makes!) that is plug n' play with DCC. I think Athearn can be both good and bad for newbies. All my six alxe Athearns would almost constantly derail on the tighter corners of the layout (22") and that got old fast. They are inexpensive, but they reqire a LOT of work to get them to run well. The Kato's are probably the most expensive (in plastic) but run great right out of the box. They have great detail too. The Life Like/Proto 2000 locos are okay, but they sometimes aren't as reliable as the more expensive locos.