Walthers WILL carry Athearn!

[Anonymous]

Noted the following post on the newsgroup rec.models.railroad:

"Found this in newly announced locomotives:
140 - Athearn Inc

99176 Diesel AMD-103 Powered - Walthers Exclusive Model -- Amtrak(R) #7 (High Stripe) HO 86.98

99177 Diesel AMD-103 Powered - Walthers Exclusive Model -- Amtrak(R) #47 (High Stripe) HO 86.98

So much for Walthers not carrying Athearn anymore; they can obviously get
it!"

I checked the numbers and they do show up on the Walthers web site!

Bob Boudreau

[dinwitty]

Walther's exclusive? Didnt I just read they will continue their BB's, but that isnt going into walthers?

The Walthers catalogue is great for researching, but online has been pretty good as well, but I tend to go back and forth between book and Inet.

Walthers has been a great base for modeling research. I just hope Horizon doesnt get so "Proprieterized" on Athearn, or you lose customership.

[jsoderq]

This was a license deal before the Horizon takeover and because of the license Horizon cannot do this scheme until the license expires.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, but I moved past Athearn BB's 50 years ago so I don't care weather Walthers carries them or not.

Bob

[cacole]

The fact that Walthers had some Athearn products in the pipeline as their "exclusive" products before Horizon Hobbies bought Athearn, doesn't mean that Walthers will put Athearn and MDC back into their catalog. Horizon Hobbies is still a Walthers competitor and I don't think Walthers is going to even mention Athearn after these limited run products are sold.

[oleirish]

You know some of us old guys are on fixed income and can't afford the"BIG PRICE" HO stuff,My roster is 20 years old and most are B.B.ATHEARN,so this is good news for me[:(!]I just bought a KATO SW-7and a roundhouse two truck shay kit from E-BAY[:P]Maybe some day I can leave "B.B."[sigh]alone.

OLE'IRISH

[Anonymous]

Ohh man I want to get one of these when they do come out.. I already have Amtrak 163, 184, and 207 in phase V... it would be nice to have an addition.

[csmith9474]

Long live the BB!!!!!!! Athearn has brought a lot of folks into the hobby with the BB, including myself. I would hate to se them go.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Bob (TEFFY), Walthers knew what they were dropping when they said no to Athearn.

[Paul3]

Well, for starters, Walthers has the exclusive rights to all later Amtrak paint schemes (if you look at even Overland brass boxes for late Amtrak schemes, they have "Copyright Walthers" on them). So for Athearn to make AMD103's in Phase V or Phase VI Amtrak paint, they'd have to get permission from Walthers. It's not a stretch to imagine that in order to get that permission, that Horizon/Athearn had to agree to let Walthers sell these locos, and only these locos.

Secondly, BB isn't going anywhere, it just isn't sold by anyone other than Horizon.

Thirdly, Walthers didn't drop Athearn. Horizon/Athearn dropped Walthers.

Paul A. Cutler III
*****************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*****************

[BRAKIE]

Indeed Athearn still remains the backbone of the hobby for the more average modeler as well as new comers regardless of what Athearn bashers and ill wishers may say.Proof? Just look at the new products.Athearn is not going away.I really don't think Horizon will let Walther's become a distributor.I do think some locomotives will be farmed out to Walthers such as the AMD-103.

[Anonymous]

As Paul said, Walthers "owns" the AMTRAK Phase V scheme - for Athearn (or any one else) to make the model, they need Walthers permission. So the only Athearns you will see in the Walthers listings are these ones.

I think Horizon made a major mistake by dropping Walthers, but they think they can do better (one look at the "new and improved" Athearn website shows they can't!).

Atheran is ok ... I've got 13 locos by them (counting 2 Genesis), but I like P2K, Kato and especially Atlas better for their detail, drives, and ease of DCC conversion, although newer Atheans (RTR and Genesis) are better in this regard. But BB just doesn't do it for me anymore. That's why my Athearn fleet is not likely to grow, but Atlas has taken over as the leader in my fleet (of 51). My new Atlas Dash 8-40BW is superb!!!

That's not "bashing" folks, just a statement of what I want and like in a model loco. Your tastes may vary !!!

But (to return to the topic!) don't count on buying non-AMTRAK Athearn locos from Walthers - it isn't going to happen.

BTW - Welcome back, Larry !!!
Hope you continue to improve !!!!!!!!

[mondotrains]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TEFFY

I'm sorry, but I moved past Athearn BB's 50 years ago so I don't care weather Walthers carries them or not.

Bob

Why is it that some guys like you have to try to ruin this hobby for others. Don't you realize that a lot of beginners, as well as experienced modelers, are still enjoying their blue-box kits. Why do you find it necessary to slam them by saying that you "moved past Athearn BB's 50 years ago"? Are you that much better than anyone else for the move? I also have to wonder if you're having more fun with whatever you graduated to. My guess is that you're probably not, considering your need to write this negative comment.

Mondo

[Paul3]

Oh, c'mon, Mondo. Athearn BB, as great as it is for beginners and operators alike, are not "fine scale models" of any stripe. It's not a "bash" or ruinination for others to say that one has "moved beyond BB". I haven't, as I still have a couple hundred Athearn BB's on my layout, but I'm not ticked off that someone else has gone to a higher standard.

BB's have some real compromises in scale in order to operate on tight radius curves, to withstand rough treatment, and to be able to be manufacturered cheaply. They are what they are. Like it or not, they are not the best models WRT detail and fidelity.

It's no more insulting to say that one has moved beyond VHS and gone to DVD. Sure, VHS is cheaper and will still do the job, but it doesn't have all the "gee-whiz" features that DVD's do. Same goes for Athearn BB vs. the state-of-the-art models like Atlas, Genesis, and P2K.

Paul A. Cutler III
*****************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*****************

[AntonioFP45]

Good to know that BBs will be around.

These have been the traditional "stepping stone" that many modelers have used when crossing over from the "toy sets" to model railroading. Decades back the Athearn BlueBox HO loco was bascially the "backbone" in the loco market of the hobby.

Today, the number of HO and N scale locomotive choices (inspite of limited runs) is far greater than it was in the 1970s. So it may be hard for guys in my age group (40+) to think of Athearn as still being the backbone of the hobby, especially since P1K and P2K units that were "overproduced" are available at Athearn BB prices. But I would agree 100% that Athearn Blue Box locos are still an important option as far as rugged, affordable locomotives go.

As for the Walthers view:

I absolutely enjoy looking through my Walthers catalog. Nearly 100% of the model railroad products that I've purchased since 1977 were found in the Walthers catalog over the years. I have yet to see a Horizon catalog at an LHS. Yet, every LHS I've visited has a "Counter Copy" of the WC available for browsing!

I've read opinions that the Horizon buyout of Athearn was a good thing. Perhaps it was, however, Athearn and MDC not being in the Walther's Catalog may not be so helpful as this is one of the first books a typical hobbyshop dealer will show a newbie customer interested in higher quality locomotives.

[Anonymous]

Is it guarenteed that walthers will be selling these locos?

[Anonymous]

Yes. They are listed on the Walthers web site, and due 30 Sept 05:

http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?quick=ATHEARN+AMTRAK

[ksax73]

Well I have adjusted my finances so that I can pick up both locos granted that I can find them at a reasonable discount.

I wonder if these two locos will have updated features like Athearn's most recent run of AMD-103s.

I agree with some of you who are speculating that this latest run of AMD-103s may be surplus stock left over from the last production run but who knows. Athearn/Horizon has to get some sort of kickback for the use of their shells and chassis and if that's true, this could possibly continue as this model is a money maker. Athearn may not get as much as Walthers but it would probably be in Athearn/Horizon's best interest to continue to work out a deal with Walthers to produce these locomotives.