What steam engine appears on those Athearn Blue Box kits?

[rjake4454]

 

[aloco]

Athearn did have a steam locomotive in production when the artwork was done for those box covers (1960s, maybe?).  It looked like a 4-6-2 Pacific (or was it a 2-8-2 Mikado?) with a USRA type boiler.

An original one is probably junk by today's standards.  The Genesis series Pacifics and Mikes would be the way to go if you want an Athearn steam loco.

[rjake4454]

aloco

Athearn did have a steam locomotive in production when the artwork was done for those box covers (1960s, maybe?).  It looked like a 4-6-2 Pacific (or was it a 2-8-2 Mikado?) with a USRA type boiler.

An original one is probably junk by today's standards.  The Genesis series Pacifics and Mikes would be the way to go if you want an Athearn steam loco.

There are genesis Pacific's out there? I would be interested in getting one. When were these released?

The old Athearn stuff was bad? Shame, it looks so nice on the cover.

[Paul3]

That is a Boston & Maine P-4 Pacific.  One of which still exists and is being restored at Steamtown in Scranton, PA:

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/steamtown/shs2c.htm 

See this ad from the 1960 Athearn Catalog:

http://www.hoseeker.net/AthearnBrochuresAds/Brochure%201960%20pg4.jpg

To date, this has been the only P-4 model ever made in HO scale.  Not even in brass.  However, one was recently announced in brass and will probably be in the $1900 range (the smaller P-3 B&M Pacific was just made by Overland for that much).  The B&M guys cry about it all the time...    Especially when I run my New Haven I-5 Hudson from BLI past them. 

The model wasn't that bad.  It can be made better by adding detail, etc.  Some if not all versions had plastic drivers...all electrical pick-up was in the 8-wheel tender.

Athearn stopped making it when the motor became unavailable.

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

[rjake4454]

Paul3

That is a Boston & Maine P-4 Pacific.  One of which still exists and is being restored at Steamtown in Scranton, PA:

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/steamtown/shs2c.htm 

See this ad from the 1960 Athearn Catalog:

http://www.hoseeker.net/AthearnBrochuresAds/Brochure%201960%20pg4.jpg

To date, this has been the only P-4 model ever made in HO scale.  Not even in brass.  However, one was recently announced in brass and will probably be in the $1900 range (the smaller P-3 B&M Pacific was just made by Overland for that much).  The B&M guys cry about it all the time...    Especially when I run my New Haven I-5 Hudson from BLI past them. 

The model wasn't that bad.  It can be made better by adding detail, etc.  Some if not all versions had plastic drivers...all electrical pick-up was in the 8-wheel tender.

Athearn stopped making it when the motor became unavailable.

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

Awesome, thanks. The engine looks sweet, I wonder where I can find one. As far as the I-5 Hudson, I was going to get one of the last ones at my LHS but somebody beat me to it.

I like the old Athearn stuff, especially in that ad, the train bridge pictured there. I want to make my layout like that, with all the action packed old toy train action but with scale HO models.

[andrechapelon]

The model wasn't that bad.  It can be made better by adding detail, etc.  Some if not all versions had plastic drivers...all electrical pick-up was in the 8-wheel tender.

Later versions had metal drivers and all pickup was in the engine. Split frame, IIRC. I had one in my teens. It hauled 9 Suydam brass passenger cars up a 1% grade with nary a slip. I sold it to a friend of mine while I was in the service. Wouldn't mind having it now.

Occasionally, one shows up on eBay.

Andre

[jeffrey-wimberly]

rjake4454

There are genesis Pacific's out there? I would be interested in getting one. When were these released?

You don't want the Genesis 4-6-2 light pacific. I had one and I know several others who also bought them. They all suffered from cracked drive gears and in many cases the replacement part was also defective. Mine also had issues with the drive rods and the valve gear. I ended up trading it off for a non-op Spectrum K4 that I wanted as a park display.

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

jeffrey-wimberly

They all suffered from cracked drive gears and in many cases the replacement part was also defective.

This is a broad and unfounded statement - "all"?. Genesis Mikados and Pacifics did have gear problems, and because the vendor who built them for Athearn got out of the model business, parts could not be obtained later on. But many people have them who have never had a problem. Far from "all".

These locos do however suffer from being too light to pull very much. I have one Genesis Mike that I completely disassembled and "packed" with weight. It now pulls well, runs very smooth, and still has its "factory" gear. And I had a second which I have since sold, but it too never cracked a gear while I owned it. Imagine that.

And, Athearn is reintroducing the Pacific with a retooled drive from a new vendor - due out any day.

Sheldon

 

[wjstix]

Just to clarify the timeline, at the time Athearn introduced the Genesis 2-8-2 and 4-6-2 (late nineties?)their old steam engine line had been out of production for maybe 30 years or so. By the time I started in the hobby in 1971 they only made diesels.

[dknelson]

I have some recollection that the old Athearn Boston & Maine pacific boiler casting was just slightly larger than 1:87 for reasons having to do with the orginal rubber band drive mechanism, which cannot have been in commercial production for very long. 

Dave Nelson

[climaxpwr]

I wouldnt mind finding one of the metal drivered Pacifics from the 60's.  The cracked driver gear problem is wide spread, I have 4 NKP Mikados from a local modeler that all have split gears.  They will get NWSL replacement gears, that will solve the problem for good, but you have to be able to pull and requarter the driver set when you change out the gear.  They were light weight and poor pullers from the factory.  Samhongsa built the drives for Athearn, so its supprising that they had gear issues.   Mike

[dstarr]

 I found one on E-bay last summer.  A little beat up, missing the pilot other front end parts.  The plastic driver, power pickup in the tender model.  It is currently on my rip track awaiting a rebuild.

 

[twhite]

I had two of the P-4's when they were made way back when--early 'sixties.  One of them was the tender-drive, and the other was the metal-wheeled loco drive.  They were actually pretty good runners for their time and hauled pretty well.   Unfortunately, when I had them in Texas, they were damaged beyond repair being shipped back to California when I got out of the service. 

Too bad, too.  I'd probably still have them (sigh).  They were rather nicely detailed for their time. 

Tom

[wjstix]

IIRC for many years the Athearn box had a painting of a New York Central Hudson going along the Hudson river, taken from a c.1930 New York Central calendar painting. On a quick search couldn't find the painting but I'm sure it's online somewhere. It's been reproduced in several books about the NYC.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

This is a broad and unfounded statement - "all"?. Genesis Mikados and Pacifics did have gear problems, and because the vendor who built them for Athearn got out of the model business, parts could not be obtained later on. But many people have them who have never had a problem. Far from "all".

Wrong terminology. I had meant to say that the one I had and the ones my freinds had all had the same problem. The main drive gear was cracked and the replacements that were sent were also cracked. It too almost a year to get a good replacement gear.

[steemtrayn]

Paul3

To date, this has been the only P-4 model ever made in HO scale.  Not even in brass.  However, one was recently announced in brass and will probably be in the $1900 range (the smaller P-3 B&M Pacific was just made by Overland for that much).  The B&M guys cry about it all the time...    Especially when I run my New Haven I-5 Hudson from BLI past them. 

http://www.modeltrains.com/WEB%20-%20CMT/Division%20Point/division-point-boston&maine.htm