Athearn blue box locomotives

[Anonymous]

For me the Athearn BB was a fair exchange of value. I got the R-T-R BN 38-2 Pride a couple of weeks ago and the BN F7A F7B set today. For me the jury is still out. The paint detail is better but it still needs NWSL or Jay-Bee wheel sets, Accurate lighting and a handful of Cannon, Detail Associates, Detail West and Smokey Valley bits to get the look right. The guts still need the typical tune-up of darkening the steel on the power trucks, the weight needs to be painted. To me the BB had a $20 advantage.

[hd8091]

while cleaning my train room today, i took all my old BB's out and they ran just fine except the rubber band drive one [needed new band & could be lubed] .run well and last forever..12 of them

[darth9x9]

I have quite a few of them. The best thing about them is their built-in sound units! They sound great when growling around a curve.... Kato and Atlas can't touch 'em.

[Don Gibson]

I started with Athearn B/B's , learned how to solder the rails together, and after that remotored and added directional lights, which makes a big difference.

The newer RTR products are updated BB or RPP and a big improvement., and I enjoy these too.

But ... I wonder how many of those "in love' with BB would remain "in love" if there were a cheaper product out there???

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cacole

Re-gearing? I tried that with an Ernst Manufacturing regearing kit for an Athearn 6-axle diesel and it runs worse than before. The regearing kit slows the locomotive down to a crawl, because it now has a 30:1 gear ratio, but the new gears make a terrible grinding noise.

Hmmm....I have two SWs that I regeared and they run great. They're also remotored, but that was due to issues that occured in storage.


As to the original question....the vast majority of my inventory is Athearn BBs. Most painted and detailed for my roadname. Some are remotored, some original. I've had no problems with them and DCC. I like them because I enjoy rebuilding, detailing, painting, etc...and they provide an excellent starting point. Don't get me wrong, I really like the Atlas and others, but I'm going to pay that much, it needs to be exactly as I want it and I haven't found many that meet my needs.

[easyaces]

I have quite a few Athern loco's. Most all work really well. [:D] For the money I spent on them, they have been pretty reliable.

[philnrunt]

I read all the time about Kato, P2K and Atlas running so quietly (My P2K and Atlas sure do) but to be honest, I always liked the growl of the BB's. I even built a whole section without roadbed so the sound would be amplified. It's like getting a sound system, gratis.
As for prototype locos, the louder the better. Guess thats why I like Alcos sooooo much.

[Anonymous]

Most of my fleet is made up of BB locos - I have around 15-20, taking both powered and dummy examples. They are, on the whole, decent locos. The SD9 which was my first US loco is a better slow runner than my P1K locos, and there are a few others like it - the newer SD40-2s and SD40T-2s with single-piece driveshafts are excellent. Sad to say, stocks of these old warhorses seem to be drying up over here - my LHS only has a few SD40-2s left, the rest is all RTR.

[BRAKIE]

As far as the Blue Box locomotives I am sure we will see some of them appear as RTR units over time..Athearn has already started doing just that with some of the RTR cars that was offered in the blue box kit line..So,in a sense the BB cars have not gone away but,appearing as a RTR car..This applies to some of the locomotives such as the GP38-2s.I believe the GP40-2 will follow as well as the Sd40-2( the newer versions) SW1500 and SW1000.I also fully believe that the wide bodies will be phase out over time to be replace with newer locomotives..

[Anonymous]

I have 1, a GP-35 painted in Chessie. That one engine is responsible for me getting totally hooked on this hobby after a 26 year absence. I have a similar experience to sparkbolt, first train set was an AHM with a Monon RS-3, used it until it couldn't run anymore. Fast forward 26 years later and I came across a hobby shop. Stopped in, and the clerk showed me the GP-35. The quality blew me away that day. I to used to watch it with the shell off.

Since the purchase of that one and only Athearn I've since bought Atlas, P2K, Kato, etc.

I'll always keep it as a reminder, great engine, and it only took 1 to get me hooked.

[CP5415]

Sad but true, the Athearn BB locomotives are a dying breed.
Yes they don't have the quietest drives & yes the detailing isn't what it could be but for the price, WHO CARES! [:)]
As with many modelers before me, I plan on having fun & detailing mine as I continue with the hobby.
Fortunately enough, my LHS still has faith in them & still stocks what he can find through his suppliers.
He always has at least 30 of them in stock. At least for the time being.
I still have faith in them & as I said before, I still plan on buying some when I get a chance.

Gordon

[Anonymous]

Regardless of if you like them or not, ...

(and it seems to me from what I'm reading that OLDER MRRers like them better than NEWER MRRers - I personally think they have been out dated by better detail and drives. I don't buy them anymore, and would gladly replace the handful I have if Atlas, P2K or Kato would make that model loco!)

... they seem to be "drying up" in this area.

Only a few (and I mean less than five!) can be found in my LHS. And they don't seem to be planning on getting more - their sales are in Athearn RTRs, Genesis, Stewarts, Atlas, and mostly P2Ks. There is little demand for BBs.

At the rate they are vanishing, soon they will not be an option for those who DO want them.

But I don't care - I've got two Atlas GP7s, an SD24 and a Dash 8-40C on order with state-of-the-art detail and drive systems !!!

And I just got P2K's great looking and running GP38-2, and another Kato SD40 with it's smoooooth drive !

So .... Athearn BB who ???????

[sparkingbolt]

In the mid '70's I entered the hobby uninformed with aTyco train set, The original F7 self destructed in the usual short order, as did the tyco UB something that replaced it.

Then, in a hobby shop I was shown an Athearn GP35, It's motor and flywheels, bronze bearings, I thought it was exotic! When I asked how much, the guy said sixteen bucks. I thought he said sixty, which would be understandable for such a fine peice of machinery. No, sixTEEN. Bought it on the spot. I used to run it sometimes with the shell off to watch the motor and flywheels.

Had it for 21 years till I lost it in a fire. Well, I guess that was at least a decent burial cuz it had endured a lot of teenage misuse, abuse, crude modification and experimentation. Was in rough shape but it RAN! Oh well.

So just the other day I thought, despite the great looks and performance of the P2Ks I'm running now, I kinda miss that old familiar growl and the looks of the ol' wide GP35 so I picked one up on eBay. Not that it's the only BB deisel I have, I have a couple BB F7s but I just wanted the geep. Can't wait to run it.

Athearn is like my ol' 66 Chevy 3/4 ton. Ya don't hafta make 'scuses to luv 'em. Any one who has 'em knows. Dan

[philnrunt]

They are like old Jeep CJ's, not flashy, not loaded with bells and whistles, but real reliable and easy to repair when the rare breakdown does occur.
My love and loyalty for Athearn BB's run deep.

[wd45]

That's what most of my roster is. Most are 10 to 20 years old, and still running.

[Anonymous]

I am a big fan of athearn. I have about 50 of them, mostly SD40T-2, SD40-2 & GP60. They are great performers with little modification. And I also belive they run better as time goes on.
I add a few detail parts that make a big differance:
1. if the casting has dimples where the grab irons go, I add grab irons(ladders,ect.)
2. If applicable I add a snowplow (usually is as I model SP mostly)
3. air hoses and MU cables
4. Renumber if nessasary to avoid conflicts (I have lots of the same units)
5. add decals in the number boards for that unit number
6. add windshield wipers.
7. add proper horn style
8. add cab sunvisors
9. add an air conditioner
10. paint the chassis and detail parts.
11. weather about 2/3 of them

After reworking the chassis, I am quite satisfied with both the looks and performance.
I have also added fiber optic lighting, and have built several working flashing orange beacon lights.

[cacole]

Re-gearing? I tried that with an Ernst Manufacturing regearing kit for an Athearn 6-axle diesel and it runs worse than before. The regearing kit slows the locomotive down to a crawl, because it now has a 30:1 gear ratio, but the new gears make a terrible grinding noise.

In answer to the original question, I have close to 20 Athearn Blue Box locomotives, all with decoders installed. With the exception of the one I put the regearing kit into, they all run very well, but require a lot of wheel cleaning. I'm sure these Athearn locomotives will outlast many of the newer models made today.

[aloco]

I've got six GP7s, four SD40s, one F7A, and one Train Master . All of these road engines run great. Some are a little noisy, but hopefully the noise will go away once the gears are broken in. I used to have several SW7s, but I got fed up with their poor performance and replaced all of them with Life-Like SWs. The Life-Like SWs run ten times better and look far more prototypical than the Athearn units.

[Anonymous]

My love affair with US modelling began in the 80's with an Athearn F45 & from that day on I was hooked. Next came a GP9 & so on. Today all still run well' perhaps even better than when new. And yes I moved on to Life Like Proto--starting with a BL2--- and Atlas, etc, but the old BB's still look good, are easy to service (try a Bachmann!) and occupy a special place in my Railroading heart. And let's not forget how cheap they were & still are.

[EMDSD40]

I have 150 of the BB locomotives. All are disassembled entirely and carefully put back
together with Labelle 106 Grease, electrical connections polished, and wheels set to
proper gauge. The majority are undec kits and are then painted to PRR and detailed.
Some of the engines are 20+ years old and run fine. I have 250 locomotives total and now have a mix of Kato-Stewart-P2K-Atlas. My favorite is the SD40 which I have 25 of.
Quality and ease of maintenance will assure my contined purchase of the Athearn
BB line.

[Anonymous]

At the moment I have 83, and have a few more I'm piecing together.
Most were bought used, rebuilt and are detailed and custom painted.
I also have quite a few other locos that have been repowered using Athearn driveline parts.

[Anonymous]

Got at least 10. Athearn BB locomotives and freights are ubiquous which means lots of third party selling almost anything and everything to make them just the way you want it. Upgraded several with wheel sets, directional lighting, side frames, close coupler sets, diaphrams and other stuff I can't remember. Also used by specialty shops like Rail Runner for creating other roads. They work for my RR.

[Don Gibson]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dragenrider

I have some outstanding Athearn engines! I regear them, break them in good and have some sturdy, dependable engines with easily replaceable parts. I love 'em!

'Sturdy"? - OK
"Dependable" - with poor electrical contacts?
"Easily repalcable parts"- (only in 6 paks, and - IF they still have them.)
'Simple' I'll even buy.
"Re-gear them"? - Why?
'Value' even is good- but "Outstanding? ???.

[Anonymous]

I have 18 powered Athearn units on my layout. I had problems with a pair of FM trainmasters unil I reworked the electrical pickups when I changed them over to DCC. They'er all good runners now and MU with my other brands (Atlas, P2k, Rivarossi, Mantua, IhC and AHM). A few added details puts them par iwth others costing twice or three times as much. I don't need any more motive power, but if I did or Athearn introduces something I like, I won't hesistate to buy it.

[Anonymous]

Twenty years ago BB's seemed the way to go, inexpensive, good looking , lots of detail etc. But after leaving the hobby and coming back there is some real good looking loco's out there now! BB's just don't seem to have the same luster anymore.[2c]

[Anonymous]

I have a GP-7 which is mid-1970's that runs terribly[:(], and I have a pair of SD-45s, one of which runs o.k.[:)] and the other is a truly great[:D] running loco. I think I'll retire the two ill-performers, and run my Genesis series F3A instead, because it will outpull BOTH of the SD-45s "Blue-boxers"COMBINED![:D][:D]

[Anonymous]

I still have several Athearn locomotives including the NYC PA's that hooked me on the NYC to begin with. Great runners.

[dragenrider]

I have some outstanding Athearn engines! I regear them, break them in good and have some sturdy, dependable engines with easily replaceable parts. I love 'em!

[mustanggt]

I have about 10, including rtr. I installed dcc in my GP40-2, F59PHi, and P42. It's almost as easy as installing plug and play decoders. [:D]