1st, let me state, I have no idea which engines are better as far as manufactures are concerned. I'm the guy who has bought several bottom line bachmann's ( which run well, no complains there ). BUT, after seeing some of the extra details I have been missing out on, I think I want to buy a couple Athern Genesis'. I have been searching fleabay and notice there are yellow box Genesis and blue box genesis. Are the yellow box the " older " Genesis and if so, what year did the blue box arrive. Are either better than the other, as far as running, details, ect? I am looking at buying DCC/Sound.
When Athearn first introduced the Genesis line of locomotives they came in yellow and blue boxes, clearly marked "Genesis." The colors and design are quite different than Athearn's Ready to Roll line.
From looking at ebay listings it appears that Athearn has changed the Genesis line box color to all blue, probably to save a fraction of a cent per box. So far as I know the locomotives are of the same quality both operationally and detail wise, although one might expect some advancement of technology in later models.
I found this statement here on the forum from 2012:
I did have problems with an Athearn Genesis (mostly yellow box) F-7 with sound years ago. It seemed to produce a lot of track dirt, and as a consequence the sound performance did not make me happy. However, this would have been about 6 years ago now, and Athearn has made continual improvements in the entire Genesis line (including what appears to be different, better quality and more smoothly finished wheel plating on the more recent all blue box Genesis models). I can say the earlier (mostly yellow box) Genesis F unit wheel plating wore prematurely for me. One unit had all bare brass wheelsets in about 50 hours or less, but recent units seem to be much better.
I did have problems with an Athearn Genesis (mostly yellow box) F-7 with sound years ago. It seemed to produce a lot of track dirt, and as a consequence the sound performance did not make me happy. However, this would have been about 6 years ago now, and Athearn has made continual improvements in the entire Genesis line (including what appears to be different, better quality and more smoothly finished wheel plating on the more recent all blue box Genesis models).
I can say the earlier (mostly yellow box) Genesis F unit wheel plating wore prematurely for me. One unit had all bare brass wheelsets in about 50 hours or less, but recent units seem to be much better.
Any other thoughts on this? Try and stay with 2011-2012 and newer ( considering his last sentence )?
Got this responce from Athern:
When we first started putting sound in our models Model Rectifier Corp.was the supplier of the DCC/sound decoders in our models. In 2009 wechanged vendors for our DCC/sound decoders to SoundTraxx's Tsunami lineof decoders. Any sound equipped Genesis series model that doesn't sayTsunami will have an MRC decoder in it. Around the same time we switchedfrom the yellow boxes to the dark blue ones. There was some overlap sothere are models that came with a SoundTraxx decoder in a yellow box. Sincerely,Athearn Trains
It still doesnt tell me if the same motor/gears/ect are used in both, but now I know the difference.
Yes, Athearn simply changed the color of the boxes Genesis loco's and rolling stock were packaged in around 2008 approximately. I have items in both type boxes, and some of them such as the 50' PC&F box cars from the same tooling have been packaged first as Athearn Genesis Yellow box, then Athearn RTR yellow box, and later on Athearn Genesis dark blue box. The Genesis F's have come in the yellow Genesis and after ~2008 the dark blue boxes.
However, I wouldn't fixate too much on the color of the box they came in. Athearn has made running changes to their products over time - and some change or improvements were made during the Genesis yellow box production period. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the change over from MRC to Tsunami sound boards co-incided with the Genesis dark blue box packaging.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Riogrande, read my post above yours. That was from Athern directly. It explains the change over from MRC to Tsunami.
JimInMichigan Riogrande, read my post above yours. That was from Athern directly. It explains the change over from MRC to Tsunami.
Your quote is just a generic comment to notify the consumer of the change over and does not really explain the reasons or and does not give any background of what prompted the change over. I'll fill you in on the basics: customers found the MRC decoder quality did not meet expectations. There was a concensus that the sound quality wasn't good and many reported an unacceptably high failure rate in the MRC sound boards. The customers of Athearn demanded an improvement and eventually a change was necessary to meet customer satisfaction.
If you search the forum discussions, there has been much on the above MRC sound topic. Of course Athearn isn't the only manufacturer to change sound board sources but they were probably the biggest to use MRC sound boards.
Some of the early Genesis releases were also not as detailed as the newer releases, such as the early sd70s. Also some of the early ready to runs are becoming Genesis. The best way that I handle the confusion is if I see an ebay auction I am interested in. I go to athearns website and enter the stock number in the search. It usually will come up with a picture And description. If not make sure you check the View Retired Models box in the upper left.
SB
blabride Some of the early Genesis releases were also not as detailed as the newer releases, such as the early sd70s.
Some of the early Genesis releases were also not as detailed as the newer releases, such as the early sd70s.
Another example is the Genesis F unit. When Athearn Genesis began offering the 1960's latter day modification versions, those F's were offered with additional detailing that reflected the prototypes in their late years. The WP FP7A was one example I bought, and the D&RGW F7A late phase was another (which included nose and windshield grab irons, nose MU receptacle and other details. Those, were concurrent with the new dark blue box FWIW.
Also some of the early ready to runs are becoming Genesis.
What are examples of those? I can say that some Athearn RTR diesels are very nearly Genesis in detail, such as the SD40T-2 and SD45T-2, and SD45. I own multiples of all three and they are chock full of prototypical details.
The SD45 would not be sold under the Genesis label because of it's semi crude long hood door and latch RPP heritage details. The RTR SD40T-2 was made from upgrade blue box tooling so it will probably remain RTR and not Genesis. The SD45T-2 has been sold under the RTR label for about 14 years now. All of the above have bluebox chassis with blue box motors.
The best way that I handle the confusion is if I see an ebay auction I am interested in. I go to athearns website and enter the stock number in the search. It usually will come up with a picture And description. If not make sure you check the View Retired Models box in the upper left. SB
Yes, thats always a good way to correctly identify models, if you haven't memorized them already!