I've been wondering if they were gonna produce these at some point. ETA date of Nov 2022. Hopefully this release will turn out better than the last two. The artwork at least looks right. 3 road numbers instead of the usual 4 is a bit disappointing. Also worth noting for some of our members, that they are also offering a MV and KOG unit.
Good news, Athearn has uploaded a picture of all 3 models to their website. From what I can see, these came out correctly. They show a delivery date of Mid December, so they're probably on the water already. https://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=ATHG+GP7&CatID=THLD&RN=SLSF
Nice. #611: Can't tell from the Athearn pic of the model, but #611 still had its side skirts in the mid-70s. One of, if not the only, Frisco GP7 still retaining its skirts. I have a crappy mid-70s pic of #611 "somewhere" that I can find, scan it, and share here if desired.
Good eye. I think the side skirts are included on 611, but it's hard to tell. Check out this picture of 611 at Ft. Smith in 1976. Part of the side skirt has been removed. Could make a cool modeling point if someone had a steady hand and a sharp knife. http://frisco.org/mainline/wp-conte...611-at-Fort-Smith-Arkansas-on-May-19-1976.jpg
Ah yes. I couldn't come up with the words for that earlier. FWIW, the diesel file shows that 611 was traded in to EMD August of 77. With a little over a year between that picture and retirement, there's a good chance the side skirt stayed on til the end.
I think that's a very real possibility, unless it was like #632: Wore its original scheme up until a few months before trading it off in '79 (I think)... then it was painted fresh orange and white!!!???
Yep. Never understood why they repainted it 6 months before retirement. http://frisco.org/mainline/wp-conte...ville-Arkansas-on-June-1-1979-P.L.-Strang.jpg
The O/W Genesis GP7s are showing as being in stock at Athearn. Shipments for your pre-ordered units should be made soon.
If anyone is looking for more pictures before deciding to purchase, Horizon uploaded a photo gallery for each model on their Ebay listing. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1755093197...&brand=Athearn&_trksid=p2563228.c101113.m2109 https://www.ebay.com/itm/2953751450...PTWwphg%2BQ4KQ%3D%3D|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2047675 https://www.ebay.com/itm/3943547603...ITiPmOmDw1mVk99gsxAWUInNqC4S|tkp:BFBM0Jvr3phh
I finally got my GP7s in yesterday. Athearn really knocked it out of the park on these units. I haven't found any errors yet. All 3 came with spark arrestors in the box that can be installed to complete the unit. Worth noting, I did need to change the CV's for the beacon light. For some reason it came programed as gyralight. While Soundtrax does have a setting called prime stratolight, I don't think it looks correct based off what film footage I've seen of Frisco units. I think the Western Cullen Beacon option looks more correct.
Ethan: Check your handrail stanchions. It's my understanding the new batch of Frisco GP7's have GP9 handrails installed. Same for the Midland Valley and KO&G GP7's: GP9 handrails. Athearn needs new final product QC personnel.
Good catch. I didn't know there was a difference between the GP7 and GP9 handrails. I have plenty of both models in my collection now, and after looking around my Frisco units definitely have GP9 style handrails. I'll have to pull out my MV and KOG units to look at them. Somehow I forgot to mention the other day that they got the paint wrong on the handrails again. It seems they get the handrails wrong more than they do right so I had kind of given up hope on them being correct.
I am a steam loco fan at heart but when I saw one of these first hand and at our local shop. Being a Frisco fan over a steam fan I had to pick one. So far this has been my best locomotive purchase experience right out of the box. No loose or missing parts, TSU-2 nicely configured I only had to change ID and remap a few functions to where my fingers like them. I love the detail level. It runs great and I really enjoy DDE.
The Automatic Notching and Prime Mover Volume Increase/decrease based on throttle change or motor load are two very desirable features of the Dynamic Digital Exhaust and they are completely configurable to meet one's preferences.
