Re: Athearn revamp A couple of items: First, I have had no real problems with the newer blue-box motors- the noise has not been an annoyance. IIRC, Tom Holley was "truing-up" the flywheels in his blue-box Athearns- another alternative would be to get aftermarket flywheels. Second, Athearn has announced that the GP38-2 will join the Genesis line. A YouTube video was put out showing models detailed, painted & lettered for CN, MP, SP and Southern. They don't look bad, but to be honest I'm not in the market for any more Frisco '38-2s right now. However, with the variations in the diesels (paper air filters, spark arrestors, radiator air intakes), one wonders what Athearn would come out with if & when they offer a Frisco locomotive.
Re: Athearn revamp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG5F7TnnHA4&feature=player_embedded The URL to the video in question.
Re: Athearn revamp The "Diesel List" is alive with chatter about the new Athearn Genesis GP38-2 unveiled today. Most comments are very positive - the SR model they showed looked pretty good. The first release will be in November, 2012 (so they say), and will be multiple numbered units for SP, MP, SR and CN. As with the other Genesis units we have seen lately, they will have details specific to each railroad modeled. As SLSF had more GP38/38-2's than any road but Conrail, and given that recent Athearn Frisco units have sold well (GP15-1 Genesis, SD45, GP35), you would think that Frisco specific 38-2's will be coming along in the next release or two. They also "sort of" promised a while back that the new, revamped SW1500 would see Frisco colors as well. And, there is the new (fixed) Athearn Genesis GP7/GP9 model that has just been re-released. Dare we hope for a few SLSF b/y units from Athearn Genesis some day as well? Ken
Re: Athearn revamp I just watched the Athearn video. The new Genesis GP38-2's look great at first blush - they even have sanding lines. The MP version will include the long hood bell and comes with extra parts allowing the modeler to make it into a "Titanic" unit if desired. The SR is a high short hood, while the CN is a Canadian wide cab unit. The SP unit has all the SP specific details, lighting package, etc. They promise lots of specific road details. Ken
Re: Athearn revamp Sorry guys, I dropped the ball on getting this stuff posted. It's interesting in there choice to include a MP unit in the first run, they just released a MP GP38-2 in the RTR line. I would like to see them make a Frisco one in the future so that we would finally have one on the market that had the Frisco specific details already installed. Ethan
Re: Athearn revamp I'm encouraged to see Athearn taking the lead in offering railroad specific options on their RTR models. Hopefully, Atlas, Walthers P2K, Bowser/Stewart and the others will follow. One of the best things about this in my view is Athearn's addition of the nose gyralight on the units that had them. Though I've successfully added a gyralight to two units (using the Utah Pacific detail part), I find it to be a difficult task to do it neatly. I'd much rather have Athearn do this for me! The nose gyralight certainly is distinctive, and says "late second generation" Frisco loud and clear. Athearn's selection of the four different roads (SP, SR, MP, CN) to be in their first Genesis GP38-2 release is interesting. They wanted to show-off the railroad specific details; each of these four are quite different. The MoP GP38-2 was as-delivered a pretty plain 38-2, it did not even have d/b. But, Athearn said an extra parts bag will be included with the unit, such that the modeler can easily change the stock MP GP38-2 into one of their "Titanic" GP38-2 versions if desired. Kinda neat if you ask me - I don't have any MP power right now, but a "Titanic" might be in my future! Ken
Re: Athearn revamp Ken, I forgot to mention in my last post, Frisco did not have the second most number of GP38's. I remembered something and doubled checked it and the MoPac had 232 including the few regular GP38's. This is kind of proportional though. The Frisco had 146 total (GP38AC's and GP38-2's) with about 5000 miles of track. Mopac had 232 with about 11,000 miles of track. I may do a little more digging to see who had the most. Ethan EDIT It's possible I may have some info wrong, so correct me if I am. according to wikipedia (it may not be 100% accurate but it's a quick way to view a roster) the Missouri pacific had 274, but according to the roster on the mopac historical website they only had 232. Also according to wikipedia CR had 119 GP38-2's (that doesn't include other GP38 models) PC had 223 GP38-2's. But still the Frisco had several GP38-2's
Re: Athearn revamp Ethan is correct. Back in the FMIG days in the 1970's we frequently said that the Frisco was #2 in the number of GP38/GP38-2 units they operated. Conrail had the most. But the MoPac bought quite a few GP38-2's late in the game - 1980 I believe, and passed by the Frisco in the number they operated. I had forgotten that. The MoP had only a few GP38's, most of their '38 fleet was the later GP38-2 model. Jim - In an attempt to improve the efficiency of the 645 in their GP38-2's, the MoP replaced the two stack EMD exhaust manifold with a home built four exhaust stack manifold on several units. Hence, the top of the long hood had four short exhaust stacks sticking up - a "four stacker", just like the immortal Titanic. Thus the nickname. I don't think they really made much difference, but they looked neat! The Genesis MP GP38-2 will come with the parts to make a four-stacker if desired. Ken
Re: Athearn revamp Bob Hoover, do you have any insight regarding the possible advent of Frisco GP38-2s?
Re: Athearn revamp If you watch the end of the video about them really close Mike Hopkin states that the next 4 road names have already been decided and names them. I could understand the first 3 but not the 4th but I know that he didn't say Frisco. That means that the earliest possible date would probably be mid to late 2013. The positive thing is that the Frisco was mentioned on the introductory history sheet which means it is in their radar.
Re: Athearn revamp The MP did roster quite a few GP38/GP38-2 units. They were good pullers and were usually assigned to locals or traveling switch engines. They were also assigned to through freights that operated on territories with track conditions that required four-axle units. I had never seen or heard the "titanic" moniker until I read Ken's post. The four stack exhaust manifold was a common MP modification to any EMD model that had a normally-aspirated prime mover. MP mechanical department research indicated that this modification resulted in a small horsepower increase. I'm sure that the Frisco used many GP38/GP38-2 locomotives on the trains that I saw operating through Carthage. In the late 1970s and early 1980s these units were so common that I didn't pay that much attention to them. What did catch my eye were the GP15-1's. They were new and had a very unique sound with their V-12 645 prime movers. The MP rostered a very large number of this model, also.
Re: Athearn revamp Regarding the "Titanic" moniker - I first saw/heard about it in some railfan literature or on-line on the D-List. I'm not sure the MP ever called them that, at least I never heard it. I also saw it recently in Athearn's pub about their new GP38-2's. One difference - on the MP units with four stacks, all four were active. On the real Titanic, only three of the four stacks were real, the fourth was a dummy. Back in those days, a liner's prestige was a function of the number of stacks she had, so the White Star Line added a dummy stack to the Titanic and her sisters. Ken
