Athearn HO GP35 (Undecorated Only)

Discussion in 'New Products' started by FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018), Sep 21, 2011.

  1. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

    There has been some discussion lately about the days when the only way to get Frisco models was to get the undecorated version and paint it. Well, maybe this offering falls in the "what comes around, goes around category" or even maybe better yet the "be careful what you ask for category".

    Athearn has just announced production of an Undecorated Only Phase 1a version of the GP35 in HO using the Rail Power Products tooling. It will be partially assembled, DCC Ready, and come with a baggy full of add-on detail parts. One would assume that it will have the updated drive that has been used lately of their RTR line.

    Below is the link to the announcement in both JPEG and PDF form listing the parts that will be included.

    JPEG (Less detailed):
    http://www.athearn.com/newsletter/092011/04_GP35_undec__092011.jpg

    PDF (More detailed):
    http://www.athearn.com/newsletter/092011/04_GP35_undec__092011.pdf

    Now I am encouraging Ken or anyone else to look this over and weigh in on how what's in the bag plus other available parts can make a respectable Frisco model.
     
  2. Iantha_Branch

    Iantha_Branch Member

    Interesting thing, but $130 is outlandish for an Athearn RTR loco, especially one that isn't painted or fully assembled. I'll pay that price for an Athearn when I get the quality out of it that I get out of atlas.

    Just my two cents.

    Ethan
     
  3. Rancho Bob

    Rancho Bob Member

    Wow...was this a project that didn't? Ethan is right on about this ..

    R Bob
     
  4. FriscoGeorge

    FriscoGeorge Frisco Employee

    Good thing I acquired a blue box Athearn GP-38-2 a long time ago for $30.69 at my local hobby shop. Asking 129.98 for a model that is mostly a "do -it-yourself" kit is just way out of my league, so I guess this old guy will just have to hit the used tables at the trade shows. Here is a pic of my GP-38-2 decked out in Frisco orange/white with custom painted handrails.
    FriscoGeorge
    SDC10304.JPG
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 21, 2011
  5. Joseph Toth

    Joseph Toth Member

    I won´t discuss politics on this price issue about Chinese import pricing, as I am a bit tired of eating crow, but if Irv Athearn could see what has happened to the company he founded with realistic prices so even boys on paper routes could afford a yellow box kit he would roll over in his grave! I got my start in HO with his Hustler freight starter set and a "king size box" MRC power pack for less than $25.00 in 1962! Wasn´t nothing high tech with fine scale detailing but it gave me my start in HO scale and provided many enjoyable hours of model railroading on a paper boy´s wages!

    My only regret was the Hustler diesel switcher wasn´t black and yellow! It´s black and silver scheme with the SP silver TOFC caboose still gave me a "Black Widow Freight" set of sorts just the same for a homesick Texan just having been relocated to Florida. The Varney Frisco 40 ft. double door box car did fullfill its purpose though! Close but no cigar, isn´t that what they say?

    Joe Toth
     
  6. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

    In today's world of RTR painted models this can fall into the "it is what it is category". This is a free world and certainly a free and open forum, but I for one can see good points in what Athearn is attempting to do. We did have GP35's from them several years ago that got less than rave reviews because they were dubbed as poor runners and the color was wrong. We all need to understand that there is an element of our hobby that is into prototype models of the highest degree of adherence to the prototype. This gives them and others who don't want to wait for several years for their particular road name to be produced to forge ahead and build a model. Having said that, I doubt if either price or where they are made is an issue.
     
  7. Joseph Toth

    Joseph Toth Member

    If I were to invest in a GP35 in HO scale I would seek out the undec Kato models. They were released in three phases and were offered with or w/o the dynamic brake option. I would even consider the old Tenshodo brass GP35. With NorthWest Short Line offering replacement gear and wheel sets these old "clunkers" were heavy and could pull anything the yardmaster tied to the rear coupler!

    Free World, Free Choice, Frisco fans still remain united!

    Joe Toth
     
  8. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

  9. Iantha_Branch

    Iantha_Branch Member

    Seeing Joe's post about his first train set sparked an idea. Just out of curiosity I ran the numbers at that $25 set in 1962 is about $180 today. And that $130 athearn undec GP35 is about $17. Here's the catch, this is calculating the inflation of the dollar from 1962 to 2011 and may not directly reflect the value of the model.

    Ethan
     
  10. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Thank you, Ethan, for putting the whole price thing in proper perspective.

    There are a lot of us that think in a mindset that tries to directly equate prices from 30 years ago to today. Thirty three years ago, my 1978 Corolla sold for $5,751.00 and that was the top of the Corolla line at the time. Now, an equivalent car is nearly $25,000 (and the productivity of the manufacturer has actually kept the price lower than it would be).

    So those old, minorly detailed Athearn blue box kit cars from thirty years ago that had an MSRP of $6 would have an MSRP of about $30 - $40, but now for less than that amount, we can get very highly detailed, much more accurate models that are already built!

    Thanks for reminding me.
     
  11. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    I did not close this thread, but I have re-opened it.
     
  12. Joseph Toth

    Joseph Toth Member

    I´ll stick with the Kato undec GP35 for both quality and price.

    The current owners of Athearn need to seriously rediscover the roots that made Irv´s company sucessful. I fully understand profit but not greed!

    Joe Toth
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 4, 2011
  13. Rick McClellan

    Rick McClellan 2009 Engineer of the Year

    Good point Ethan. If I am not mistaken, the 1962 model would have a rubber band drive, not a worm drive. It would also have an open frame motor not the better ones of today. Finally (I think), the body would have less (or no) detail, number boards would be clear, the body would be very wide and the paint and lettering would be of lower quality. We really have it good these days.
     
  14. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I'm not sure the Athearn GP35 ever had rubber band drive (the "Hi-F" drive, remember?). I bought my first Athearn GP7 around 1962-63, a gray & red CB&Q, and it had Athearn's first gear drive. At the time, they also offered their short-lived GP30, probably also gear driven. The GP35 model came a year or so later, probably also gear driven. The points Rick makes are so, so true. It's hard to describe how much better today's HO models are than what we lived with in 1962.

    Ken
     
  15. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

    Ken or someone else can correct me but usually Kato only offers an undecorated version on the first run of a model. They are not even listing the GP35 as a current model in their HO line. If one were to acquire one, I think they would find it lacking in detail vs. the Athearn model in areas like the trucks, fan detail, etc. It is indeed true that it would run very smoothly and pull like a horse mainly due to the weight inside. I doubt if it would be DCC ready and installing a decoder, especially a sound one, would require milling of the frame. Today's modern decoders with back EMF installed in other brands would probably more than compensate for running quality. Just my opinion.
     
  16. Rick McClellan

    Rick McClellan 2009 Engineer of the Year

    Ken,

    Thanks for your insight on Athearn's technology in 1962. I was only five at the time and did not get my first Athearn engine until 1978 (really). I have seen a lot of rubber band drive Athearns at train shows over the years and only knew they had been around a while.
     
  17. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I had an ABBA set of Athearn F7's back in the 1962-63 times - three Hi-F drives and one dummy. They actually ran pretty well, the multiple drives dampening out the lurching start a single unit under load would display. Once the train was rolling, they responded smoothly to changes in the throttle. Trouble was, at full throttle, they ran at about 200MPH! I know Athearn had the HiF rubber band drive in their F7 A&B models, and in the Hustler industrial diesel, and the Budd RDC's. The GP7 when first introduced might have had it, maybe also the GP30, but when they developed the geared drive, these and other new Athearn diesels came with gear drives. I'm not sure what the first SW7 (Athearn called it a SW1500) had - the first one I bought was gear driven. Still have it (SLSF 302), still running, but has been re-geared, and needs to be re-motored.

    Regarding the Kato GP35 - I had five of them at one time, all undecs, all three phases. The drives were great, the body details were OK, not spectacular, trucks likewise. They would have each required a lot of work to Frisco-ize, so I started to dispose of them when the Overland b/y Frisco "torpedo tube" GP35's became available (they did a great job on these). I traded one Kato and sold the other four on HOYardsale for fairly good prices, all of which just about covered the cost of my one Overland (SLSF 711) plus two new Athearn (SLSF 717 & 725) GP35's, all of which I picked up on eBay. That's about all the GP35's I need, though I would like to pick up the second Overland some day.

    I also had two Kato SD45's, undecs, that would likewise have needed lots of work to Frisco-ize. They were sacrificed via HOYardsale when the three Athearn's became available. The Kato drives are terrific, but the body only average. Given they were undecs, it makes sense to me to avoid all the work and trade them for today's excellent RTR models from Athearn, Atlas, Stewart, Walthers, etc, when possible.

    Ken
     
  18. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Thanks Ken and all,
    Does anyone have a Athearn GP35 undec they want to part with? Currently there are no GP35's on my roster. I want to give the "torpedo units" a try. Got a few detailed roof-top shots of a CNW "35". Man those welders got a little crazy with the piping, but it is very interesting stuff.
    Tom Holley
     
  19. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Tom, I'm sure you are talking about the last RTR GP35s? They at least had open fans up top, nice handrails and grabs, and are good runners. I have two in the red/white scheme; #717 and #725. I just finished putting a new 567D Tsunami (their latest release) in 717 and it sounds great. #725 is apart and going through the diesel shop right now.

    Some detail shots of the shell below. The red is a little dark, but nothing some weathering can't fix. To get the best look, right-click on the image and select Open Link in New Window.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 5, 2011
  20. Iantha_Branch

    Iantha_Branch Member

    Keep in mind the GP35 came out in 2005, so right as they started working on adding more and more detail. Yes the see through fans and grab irons were good, even through the grabs and hand rails wern't painted correctly. And I for one say I didn't run good at all. In fact I was so displeased it is a dummy now. I do have an idea to repower it (with a good ol P2K drive from the lifelike days that is essentially the same parts as an Athearn but better quality) if I wished to but I don't whether I want it powered or not.

    So over all Athearn has done a good job on detailing, but under the shell they still have some work to do.

    Ethan
     

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