Athearn HO GP35 (Undecorated Only)

Well said Terry!

 

This is very much what tried to say in past and got hooted down. Glad you got postive feedback. These are simply models. Don't know about some but when made aircraft always had a scrap box. Now we have after market. You take the one that suits you best and make what you think is closer to perfect because a manufacturere and you will very seldom see things same way. The end product is your idea the way it should look thus you are happy with it. I like Atlas GP7s and others don't. Is what makes world go around. Is what makes this so enjoyable, not an argument which one sucks more.

Direct my chew out to Rick Mathews|-|

 

Ricky:

As a Moderator and the one who initiated this thread, I feel compelled to offer my apologies as if you feel the way that you have stated, you are more than likely justified. I think that you have possibly gotten caught up by accident in some posts that were quite frankly unrelated. Please feel free to express your opinions and thoughts as that is and always has been a hallmark of this forum. Hopefully you will find them more well received in the future.

Enough said!

 

Indeed! This IS a great site and has a bunch of dedicated members from all walks of life, well, mabie not all walks of life, as we sure could use a member with a "Bill Gates" bank account to help save a GP7, but that´s another story.

If a member cleans out the closet and finds those old not-to-scale Athearn GP7s and paints´em up for Frisco regardless of black and yellow or red and white, runs them with NMRA (X2f) couplers, on Atlas code 100 brass track, and is happy doing so, that is his business and he should not be ashamed to post pictures of same on this site!

While model railroading has been brought up to modeling with fine scale details and models of just about any diesel or freight car ever produced many of us started in the Athearn yellow box kit days with little Frisco to be found on the HO market. N scale was either diecast Treble O (OOO) from England or very unprototypical Arnold from Germany. Lionel was the big player in O gauge and when Atlas introduced their 2-rail O scale models in the early 70s the modelers went wild! The S scalers faired less since just about all there was was American Flyer.

Though Athearn´s GP30 left a lot to desire, it was still the entrance into the second generation of diesel power and complimented Mantua-Tyco´s GP20 on the HO market in the early 60s. Athearn´s release of the GP35 really opened up the modern model railroad era and it is a pity that they didn´t offer a larger variety of road names. Athearn probably didn´t see the sales potential of releasing Frisco or Mopac at the time. This was left to Champ and Walthers to produce the decals for the spray can generation of model railroaders who still built plastic hot rod kits and airplanes as well.

Like the GP7, the GP35 deserves a 1:1 scale model to be preserved for the Frisco. I envy the societies and museums who have achieved their dreams and goals with dedicated members who believed enough in these organizations to get the locomotives preserved. Most started with one or two members with an idea and it can still happen with those of you who love the Frisco enough to approach a museum for example to determine the feasability if there´s a way to preserve a GP7, GP35 or any Frisco diesel before it is too late.

Joe Toth

 

Request #2 to please try and stay on topic. As the New Products Moderator, I started this thread merely to announce the fact that Athearn was going to produce a GP35 in an undecorated version. Since this is the NEW PRODUCTS sub-forum under the MODELING forum, my intention was to inform the HO MODELERS in the group there was a NEW option out there in case they were interested. I'm beginning to wonder if it was a good idea in the first place!

 

Bob,
Any chance that Athearn will decorate one of the GP35's for Frisco?

 

Richard:

Possible stupid question, but does the version match and if so please identify related road #'s?

 

Bob,
not that familliar with the version, so I can not comment.

 

Several years ago Overland produced a brass 2 piece set of the GMD Demonstrator paint scheme of this locomotive. Look familiar?

Enjoy!


Scroll down to find it listed under diesels:


http://www.overlandmodels.com/showroom.php?scale=4

 

Note:

I am not responsible for the use of red (now brown) ink in any previous posts in this thread except the above referenced one that I placed earlier this morning. Having said that, I feel they do accurately represent the ones that I was referring to.

 

Re the forthcoming undec GP35 that Athearn has announced.

Has any manufacturer like Details West ever produced prototype specific parts such as the roof mounted air tanks?

Posting the announcment WAS a good idea!

I apologise for gettin´ off track...again.

Joe Toth