New HO Athearn SW1500

To All:

Athearn has announced production of the SW1500 in their Ready-to-Roll product line. Before going any farther with specifics, I would like to mention that this model is partially the direct result of images supplied to me by the late Richard Napper so I hope he is smiling down proudly on his contribution.

The locomotive will be available in here (3) road numbers and have an MSRP of $124.98. It will have numerous add-on details including some Frisco specific ones including: Low mount windshield wiper, Hose tray without footboard, and 3-pane all weather cab window on engineer’s side. It will also come with a DCC ready with Quick-Plug technology.

The Athearn Stock #'s and corresponding Frisco Road #'s are:

Athearn Stock # ATH96732 Frisco Road #319

Athearn Stock # ATH96733 Frisco Road #346

Athearn Stock # ATH96734 Frisco Road #354

Below is the link to the PDF for the announcement:

http://www.athearn.com/newsletter/1...A.i9tplQ&_bta_c=5kj1iat2d6pd6fsibzj2dslg4iapy

 

Fantastic, Bob. I am sure Richard is very proud and happy to know he contributed in this production. Thanks, also, to you for your part in this and other Frisco projects.
I have been watching ebay for SW1500s, and now I am glad I didn't get one of the offerings, as I am sure this new release will be superior to what is already out there.

Terry

 

To All:

I will b contacting Athearn to see if I can get the roof beacons added.

 

Thanks Terry for the compliment. The real thanks goes to ALL of you for your continued support of manufacturers offerings as they wouldn't keep doing it if they weren't selling. Athearn in particular has expressed happiness about our support level.

 

That would be great, Bob. The more accurate the engine, the better. Thanks, again, for your work.
I was working in Tulsa when these showed up in the mid 70s (can't remember the exact date). We had been using FMs exclusively in Tulsa before that. While the SW1500s were more powerful, I still preferred the throttle of the FMs over the new EMDs as we could increase or decrease the FMs incrementally as opposed to the positional throttle of the EMDs. That being said, I am glad this unit is being offered.

 

Yes, Tom, that is exactly what it was. It was not necessary to jockey back and for between throttle positions or use independent brake usage to keep a constant speed which was important on the hump end. The brakes also did not squeal on the FMs like they do on the SW1500s. Thanks for the compliment, and I also enjoy your posts (both models which are fantastic, and your prototype comments which I recognize).

Terry

 

To All:

Does anyone on the forum have any additional observations about the SW1500 that Athearn is producing besides the addition of the roof beacon. For instance, I noticed that in almost all of Richard's pictures the locos had cab sunshades either on both sides or on just the Fireman's side if the unit had the added all weather cab window that Athearn is modeling. Also, they are modeling a hose tray without footboard and some of the units had a footboard. Please realize that all I can do is submit input to Athearn and if it isn't implemented we will still end up with a beautiful model that is very close to prototypical right out of the box.

Thanks in advance for any and all input on this matter.

 

What about the second beacon to the rear of the big beacon?

 

Bob,

I honestly don't think you should push Athearn for a beacon on the SW1500, I don't know how many of them had gotten them originally, perhaps the later production did, but not the majority. But think of the modelers which do not model St. Louis 319, and the other 2 numbers for Tulsa. They may want to buy more because they want to renumber them for their location. I would prefer to add which ever type of beacon necessary or not after. That also goes for the All-weather windows as well. Yes include them but do not glue them on. It seems they were used on SW1500 in colder climes but not others and perhaps not used throughout the year in those locations.

In my opinion it is much harder to remove a part than add a part later. Considering that you would have glue marks to clean and hopefully you don't damage the paint which will be impossible to say the least. I would normally not care about all this if Athearn would for sure make these in other numbers in the near future, but in reality, they probably won't and if so it'll be more than 10 years or more.

Nick Molo

 

After reading Nick's post, I went to Dr. Condren's website again to look at the pictures of the SW1500s. All of the pictures with the possible exception of two (couldn't get a clear enough picture to see) have the "snitch lights", as we called them. The numbers shown on his site cover a large enough range of units that it would be reasonable to assume that the Frisco had most of them either converted to the beacons or bought them that way. I would echo Keith's comment that the beacons should be on, and the all-weather windows as add ons. As an aside to the windows, I personally did not like them as a rule. When looking out for signals, they made it difficult to see because they blocked the view. Usually the front or rear windows which were just about 6" wide were dirty and very difficult to clean. I remember once I had one of the windows that leaked at the top, but was sealed at the bottom, and I had water sloshing back and forth in the bottom tray with the movement of the engine. I had to use paper towels to try to keep the water from spilling over into the cab. While we worked with radios, we also were required to look out for other signals and watch the surroundings for other issues. In the summer, the double window made it very difficult to get air through the cab on my side if the breeze was not out of the proper direction. I am sure they are helpful in extremely cold areas, but I personally did not like them in Tulsa as a general rule. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, as we say. That being said, I would personally put one on at least one of these units I am going to buy because they were in Tulsa.

Terry

 

Keith,

Looking closely at the rotary beacons, there were two types, early and late styles, Frisco had both and Athearn make a good representation of both. Athearn do place specific details like this on different loco numbers, so that would be extra cool if they could do that.

Nick

 

Terry,

Were the snitch lights a constant on (giving a location to the yardmasters) versus a rotary which might more annoying at night time?

Nick

 

Bob,

The question about the footboard has to do with the Athearn selection of a late seventies loco or not. If the coupler lift bar has a loop and top end plate cut-out, then there should be no footboards, this detail goes hand in hand. Athearn has the looped lift bar, but doesn't have the cut-out, and no footboards that is something to clarify with them.

Regards, Nick

 

By looking at my pictures some of the units had footboards, either short or long. Some of them did have the one Athearn has specified is "hose rack without footboard". It looks like 354 and 346 have them but my photo of 319 is unclear on the matter. Terry, the picture of 354 is taken at Tulsa. Do you remember if they had footboards?

 

As an FYI - in looking at the 3 SW1500's that were scanned, two had footboards - 343 (photo taken 5-77) and 356 (photo taken 6-73), while 354 had no footboard (photo taken 5-80). Granted this is an extremely low data set, but could be guessed that the footboards got phased out in the late 70's when the looped lift bar was installed?

 

Nick, the rotary lights were very annoying at night especially if one was lined up with one of the reflective sections. We could turn them off, and did, for that very reason. Imagine working in the dark or low light and someone hitting your eyes with a very bright yellow light. I didn't turn any of the constant lights off because they were much dimmer and didn't bother the eyes at all.


Terry

 

Bob, I remember that some of the units had foot boards, while others did not. In Condren's site the 354 shows a foot board while the 358 does not. I have no idea how they came to be different. The 354 shows the white safety paint on the edge of the foot board just like the steps. The 358 has no such white edge where the foot board would have been.
Terry