Athearn discontinues everything...

I'm started to slightly get ticked off with Athearn... I'm modeling present day BNSF, so with the Pacific Northwest, that would mean old BN units, and lots of pumpkin orange heritage units ranging from filthy I's all the way to brand new Swooshes... So when I start looking for SD60M, and B units so I can create an all BNSF A-B-B-A for a coal drag, almost EVERY UNIT is DISCONTINUED!!! :curse:wall1:curse: So then I get curious and search Athearn for BNSF engines, and 7 or so pages come up. My faith seems to be restored... Except for the fact that 56 out of 81 engines are DISCONTINUED!!! What is up with Athearn and discontinuing EVERYTHING!!!??? The SD60M's that I wanted were announced 9/12/2006!! There fairly new, but discontinued nonetheless... Is something wrong wit me??? With Athearn??? What are they doing??? Can anyone shed some light on the situation?
 

MilesWestern

Active Member
I believe that they do what are called "Runs" in the business. They make, say 5,000 BNSF C-449W's in three numbers and then they TEMPORARILY stop production on those models, and make 5.000 UP C449W's. The make models on a rotating basis, to keep inventory low, because inventory=sitting on the shelf-not being sold. I think this is the classic "Brass Locomotive" philosophy. I don't like it either, but I don't think it'll be hard at all to purchase them from, say, Trainworld.com (my favorite) or Call up a few LHS's (The larger the better) and see if they have them in stock, how much they want for them and if they ship. I wouldn't get P ISSED about this...Calm down. :) It's going to be ok! ;)
 
How's this any different from what's been done in N scale for years?

Ummm, I don't fallow N scale in any sense of terms... I have no idea what Athearn has even been doing in N scale for years... First and foremost Athearn is a HO scale company, thats what my rant and question pertains to.
 
I believe that they do what are called "Runs" in the business. They make, say 5,000 BNSF C-449W's in three numbers and then they TEMPORARILY stop production on those models, and make 5.000 UP C449W's. The make models on a rotating basis, to keep inventory low, because inventory=sitting on the shelf-not being sold. I think this is the classic "Brass Locomotive" philosophy. I don't like it either, but I don't think it'll be hard at all to purchase them from, say, Trainworld.com (my favorite) or Call up a few LHS's (The larger the better) and see if they have them in stock, how much they want for them and if they ship. I wouldn't get P ISSED about this...Calm down. :) It's going to be ok! ;)

This makes sense. When I see "discontinued", I think of never getting produced again. I have been in the hobby of 1/400 scale aircraft for the past 5 or so years, and when a run is out, it never gets brought up again. That is what I thought was happening here, and was very disappointed, not so much pissed, that I would have to resort to ebay. The fact that it's happening on such a large scale of locomotives is what was alarming me. 56 out of 81 engines discontinued was a bit of a surprise. Thanks for the quick responses though.
 

jbaakko

Active Member
I'm assuming you meant GP60M & GP60B. But yes, as stated before, they don't technically "discontinue" something, they just make runs of the item, now that the roster has gotten bigger, better and more expensive, non-selling stuff laying around is wasting more money!
 
another thing that can be good about being discontinued is the fact we may see new cab numbers in thier new runs when they do that type of loco again.
 

sumpter250

multiscale modelbuilder
Athearn has been around for as many years as I've been in the hobby, and probably more than that!, which is saying something, because I've been "in the hobby" for over fifty years.
The practice of "discontinuing" a product line, has been a part of Athearn since the beginning, and the re-release of a particular model has usually included new numbers on everything. This has continued, even into the Horizon Hobby ownership of Athearn, and many of the recent re-releases have also included extensive detail upgrading.
Mileswestern's suggestion to look around at distributers, and hobby shops is a good one. There may be many unsold locos out there on retail shelves, just looking for a buyer. It wouldn't hurt to look at shops "outside" the BNSF area, places where other roads are more popular.
My own, personal answer to "discontinued", has always been, and continues to be, "undec", and paint, and decals. At the 1994 Trainfest, there were two "dash 9s", a factory painted brass "unreleased" by Overland, and my kitbash, based on photos taken at the C&NW Proviso yards. (That's another long story ).
I'm sure you will find many of the locos you need, current available. It will just take a little searching. 'Luck,
Pete
 
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