Athearn in the N scale business ?

[Biased turkey]

Just received my 1st issue of N-Scale magazine. I really like the mag . What attracted my attention is on page 2 a big ad from Athearn " Our new era in N scale" about the new 50' PS-1 double door boxcar.
I don't have any engine nor rolling stock from Athearn. Is it worth to get some of those boxcars ?
Any feedback will be appreciated.
Tia

Jacques

P.S. on page 3 there is another big ad from Life-Like ( Walthers ) Proto N serie about the Alco RS-2 diesel. It looks promising.

 

[TrainNut]

It seems I'm definitely the minority but I'm on my third Athearn Challenger and my second Athearn Big boy. I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment, however, I probably won't be buying any more N scale Athearn engines in the future.

 

[Ryanr4449]

Athearn's Steam units in N scale aren't really very top notch, IMO. However the rest of their N equipment is fantastically detailed and run great.

 

[kf4jqd]

Athearn has made N scale stuff for a while now. I have never baught any. I see there's another Rock Island Line fan here!:thumb:

Andy

 

[Biased turkey]

Thanks to all The Gauge members who took some of their precious time to reply my thread
I'll stay away from Athearn engines but it looks like their rolling stock is not bad.
I have a Canadian Pacific GP9 engine, is it ( historically speaking ) OK if I couple it to an Athearn 50' Delaware & Hudson boxcar ?

Jacques

 

[Mountain Man]

I have an Athearn 2-8-0 that runs fine. The Athearn passengers cars it pulls are also top-notch.

 

[Herc Driver]

I have several (probably 5) Athearn diesels - mostly SD70 series - and they run very well. They are as or better detailed than Kato, run as smoothly as any, and have a strong motor for good pulling power. IMHO, they're a better value than Kato in that they are well molded, have better exterior detailing than Kato or other maker, and are normally a few dollars less. Now saying this, I think the Kato motor is the smoothest out there, and you could also look at LifeLike Proto N as another engine possibility. The Proto N series are very nicely detailed and normally about ten to twenty percent cheaper than Kato/Athearn. I have had some problems with the LifeLike GP-60 models not working well...but probably nothing I can't figure out and fix (once I get the time). Hope this helps - sorry I don't know anything about the quality of the Athearn steam engines.

 

[umtrr-author]

Athearn has done some new body styles, my favorite of those being the wood milk car in multiple attractive schemes.

Much of their line is former Roundhouse/MDC tooling with new paint schemes, sometimes upgraded details, use of Accumate couplers, and significantly increased prices (not unlike everything else these days).

They are also offering "pre-weathered" models. Opinions on these that I've heard and read have been mixed. It's tough going to market something like this when many model railroaders prefer to do this step themselves.