I dont know if it was a good deal or not

[hiscopilot]

so I didnt buy it,

but yesterday I discovered the most fabulous TRAIN only (no other hobby) store nearby. They had these boxes of misc trains obviously from the likes of estate sales and such. I picked up a very heavy diesel engine and I liked the color scheme, so I looked at it and it is Louisville and Nashville which we will be doing in upcoming months or years. I asked the price along with 2 nice hopper cars and some sort of car with a light in the back that lights when it is pulled. The total asking price was $45. I bought all but the engine.

The engine was described as an Athearns "super" hand painted and was complete with no broken parts or anything. The paint job was superb. I guess it would come out to $30 for it. Since I am an idiot at these things, did I pass up a good deal? Should I go back and get it?

Thanks

 

[CRed]

Athearn makes good engines,do you know if it was blue box or not?Do you know what type of engine it is?If it is truly handpainted and you really like it I don't see why you shouldn't get it.

Chris

 

[hiscopilot]

what is blue box? I know he said that both sets of wheels were powered and he tested it out right there and it worked very nicely- smoothly.

The reason I didnt get it is this is ACTUALLY my sons hobby and we are a single and not very high income family and I have to be SUPER careful with my money. But if its something that is worth that... maybe I should go backand get it because to get another would cost more down the line?

I have no clue what it was. I dont know the first thing about them to be honest.

 

[green_elite_cab]

sounds like a blue box to me. It will probably say on the fuel tank or something on the bottom.

a blue box is Athearn's brand of kit locomotives. They are usually very sturdy and long lasting, and are also easy to detail.

 

[CRed]

Athearns value line of engines are called "blue box" because the box they come in are blue for the most part.There's nothing at all wrong with them,they are great runners and look nice they just don't have quite as much detail as say the Genisis line of Athearn engines or don't have DCC or sound.

If it is handpainted it may be something you don't see very often and if it's a road you want to model I think that makes it worth the purchse because you may not see another one like it.

Chris

 

[hiscopilot]

ok, if I get a chance to go back and check it out I will. Thanks for your help. SO $30-35 is a decent price for that??? Or should I try to wheel and deal?

 

[green_elite_cab]

ok, if I get a chance to go back and check it out I will. Thanks for your help. SO $30-35 is a decent price for that??? Or should I try to wheel and deal?

yeah. I've seen them for 28 out of the box new at train shows though. however thats probably a good price, and is worth it. if its a custom job, it will definitely be unique.

 

[CRed]

If you can talk him down do it,but $30 seems like a decent deal for a handpainted engine to me.

If I came across a hand painted DM&IR Athearn for $30 I would jump on it.I could always add details and DCC later if I wanted to.

Chris

 

[Santa Fe Jack]

Ya know, if you like the store and the owner, and like to have the store be around, then go ahead and give him what he asks. $30-35 is certainly not much for a working engine. Maybe you could even stash it away for your son's next birthday.

BTW, I was curious where Spring Hill, TN, was, as I used to live in Oak Ridge. I put it in mapquest, and there are no fewer than SEVEN Spring Hills in Tennessee. There is one in Anderson County, between Oak Ridge and Knoxville, that is the one I remember. There is also a Spring Hill in Maury, Gibson, Haywood, Henderson, Houston, and White Counties. LOL

 

[65GASSER]

Athearn super? The only thing I can think of would be a F7A Super. Did it resemble this? If so, you can get them slightly less on ebay. New from my local hobby shop they are around $38. Although if its custom painted then it may be worth more to the right person. I know how you feel about spending wisely. 99% of my locomotives are Blue Boxed Athearns. I love them! They are the best bang for the buck in my eyes.

 

[LongIslandTom]

The Athearn F7A Super Weight comes in either Blue-Box kits (you have to install some parts, no provision for DCC) or in RTR boxes (all details installed and ready to run, plus it has a DCC-ready plug).

I would just order the Athearn F7A RTR locos from MB Klein: http://www.modeltrainstuff.com . They have the Athearn F7A RTR new, retail, never-opened, never-ran, for $28.

The Athearn Super Weight F7A is indeed a very good value locomotive for beginners. Our fellow poster YmeBP wrote a review of the one he bought (a blue box) here: http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=24443&page=2

to Hiscopilot: You might want to order from MBKlein, since you live in TN and they are in PA. When you order out-of-state, you don't pay sales tax.

Hope this helps. :thumb:

 

[65GASSER]

I was actually looking at these today at the hobby shop and man are they heavy!!! I bet it pulls like a monster!

 

[CRed]

The Athearn F7A Super Weight comes in either Blue-Box kits (you have to install some parts, no provision for DCC) or in RTR boxes (all details installed and ready to run, plus it has a DCC-ready plug).

I would just order the Athearn F7A RTR locos from MB Klein: http://www.modeltrainstuff.com . They have the Athearn F7A RTR new, retail, never-opened, never-ran, for $28.

The Athearn Super Weight F7A is indeed a very good value locomotive for beginners. Our fellow poster YmeBP wrote a review of the one he bought (a blue box) here: http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=24443&page=2

to Hiscopilot: You might want to order from MBKlein, since you live in TN and they are in PA. When you order out-of-state, you don't pay sales tax.

Hope this helps. :thumb:

I don't know,but she says it's hand painted in a road that she plans on modelling after in the future so that might make a difference.It would to me anyways.

 

[Glen Haasdyk]

I bet it pulls like a monster!

Yes they do. I have one that I bought new in 1985 and it still runs very well.

 

[hiscopilot]

My hubby and I went back to get this today and it was priced at $52.99 So needless to say it didn't come home with us.

We got a couple more hopper cars and a flatbed (for my Thomas Jet engine ) and another engine of some sort. Oh well, more stuff! Yippee. Now he says I am cut off for a while. But I still have a couple of low e-bay auctions.

Thanks for the advice, I wont pass it up in the future if its affordable and for a future layout!

 

[LongIslandTom]

We got a couple more hopper cars and a flatbed (for my Thomas Jet engine

) and another engine of some sort. Oh well, more stuff!

Wow, and I thought my buying binges are bad.

It's that age-old "Do I REALLY need another locomotive?" dilemma/addiction/insanity. Pretty soon you will have to join a group called Locoholics Anonymous, just like most of us here in the Gauge. sign1

Seriously though, don't worry about passing up that $50 locomotive. As I mentioned above, Athearn F7A Super Weights can be had for CHEAP. $28 bucks for an RTR one, DCC-ready, all details already installed, never-ran, never-opened retail new. Or you can strip the paint and detail and paint it yourself. :thumb:

 

[cidchase]

I wont pass it up in the future if its affordable and for a future layout!

Yep, that's exactly why we got all these boxes of unbuilt cars, buildings, what-have-you on the shelf;
we will for sure need 'em in the future, and they were sooo affordable!!

 

[hiscopilot]

oh, I am so heavily afflicted by obsessive compulsive its pathetic... and my buying binges are awful and sometimes detrimental. Today the flat bed was what I wanted, my hubby the engine, the hoppers were my sons choice. UGH. But all for $40 wasnt too bad to me.

I really liked the paint job on "the one that got away". I think thats my big thing about it. If it sits there for a month or so I'll go in and offer him half and see if he'll go for it! LOL

 

[Russ Bellinis]

I have a friend who used to be a local custom painter of locomotives here in So Cal until he went to work as quality control manager for Athearn. Typically, his custom paint jobs on ho scale locomotives with a multicolor paint scheme would be about $140.00 each plus the cost of the locomotive. Of course he also put a lot of detail parts on before he painted it unless the model was brass. If course, if it was brass he always had to resolder most details on the shells because he never found any brass locomotive that had anything but cold solder joints. The point being that it takes a lot of time to mask, paint, and decal a locomotive, so I think the price the shop owner is asking for the model is reasonable if it is a good paint job. On the other hand, if he sits on it for a while, you might get a deal on it.