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Post by sd40dash2 on Sept 25, 2020 12:00:25 GMT -8
Postman Pat delivered these two Athearn Genesis beauties today. They must be popular as I've seen very few of them on ebay and not many on various retail websites. This hobby is starved for good quality RTR plastic cabooses like this and Athearn has again stepped up to address some of the need. Here are the two I bought.  UP "early" version 25540, notice the see-through walkways and steps and ultra-fine cupola detailing.  Now that I have these in my hands I am confident the cupola is not too-wide as earlier online photos had suggested. Judge for yourself:  All-important view of the underbody. For some reason, the left truck seemed to be distorted as the inner wheelset kept falling out. I first tried forcing it back into shape and failed at that. I also tried slightly bending both contact strips inwards and that seems to have solved the problem.  SF wide vision with all that gorgeous detail. What an outstanding model. I can see this one becoming sought-after 10 years from now if they are out of production for a while.  Here's the toolbox side. Love how much that extended draft gear sticks out. Thanks Janek and team, I love this model!  Omnipresent underframe view. Looks really good under here as well. And there are rotating bearing caps on these trucks along with spare caps inside a parts bag in the box.  |
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Post by edgecrusher on Sept 25, 2020 12:14:53 GMT -8
Those look fantastic. I have some brass that doesn't look nearly as nice. Unfortunately both of those are too far west for me. But I hope they sell well so Athearn is encouraged to keep at the caboose market. There is a lot of potential for them out there.
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Post by cp6027 on Sept 25, 2020 12:41:26 GMT -8
Very nice! Looks like Postman Pat and his black-and-white cat managed not to damage anything in transit...
RE truck warping issue: This same warping has happened on a few of my Rapido vans with a similar style of truck pickup. I've never been able to fix them and just replaced the trucks.
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Post by riogrande on Sept 25, 2020 13:04:29 GMT -8
Looks like you got lucky with the cupola sides. The examples I've seen were all sticking out more. Possibly a construction/fitment issue. One fellow on TO was able to gently pry off the side, sand them down a bit on the inside, and clean off the surface of the cupola side wall and re-glue and looked much better. Here is the discussion with photo's if anyone is interested. Harry Wong also did a similar fix on his UP CA8 caboose to improve the looks. www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,5103895,5103895#msg-5103895 |
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Post by sd40dash2 on Sept 25, 2020 13:10:34 GMT -8
Thanks for the reply -- I agree these are very nice. Hard to believe it took so long for such cabooses to hit the market. I know there have been others before, and all of those were awesome, but this is such a large untapped market. Again, kudos to Athearn for this successful release.
>Looks like Postman Pat and his black-and-white cat...
Good catch!
>...managed not to damage anything in transit...
Nope, no damage in transit on these beauties. That would be heartbreaking given how hard they may be to replace.
>RE truck warping issue: This same warping has happened on a few of my Rapido vans with a similar style of truck pickup. I've never been able to fix them and just replaced the trucks.
Thanks. With some more tinkering I managed to bend inwards, ever so slightly, the pickup plates and the wheel now seems to stay put. It's a tricky fix as the wheelset still needs to turn freely. I'll monitor it and perhaps reach out to Athearn if I am unable to fix. Buying replacements at retail would cost me a fortune given the cost of shipping etc. I would rather fix myself if I can. I don't have that problem with any of my 25 Rapido vans so I suspect I applied a similar fix years ago when those came out.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Sept 25, 2020 13:20:15 GMT -8
Looks like you got lucky with the cupola sides. The examples I've seen were all sticking out more. Possibly a construction/fitment issue. One fellow on TO was able to gently pry off the side, sand them down a bit on the inside, and clean off the surface of the cupola side wall and re-glue and looked much better. Here is the discussion with photo's if anyone is interested. Harry Wong also did a similar fix on his UP CA8 caboose to improve the looks. www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,5103895,5103895#msg-5103895 Thanks for this reply and TO link. Glad to see that Gary took a constructive (pun) approach to addressing the problem rather than just griping about it. The discussion and photos in that thread are excellent. |
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Post by riogrande on Sept 25, 2020 13:27:31 GMT -8
Yes, that solution he gave along with the photo's was excellent. I know Harry has tried it too and it came out well. Hopefully Athearn will refine these UP units in the future so they all come out nice.
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Post by 12bridge on Sept 25, 2020 14:23:39 GMT -8
While they may be "right", they could certainly refine the fitment and assembly process with how they designed the sides to go together. The one I have here is not all that bad. Yes, it sits out more then I would like, and it COULD be better, but I am not prying the sides off.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2020 15:10:03 GMT -8
I ordered a UP and CB&Q caboose. They are superb.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2020 15:19:55 GMT -8
That Santa Fe is beautiful...
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Post by thunderhawk on Sept 25, 2020 16:12:45 GMT -8
The extended draft gear for the cushion on the SF is nice but it looks bare as hell without a yoke pin.
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Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 25, 2020 16:29:30 GMT -8
Beautiful cars! If all went well, I've got two UP at my local shop; and I ordered 4 more recently.
And then there's the BN/NP/GN/S&S cars, oh my. I passed on the Q, which I do regret.
These ARE better than brass. Athearn will do very well with them.
Ed
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Post by sd40dash2 on Sept 25, 2020 17:04:16 GMT -8
According the other thread and the book, the UP trucks starting with the CA-8 (on which this Athearn model is based) were equipped with roller bearings but my model has journal covers that make the trucks right for CA-5, not CA-8. Maybe Athearn had a photo of 25540 with journal bearing covers on its trucks.
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Post by westerntrains on Sept 25, 2020 20:54:48 GMT -8
It was discussed on another site, and I see it on these models. All the models have the uncoupling levers broken off. I guess they left the factory like that.
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Post by fr8kar on Sept 25, 2020 22:01:55 GMT -8
It was discussed on another site, and I see it on these models. All the models have the uncoupling levers broken off. I guess they left the factory like that. Not on mine. They are a flexible plastic so they were easy to bend out of the way when I swapped couplers. They sprung right back into place when I was done. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2020 4:05:40 GMT -8
It was discussed on another site, and I see it on these models. All the models have the uncoupling levers broken off. I guess they left the factory like that. Not on mine. They are a flexible plastic so they were easy to bend out of the way when I swapped couplers. They sprung right back into place when I was done. Same here. Easily changed them out. Some folks need to either leave the couplers alone or just hone their skills. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2020 4:08:17 GMT -8
The extended draft gear for the cushion on the SF is nice but it looks bare as hell without a yoke pin. They need to address that, IMO. as it is very apparent that the pin is NOT there; especially on the Santa Fe car. Otherwise, the car is beautiful. |
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Post by snootie3257 on Sept 26, 2020 4:28:33 GMT -8
It was discussed on another site, and I see it on these models. All the models have the uncoupling levers broken off. I guess they left the factory like that. Not on mine. They are a flexible plastic so they were easy to bend out of the way when I swapped couplers. They sprung right back into place when I was done. Are you sure? I changed my couplers out too but didn’t notice. It was simple as you said. Check and see if the tiny crew member can uncouple the car. The handle is broken off. Both ends on mine too. I hope that Athearn has lots of replacements coming! Steve |
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Post by westerntrains on Sept 26, 2020 4:42:19 GMT -8
Not on mine. They are a flexible plastic so they were easy to bend out of the way when I swapped couplers. They sprung right back into place when I was done. Are you sure? I changed my couplers out too but didn’t notice. It was simple as you said. Check and see if the tiny crew member can uncouple the car. The handle is broken off. Both ends on mine too. I hope that ST has lots of replacements coming! Steve Athearn, not ST. |
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Post by snootie3257 on Sept 26, 2020 4:48:21 GMT -8
You’re correct and I corrected my post. That’s what I get for speaking up without any coffee yet🥺 Well that and I was looking at my ST rivet counter undecorated SD40-2s I just received yesterday and had ST on my brain from looking at the big bag of parts there are with these ( I have two ) Steve
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Post by sd40dash2 on Sept 26, 2020 5:52:04 GMT -8
The extended draft gear for the cushion on the SF is nice but it looks bare as hell without a yoke pin. This is a good point. Nicely detailed and properly extended draft gear is an area of innovation or at least attention that has generally been lacking on even the newest RTR cars. I can't imagine it costs any more to design and produce detailed draft gear vs not. I think Accurail, Tangent and Rapido have made great improvements in this area but maybe the other RTR folks could look at improving this on future runs. In the meantime I guess Accurail and Moloco will remain busy selling their nice aftermarket parts. |
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Post by sd40dash2 on Sept 26, 2020 5:55:49 GMT -8
It was discussed on another site, and I see it on these models. All the models have the uncoupling levers broken off. I guess they left the factory like that. I didn't notice it before but now that you pointed out I can now see exactly what you're talking about. It isn't the levers that are broken off but rather the handles. In fact, I just went back and checked and every single one of my cabooses lacks this feature. It doesn't look like the handles were broken off either; it looks like they were never even cast in the first place. Anyone else missing the uncoupling lever handles on your cars? |
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Post by snootie3257 on Sept 26, 2020 5:59:46 GMT -8
I looked at the actual models that they have pictured on the Athearn website and all appear to be missing the handles.
Steve
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Post by 12bridge on Sept 26, 2020 6:38:40 GMT -8
The lack of uncoupling handles goes back to the initial SP Genesis caboose of a few years ago unfortunately.
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Post by cera2254 on Sept 26, 2020 19:00:43 GMT -8
What would be a suitable replacement for the draft gear on the ATSF versions?
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Post by sd40dash2 on Sept 26, 2020 20:08:12 GMT -8
What would be a suitable replacement for the draft gear on the ATSF versions? I'm working on that right now. My Moloco parts do not fit but others in their line might work. Rather than spending money and waiting for Postman Pat, I am making yokes out of styrene strip, replacing the air hose with new scratched and cobbled parts and bending handles out of wire. Wish me luck. |
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Post by fr8kar on Sept 26, 2020 23:36:22 GMT -8
It was discussed on another site, and I see it on these models. All the models have the uncoupling levers broken off. I guess they left the factory like that. I didn't notice it before but now that you pointed out I can now see exactly what you're talking about. It isn't the levers that are broken off but rather the handles. In fact, I just went back and checked and every single one of my cabooses lacks this feature. It doesn't look like the handles were broken off either; it looks like they were never even cast in the first place. Anyone else missing the uncoupling lever handles on your cars? Yes. The handles are not there and were not loose in the boxes. The balance of the lever is there, though. |
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Post by sd40dash2 on Sept 27, 2020 11:29:57 GMT -8
I have prepared new air hoses with their details. You can also see the small bits of wire I made for the missing uncoupling lever handles. The red bits on the right are my answer to the missing yoke pins on the SF van.  This is the new air hose installation. A piece of .005 styrene was installed over the original (incorrect) air hose mounting location.  View from underneath. I haven't looked if Moloco has a draft gear long enough to replace this setup but that would be a lot of work. I would rather just add the missing details or replace the incorrect ones. No matter what, this is all finicky stuff that may exceed the interest level of some.  It is really strange to me that Athearn has omitted the uncoupling lever handles and I thank westerntrains for pointing that out. I followed prototype photos carefully to bend the handles from wire, attached with a tiny drop of ACC and then hand painted red afterwards. I think this looks much better, don't you?  Roster shot showing the installed and painted yoke pin that was missing, along with my solution for the air hose. Mounting this air hose was very finicky as I was trying to adapt the prototype shape and mounting to a model. There isn't very much room under here, so this is my best effort. My workmanship isn't perfect but I still like it better than the factory configuration.  The UP CA-8 was also missing the uncoupling lever handles for some strange reason. Why were these omitted? Anyway, this is my answer to the problem, thanks once again to Tichy wire.  New uncoupling lever handles have been painted red as per prototype practice. I'm much happier with this. I acknowledge all of these were very finicky details that exceed the interest level of many modellers. Then there are other modellers still (RPM etc) who may scoff at my efforts. Ultimately this comes down to personal preference and so these are just my methods. All for now, hope this was of interest.  |
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Post by packer on Sept 27, 2020 17:23:04 GMT -8
What are you sing to get bends that tight and consistent?
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Post by petehuse on Sept 28, 2020 13:20:31 GMT -8
Has anyone tried these new Genesis models on DC only? On my DC only layout, the red LED warning light only seems to light up on the forward end of the caboose, not the back end! If you switch around the orientation, it still lights on the forward side... very strange. (ATSF model)
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