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Post by riogrande on May 15, 2012 10:52:12 GMT -8
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Post by SantaFeJim on May 15, 2012 11:43:21 GMT -8
GOOD NEWS.
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Post by calzephyr on May 15, 2012 12:41:53 GMT -8
That is almost the best news yet this month, second only to the this new forum starting up!!!! The MT4 was in that factory for some reason along with the RTR items. I hope they got all of the tooling back and it can be switched to some other factory so we can get the products!!! Larry |
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Post by riogrande on May 15, 2012 13:27:59 GMT -8
I know there was some hand wringing by some observers worrying that the tooling and molds would be tied up in legal wrangling by the Chinese so it's good to see that wasn't a problem and Athearn appears to be getting their assets moved and perhaps getting a few slots at the plant doing the Genesis line. Of course we hope they can get back up to full production so that sounds like it could take some time.
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Post by nw611 on May 15, 2012 14:30:50 GMT -8
RioGrande, I started a thread about ATLAS not releasing new locomotives, not ATHEARN. After all Athearn, in the last 3 years, announced the GP15s, the SD70ACe/M-2s, the GP7/9s (already released), the DDA40X and the GP38-2 (to be released in the next 6 months). Last Atlas Master new locomotive (GP40-2W) was announced in August 2009. I'm afraid it is Atlas in deep trouble with its tooling stuck somewhere in China. Ciao.
Raffaele Galiano
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Post by rhpd42002 on May 15, 2012 14:32:16 GMT -8
Good news, indeed. At least we know the stuff can/will be produced in the near(?) future.  |
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Post by calzephyr on May 15, 2012 14:50:07 GMT -8
RioGrande, I started a thread about ATLAS not releasing new locomotives, not ATHEARN. After all Athearn, in the last 3 years, announced the GP15s, the SD70ACe/M-2s, the GP7/9s (already released), the DDA40X and the GP38-2 (to be released in the next 6 months). Last Atlas Master new locomotive (GP40-2W) was announced in August 2009. I'm afraid it is Atlas in deep trouble with its tooling stuck somewhere in China. Ciao. Raffaele Galiano The Factory that the Athearn tooling was locked up a few months ago and from what I heard, other products from other companies did have tooling there. The news in this post is great for us since many of the future Athearn products were sidelined and now should be rescheduled in some other plant. Time will tell if any portions of the tooling was lost and how soon Athearn can get the products back into production at some other plant. The Atlas model you mentioned should have been here already if it was announced in 2009 but their tooling might have been involved also. There was no mention of any problems from the Atlas representatives as far as I know, but they might have been quiet about the problem, unlike Athearn. Athearn actually told several of us about the tooling problem after the China plant was locked. There was another plant in Chain that was mentioned recently concerning Bachmann having full control over and any products that were on their list might have been delayed. You can always email Atlas and most of the time, you will get an answer from someone in the know of the situation. Larry |
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Post by riggelweg on May 15, 2012 16:39:54 GMT -8
Excellent news indeed.
Now, when is Athearn going to announce the Big Blows?!?
;D
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Post by riogrande on May 15, 2012 17:16:18 GMT -8
RioGrande, I started a thread about ATLAS not releasing new locomotives, not ATHEARN. After all Athearn, in the last 3 years, announced the GP15s, the SD70ACe/M-2s, the GP7/9s (already released), the DDA40X and the GP38-2 (to be released in the next 6 months). Last Atlas Master new locomotive (GP40-2W) was announced in August 2009. I'm afraid it is Atlas in deep trouble with its tooling stuck somewhere in China. Ciao. Raffaele Galiano That's fine Raffaele, but this topic is news about Athearn, which I tend to be more interested in because Athearn tends to be more western oriented and make stuff I like. As for Atlas, as Mr Tom Haedrich pointed out, Atlas was near to resolving their production issues so I take that at face value and am not afraid they are deep in trouble. |
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Post by calzephyr on May 15, 2012 17:45:37 GMT -8
Excellent news indeed. Now, when is Athearn going to announce the Big Blows?!? ;D Now I would go for that announcement!!! Is the the type you are asking for? This one is O scale. Larry  |
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Post by daveplummer on May 15, 2012 17:46:05 GMT -8
Why not consider getting the heck out of China all together? Surely there is a better alternative.
Dave
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Post by calzephyr on May 15, 2012 18:19:40 GMT -8
Why not consider getting the heck out of China all together? Surely there is a better alternative. Dave Dave Every country where labor is really inexpensive will have a learning curve for quality and I remember the first Korean brass products back in the mid 1970 era. I soldered half the small parts onto the model after it was cleaned for painting. In a few years, they became the premium builder but it took several years. The recent run of the BLI Daylight GS4 from China was loaded with problems that should have been found and corrected if any Quality Control was in place. I had two reserved and took both of them but they are now nice display items for the most part. I normally collect UP,SP and SF so when the Intermountain AC12 came out, it seemed to be a great model to purchase. It turned out to be made in China and had big problems and even the second run had about the same problems. I have three of the AC12's that are now display locomotives. We do need better feedback the companies to make sure they know what we want and hopefully, get better quality items. I hope our industry can find a quality builder any place they want to do business, but since the prices now reflect quality for the lastest DCC sound models, they should get better quality models to us. Larry |
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2012 19:37:32 GMT -8
Not to throw cold water on the party. But about the only good news was Athearn didn't loose the tooling or the major parts at least. Wake up and and have a good strong cup of coffee folks, for the 800 pound gorilla is still sitting square on Athearn's chest. Athearn is missing projected arrival dates on the Genesis line with clock work regularity. The DDA40X has been pushed back twice so far, we'll see if they can get the June date to stick. Other pieces have also been delayed. So if the factory producing the Genesis line is going to find time to do a little and I believe it will truly be a little of the RTR line, what does this mean for the entire line?. They are having problems getting the Genesis out the door and then Athearn is going to add the RTR line?  ? So the time from announcement to arrival can be measured in multiple years and not months or a year? My dealer was told by Athearn NOT to expect ANY RTR in 2012. He was also told it could be well into 2013 before ANY RTR begins to trickle out of China. Seeing that it is now mid-May, that statement by Athearn to my LHS seems spot on. So before we have sugar plum fairies dancing in our minds, of NEW products, lets see how long it takes for Athearn and its still screwed up production in China to actually get SOMETHING OUT THE DOOR. |
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Post by Donnell Wells on May 15, 2012 19:57:51 GMT -8
I'm right there with you Larry!!! I'll take #25 or #27
DonnellNow I would go for that announcement!!! Is the the type you are asking for? This one is O scale. Larry
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Post by coaldrag on May 15, 2012 20:04:02 GMT -8
I'd rather see Genesis take priority over the RTR. Get stuff out the door to sell. As far as missing dates, I'm sure some of these dates are best guess. Remember that Athearn probably is't the only vendor the factory has to worry about. There are only so many production slots. If one order falls behind, everything after that gets delayed too. Missed dates are nothing new and is SOP. The longer it takes to get out the door also delays being able to have money coming in. Athearn is not delaying anything, China is. The only way to get a more accurate dates is what MTH and Bauchmann are doing, having your own factory ....
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2012 3:48:12 GMT -8
I'd rather see Genesis take priority over the RTR. Get stuff out the door to sell. As far as missing dates, I'm sure some of these dates are best guess. Remember that Athearn probably is't the only vendor the factory has to worry about. There are only so many production slots. If one order falls behind, everything after that gets delayed too. Missed dates are nothing new and is SOP. The longer it takes to get out the door also delays being able to have money coming in. Athearn is not delaying anything, China is. The only way to get a more accurate dates is what MTH and Bauchmann are doing, having your own factory .... I agree with this post...I'd rather see the Genesis line take priority over the RTR line. |
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Post by alco539 on May 16, 2012 5:42:52 GMT -8
The tooling was "held hostage" by the factory, bank, whomever. This comes by way of my LHS owner (his own words), who was just at a meeting in Chicago with Horizon (owner of Athearn). Also, Bachmann is owned by Kader, the manufacturer of many hobby products, including model trains made in China. They also bought Sandra Kahn, who was another manufacturer of model railroad items, Atlas had a lot of production there. This has been discussed before on the various forums. I only bring it up, because although this "news" is good, it's not great for us modelers, as long as our items are made somewhere else. Moving production is just not in the cards, at the present time. To use an overused phrase "it is what it is". Regards Charley.
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Post by calzephyr on May 16, 2012 6:27:19 GMT -8
I'm right there with you Larry!!! I'll take #25 or #27
DonnellNow I would go for that announcement!!! Is the the type you are asking for? This one is O scale. Larry Donnell This is an ALCO HO models painted for #24. It runs well but not as detailed as an Overland Turbine. Larry  |
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Post by riogrande on May 16, 2012 6:54:54 GMT -8
Not to throw cold water on the party. But about the only good news was Athearn didn't loose the tooling or the major parts at least. I haven't really seen any posts here to think suddenly everything will be back to the way it was. No cold water that I can see. The info quoted in the first post is taken only for what it is worth, and that one important hurdle to getting back into production has been overcome. Even with the tooling being released, I wouldn't expect much from the RTR line until next year either realistically. We might see trickle before the end of the year maybe if Athearn gets the plant that is doing the Genesis to put a few items into the schedule. |
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Post by calzephyr on May 16, 2012 7:18:21 GMT -8
Not to throw cold water on the party. But about the only good news was Athearn didn't loose the tooling or the major parts at least. I haven't really seen any posts here to think suddendly everything will be back to the way it was. No cold water that I can see. The info quoted in the first post is taken only for what it is worth, and that one important hurdle to getting back into production has been overcome. Even with the tooling being released, I wouldn't expect much from the RTR line until next year either realistically. We might see trickle before the end of the year maybe if Athearn gets the plant that is doing the Genesis to put a few items into the schedule. No doubt, it will take time to get the production back into the schedule at a different builder. The end of this year or early next year will probably be the first time we get any new products from the tooling that was recovered. I am hoping the MT4 tooling that was recovered is complete and Athearn can import the model again soon. Larry |
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Post by dti406 on May 16, 2012 7:49:18 GMT -8
I do not care if Athearn ever brings any of that RTR crap out again anyway, most of it was stuff that was incorrect anyway and since they won't produce undecs  , I do not buy anything from Athearn anyway. And if they did make a painted car that I may want, I have to do research on it as they paint so many foobies that I get tired of checking them out. Rick J |
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Post by espeenut on May 16, 2012 8:53:41 GMT -8
...just how long have we been waiting for the Genesis MT4? I can't remember that far back anymore...
...fortunately it's really the last steamer that I "must" have, hopefully it will be a good runner as all my others, like those that calzephyr has mentioned, are hangar queens that all look very pretty but won't turn a wheel without a failure of some kind...
Lorne
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Post by riogrande on May 16, 2012 9:10:55 GMT -8
I do not care if Athearn ever brings any of that RTR crap out again anyway, most of it was stuff that was incorrect anyway and since they won't produce undecs , I do not buy anything from Athearn anyway. Rick J I would like to point out that Athearn RTR includes alot of good stuff which is far from "crap", including their SD45's, tunnel motors, 40 and 45 foot Fruehauf z-van's, some of their 2-bay and 3-bay covered hoppers are quite nice, and some of the Genesis PC&F 50' box cars were put into the RTR line later on and those are quite accurate for many RR versions. Some of it is quite nice! Lorne Miller commented this about two Athearn RTR models: "Chris Clune who also did the Athearn SD40T-2 and 45T-2's. These are masterpiece models of an important sub type of the SD40-2". I agree , they are master piece models! Yes, I realize that not everyone models SP or other things which make use of Athearns more awesome RTR models, but you can't generalize and call them crap. |
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Post by calzephyr on May 16, 2012 9:15:40 GMT -8
...just how long have we been waiting for the Genesis MT4? I can't remember that far back anymore... ...fortunately it's really the last steamer that I "must" have, hopefully it will be a good runner as all my others, like those that calzephyr has mentioned, are hangar queens that all look very pretty but won't turn a wheel without a failure of some kind... Lorne Lorne/ The MT4 holds a lot of promise for me since the pre-war version ran very well, but I wanted the later version with the sky line. The latest Intermountain AC12 have been announced with a new motor, but I remotored one of mine and changed out that LED for the headlight. Just taking that thing apart was a procedure that requires a lot a talent and time. Even after the motor was fixed, the lack of springing for the drivers limits its use to very good trackwork. Larry |
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Post by Donnell Wells on May 16, 2012 9:57:46 GMT -8
Your UP #24 really looks good! I am not a UP modeler, but I am a fan of BIG power! I also like the DDA40Xs, as well as the DD35s and SD40-2 snoots.
DonnellDonnell This is an ALCO HO models painted for #24. It runs well but not as detailed as an Overland Turbine. Larry
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Post by Donnell Wells on May 16, 2012 10:25:54 GMT -8
Hi Rick,
I'm going to have to side with Lorne and Riogrande. Granted, some of the RTR projects could have been better, like the GP35 and GP60M/B, but those were early RTR releases before they really started investing in upgrades for the ex-RPP stuff.
A couple cars I wish they would have revisited are PS 4740cf and ACF 5250cf covered hoppers. I think a rennovation like what they did to the MDC FMC 4700cf covered hopper, with new end ladders and etched roof walks would have gone over well. Plano makes some very nice replacement parts for either car:
www.planomodelproducts.com/chopper_scq.html
But cutting out all the the thick ladder rung, and then drill and forming all those grabs can get a bit tedious. Especially, if you are trying to do a unit train!
Donnell
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Post by Donnell Wells on May 16, 2012 10:36:29 GMT -8
Hi Lorne and Larry,
I hadn't planned on buying an MT4. However, a pre-war version of the Sunset Limited would be a welcomed addition to my growing fleet of passenger trains!
Donnell
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Post by riogrande on May 16, 2012 11:21:36 GMT -8
Donnell,
I agree. I have seen a few others dis the Athearn RTR line but I always have my rebuttal loaded and ready for those kind of comments. In another forum when a new person asked for feedback about the Genesis and RTR lines, one member posted that the RTR line was "low quality and entry level" as his generalization. That really wound me up, mainly because that was pattently false and would mislead any noob.
The problem with Athearns RTR line is it includes a wide range or products of which some is truthfully warmed over blue box items, although some are warmed over nicely.
At the bottom end is the Athearn "Globe" F7 with the very crude 1950's shell, although painted well, it is still a sow's ear. Some of the other blue box models are fine, they have better paint jobs and metal wheels but still basically the same.
Athearn has done a nice job of upgrading some of the older models, including the MDC hoppers, like the 5-bay rapid discharge and the Thrall High Side gondola's - they have nice detail, separate grab irons and nice paint jobs.
Some of the newer RTR stuff like the 65' mill gon is nicely done, the 3-bay P-S covered hoppers etc.
Some of the old blue box engines have only minimal improvements like the GP40-2 is still not DCC ready, and has few upgrades - still pretty basic, although the paint is very good. Then there are the ex-Genesis PC&F box cars in the RTR line, which are nice and accurate representations of many prototypes. The tunnel motors are awesome.
The problem is there is a wide range of RTR from basic to nearly Genesis in detail and quality - sans the motor for the engines and this causes some to call RTR crap when most are certainly not. I am a big fan of Athearn RTR, but I am also selective and pick what is nicely done and appropriate matches to the prototype.
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2012 11:40:09 GMT -8
- sans the motor for the engines and this causes some to call RTR crap Ahhhhhhhhh the RTR line motor which is should be called the Forest Gump motor......for its "like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get" ;D |
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Post by nw611 on May 16, 2012 11:48:59 GMT -8
I agree on the good quality of recent Athearn RTR models. One of the best is the SW1500, almost Genesis quality. This model buried forever the BLI SW1500, announced long long time ago, that has been probably abandoned. On BLI website it was on the "delivery schedule" until last week, but now has been deleted. Ciao.
Raffaele Galiano
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