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Post by lars on Jul 22, 2020 3:45:37 GMT -8
I’ve been looking up some older stock items on their website over the past few weeks and it looks like just recently (maybe the last few days) Athearn purged a lot of older stock items from their site. Most stuff before 2014-2015 looks to be gone. I specifically would use the ‘view retired models’ button. Items also come up in a google search but were just directed to the website home page.
Does anyone mind confirming this? Just want to make sure it’s not just me. I really don’t want to look up old stuff on the internet archive if I don’t have to.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Jul 22, 2020 3:57:52 GMT -8
You're right.  What a shame. |
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Post by riogrande on Jul 22, 2020 4:01:08 GMT -8
That sucks. I like to look up retired models on occasion too.
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Jul 22, 2020 4:15:28 GMT -8
As one who has been retired awhile myself I know that lots of folks says they're going to look you up but seldom ever do. I've purged my website, too.
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Post by edwardsutorik on Jul 22, 2020 8:39:29 GMT -8
I'll confirm it. I just tried a number of older items and got nuthin'. And I USED to get somethin'!
Very disappointing.
Ed
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Post by lars on Jul 22, 2020 10:00:18 GMT -8
Very disappointed too. Using the retired model search was a great way to know what was out there if you wanted to track something down on the secondary market.
Times like this I wish I was tech savvy enough to code a bot to scrape the whole site.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Jul 22, 2020 10:55:27 GMT -8
^ Would the waybackmachine help?
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Post by lars on Jul 22, 2020 12:15:28 GMT -8
Started playing around with Athearn on the wayback machine. The site is slow and things could* slip through the gaps in dates. It's not the best but is better than nothing.
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Post by brakie on Jul 22, 2020 16:07:48 GMT -8
This is sad news indeed since I have research many short line IPD boxcars that way I could keep my "treasure" list up to date.. I also used the Bev-Bel web page.
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Post by thebessemerkid on Jul 22, 2020 16:10:23 GMT -8
This is almost as dumb as the infamous Walthers website redesign, which destroyed the greatest parts reference we had.
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Post by brakie on Jul 22, 2020 16:58:47 GMT -8
This is almost as dumb as the infamous Walthers website redesign, which destroyed the greatest parts reference we had. Agreed! Walthers' old website was easy to use for parts and general research. I'll never understand why a manufacturer, a wholesaler or a on line hobby shop feels the need to change things especially if it goes from good to bad. |
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Post by drsvelte on Aug 11, 2020 7:22:49 GMT -8
I emailed Athearn/Horizon a few weeks ago indicating my dismay at their changes in the discontinued model archives. Here is the reply I received today....
"Hi there,
I will forward your sentiments to the web team, and also apologize for the inconvenience the new website has caused. Have a nice day!
Best Regards,
Teddy F."
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Post by riogrande on Aug 11, 2020 8:58:02 GMT -8
I am not optimistic about them returning the model archives, and I know nothing lasts forever, but it was a pretty major loss. Maybe Athearn didn't know how much it was used by their customers.
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Post by edgecrusher on Aug 11, 2020 10:01:06 GMT -8
This is just a best guess on my part but I'd bet its a cost saving move. Every single pic on a page takes up space and web space costs can add up pretty quickly.
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Post by The Ferro Kid on Aug 11, 2020 10:13:36 GMT -8
Should be a Murphy's Law, "New, improved websites are never either, but the owners will not backtrack it." To take just one example, YAHOO "improved" its basic email during the last year, and it still has extremely irritating word-processing wrap-around glitches. These people seem never to use their own creations. I agree that most of the time it is cost-related, and/or the changes are to shove more advertising in yer face.
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Post by edwardsutorik on Aug 11, 2020 11:19:39 GMT -8
This is just a best guess on my part but I'd bet its a cost saving move. Every single pic on a page takes up space and web space costs can add up pretty quickly. Athearn would only pay if the page were displayed. If hardly anyone looks up old stuff, then there would be few pages displayed, and the cost would be low. If the cost is high, it's because so many people are opening pages, thus implying their Customers are using the feature. A lot. I suspect the answer lies elsewhere. Ed |
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Post by stevewagner on Aug 11, 2020 11:25:22 GMT -8
For instance, the firm might not want potential customers to realize just how much prices have increased over the years?
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Post by riogrande on Aug 11, 2020 11:33:54 GMT -8
For instance, the firm might not want potential customers to realize just how much prices have increased over the years? Maybe, but it's probably what other people suggested, a cost cutting measure. |
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Post by The Ferro Kid on Aug 11, 2020 11:38:34 GMT -8
Had to find something to keep a summer intern busy ...
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Post by jonklein611 on Aug 11, 2020 12:29:06 GMT -8
Some of it comes down to website redesigns and what's available. The older products and pages might be in a different database structure. Migrating that information has a cost associated with it. The pages themselves might need to be updated as well (no longer up to today's web standards etc.)
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Post by riogrande on Aug 11, 2020 12:38:56 GMT -8
It's dead Jim.
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Post by lars on Aug 11, 2020 16:09:15 GMT -8
Sent a pm to Janek. Maybe he will weigh in. Even a table listing the Item #, item, road name, number and release year would be helpful.
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Post by edwardsutorik on Aug 11, 2020 17:02:13 GMT -8
Sent a pm to Janek. Maybe he will weigh in. Even a table listing the Item #, item, road name, number and release year would be helpful. Right now, I'm looking at an Athearn GP9. I forget if it's got sound. IF I could look it up in the olden days, I could find out in 30 seconds. I think I'd like more info than just the above. I'd surely like to hear about what happened. And if we can have it back. Ed |
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Post by packer on Aug 11, 2020 17:03:11 GMT -8
I like to look up models because I cannot always get a picture from a buy/sell group.
As an IT guy, they might not want to get or have the storage space to store the old photos and documentation on their servers.
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Post by lars on Aug 12, 2020 3:32:34 GMT -8
Sent a pm to Janek. Maybe he will weigh in. Even a table listing the Item #, item, road name, number and release year would be helpful. Right now, I'm looking at an Athearn GP9. I forget if it's got sound. IF I could look it up in the olden days, I could find out in 30 seconds. I think I'd like more info than just the above. I'd surely like to hear about what happened. And if we can have it back. Ed Item name denotes if it’s w/ DCC and sound or DCC ready. Ideally, the old items just go back up. If there had to be some sort of compromise due to server space, it may be hard to add all the detail info inherent to each run or roadname. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2020 4:57:30 GMT -8
I like to look up models because I cannot always get a picture from a buy/sell group. As an IT guy, they might not want to get or have the storage space to store the old photos and documentation on their servers. Storage costs for low resolution images and text is negligible in this day and age. If they truly can't afford the space, I worry about their business model for the future. |
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Post by jonklein611 on Aug 13, 2020 5:13:10 GMT -8
I like to look up models because I cannot always get a picture from a buy/sell group. As an IT guy, they might not want to get or have the storage space to store the old photos and documentation on their servers. Storage costs for low resolution images and text is negligible in this day and age. If they truly can't afford the space, I worry about their business model for the future. It's not the storage costs, it's the cost of migration to the new database / web standard. |
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Post by drsvelte on Oct 15, 2020 10:15:24 GMT -8
It appears Athearn has restored some of its archival database. A quick sampling indicates that it now goes back to around 2006. Thank you Athearn! 👍👍
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Post by Colin 't Hart on Nov 11, 2020 1:36:00 GMT -8
I'm still missing some stuff, for example PS 2893 cu ft covered hoppers. There are only 48 SKUs listed, but Athearn has done more, for example Milwaukee Road and Burlington Northern.
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Post by lvrr325 on Dec 3, 2020 22:18:57 GMT -8
I wanted to look up some RTR F59PHIs to see if they're DCC ready and no luck.
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