Dee Das
January 20th, 2008, 06:00 AM
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2374/1817799022_f28358e8da.jpg?v=0
Athearn's new MP15AC is a real bonus for SOO fans. It is available as a straight DC model or with DCC/sound. I have recently acquired one of each.
The MP15AC models owned by the SOO were acquired when the SOO took over the Milwaukee Road. Most were just black-patched and ran around as Bandits. Some were painted in the SOO red and white and some made it into the SOO's Candy Apple switcher scheme. Some of these units exist in the CP's "Gilded Rodent" scheme. They are quite a common sight around the twin cities area. Frederic Hyde's 1993 SOO Review lists 32 units on roster with another 32 shown as retired.
Many of us SOO modelers have yearned for an MP15AC for years and now Athearn has answered our prayers. After contemplating and attempting a kitbash with an Athearn SW1500 and some parts cut out of a SD40-2T's rear end, I gave up and put the parts away. Now I'm glad I didn't finish the attempt as my efforts would not have come close to this model.
The shell is a work of art. The radiator intake grills are see-through and so are the grills covering the radiator shutters on top of the hood. There is a full cab interior and the steps leading down from the cab to the rear platform are also see-through. It will pull at least 15 to 20 cars (weighted to NMRA standards) with ease, on level track. Engine compartment door hinges are faithfully reproduced and the "knuckle-buster" door latches easily rival Canon & Co's door latches. Feels like you could reach in there and grab the handles. The louvered doors are also well done. The handrails and the stanchions are works of art and while delicate are not that easy to damage. This is easily the best scale model (as far as fidelity to the prototype is concerned) that Athearn has done. The units are available painted in the SOO red/white scheme and are available in three different numbers. Plastic couplers are supplied with this unit and apart from changing these to Kadees, you wont have to do a thing. The unit come ready to run right out of the box, even the handrails are applied. Air hoses and coupler cut bars come installed. Some units have hood-top-mount bells applied. The typical SOO three chime horn and a flashing beacon are applied. The beacon even comes mounted on the proper (for the SOO) stand on the engineers side of the cab. Etched metal wipers are applied to the windows. The SOO units have an all-weather window applied on the engineers side and a sunshade on the conductors side. There is a whip antenna base centered on the rear part of the roof. One discrepancy that I see is that the all-weather window is painted red instead of being in its natural aluminum color. The units are also available painted for the Milwaukee road for you black-patch fanatics.
The DC model:
The straight DC model runs just fine. Its starts up and runs at a very low voltage. I put one on my test track (MRC Tech II pack) with a Kato powered ConCor MP15DC and it started up and reached the end of the track before the Kato unit even started moving! Switching is a joy with this unit. It is very controllable and precise with the power pack that I used.
The DCC/sound equipped model:
On DC, the sound started up at a little over a quarter turn (MRC Tech II) and the unit starts running at about half throttle. After a short start up sequence, the unit goes into idle and the it sounds very EMD-like to me. Increasing the throttle slowly makes the unit notch up prototypically. The supplied remote control allows you to ring the bell, blow the horn and joy of joys, turn the beacon on and off. The rotating beacon effect is well done. You also have "coupler crash", brake release and a glad-hand disconnect sounds. The remote also lets you turn the headlights on and off. The lights are directional, coming on in the direction of travel. The lights dim when the unit is stopped and brighten up just before the unit starts running. Still in DC mode; you can select different bell sounds, bell frequency and bell volume. Provision is also made for prime mover volume, several different horns sounds and horn volume. Current draw with the unit pulling 5 cars up a (about) 5+ percent grade was about 250 mA. This was with the sound and beacon going. You can hear the prime mover sounds, bell and horn simultaneously. Very impressive!
I haven't had a chance to try it out on a DCC layout yet. There have been some complaints of sluggish running, jerking at low speeds and unpredictable start of movement while running on DCC. Most of these items, I'm sure, can be addressed with programming adjustments. If nothing else, the positive running characteristics on DC show that it should be able to run well on DCC.
Prices (street):
DC version: $99.00
DCC/sound version: $160.00
Shortcomings:
The paint is a little thick.
The fuel tank should have stuck out more on each side. It doesn't protrude on either side of the walkway like it should.
Athearn promised ditch lights on these unit but the production models didn't have any. However, they have so exceeded my expectations that I cannot hold that against them. I can always add the ditch lights later.
The Catcliffe Demon blog has another review:
CLICK HERE (http://catcliffedemon.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/athearns-mp15ac-impresses/)
-Dee Das
images posted acknowledge the copyright owners at the bottom of each image.
Athearn's new MP15AC is a real bonus for SOO fans. It is available as a straight DC model or with DCC/sound. I have recently acquired one of each.
The MP15AC models owned by the SOO were acquired when the SOO took over the Milwaukee Road. Most were just black-patched and ran around as Bandits. Some were painted in the SOO red and white and some made it into the SOO's Candy Apple switcher scheme. Some of these units exist in the CP's "Gilded Rodent" scheme. They are quite a common sight around the twin cities area. Frederic Hyde's 1993 SOO Review lists 32 units on roster with another 32 shown as retired.
Many of us SOO modelers have yearned for an MP15AC for years and now Athearn has answered our prayers. After contemplating and attempting a kitbash with an Athearn SW1500 and some parts cut out of a SD40-2T's rear end, I gave up and put the parts away. Now I'm glad I didn't finish the attempt as my efforts would not have come close to this model.
The shell is a work of art. The radiator intake grills are see-through and so are the grills covering the radiator shutters on top of the hood. There is a full cab interior and the steps leading down from the cab to the rear platform are also see-through. It will pull at least 15 to 20 cars (weighted to NMRA standards) with ease, on level track. Engine compartment door hinges are faithfully reproduced and the "knuckle-buster" door latches easily rival Canon & Co's door latches. Feels like you could reach in there and grab the handles. The louvered doors are also well done. The handrails and the stanchions are works of art and while delicate are not that easy to damage. This is easily the best scale model (as far as fidelity to the prototype is concerned) that Athearn has done. The units are available painted in the SOO red/white scheme and are available in three different numbers. Plastic couplers are supplied with this unit and apart from changing these to Kadees, you wont have to do a thing. The unit come ready to run right out of the box, even the handrails are applied. Air hoses and coupler cut bars come installed. Some units have hood-top-mount bells applied. The typical SOO three chime horn and a flashing beacon are applied. The beacon even comes mounted on the proper (for the SOO) stand on the engineers side of the cab. Etched metal wipers are applied to the windows. The SOO units have an all-weather window applied on the engineers side and a sunshade on the conductors side. There is a whip antenna base centered on the rear part of the roof. One discrepancy that I see is that the all-weather window is painted red instead of being in its natural aluminum color. The units are also available painted for the Milwaukee road for you black-patch fanatics.
The DC model:
The straight DC model runs just fine. Its starts up and runs at a very low voltage. I put one on my test track (MRC Tech II pack) with a Kato powered ConCor MP15DC and it started up and reached the end of the track before the Kato unit even started moving! Switching is a joy with this unit. It is very controllable and precise with the power pack that I used.
The DCC/sound equipped model:
On DC, the sound started up at a little over a quarter turn (MRC Tech II) and the unit starts running at about half throttle. After a short start up sequence, the unit goes into idle and the it sounds very EMD-like to me. Increasing the throttle slowly makes the unit notch up prototypically. The supplied remote control allows you to ring the bell, blow the horn and joy of joys, turn the beacon on and off. The rotating beacon effect is well done. You also have "coupler crash", brake release and a glad-hand disconnect sounds. The remote also lets you turn the headlights on and off. The lights are directional, coming on in the direction of travel. The lights dim when the unit is stopped and brighten up just before the unit starts running. Still in DC mode; you can select different bell sounds, bell frequency and bell volume. Provision is also made for prime mover volume, several different horns sounds and horn volume. Current draw with the unit pulling 5 cars up a (about) 5+ percent grade was about 250 mA. This was with the sound and beacon going. You can hear the prime mover sounds, bell and horn simultaneously. Very impressive!
I haven't had a chance to try it out on a DCC layout yet. There have been some complaints of sluggish running, jerking at low speeds and unpredictable start of movement while running on DCC. Most of these items, I'm sure, can be addressed with programming adjustments. If nothing else, the positive running characteristics on DC show that it should be able to run well on DCC.
Prices (street):
DC version: $99.00
DCC/sound version: $160.00
Shortcomings:
The paint is a little thick.
The fuel tank should have stuck out more on each side. It doesn't protrude on either side of the walkway like it should.
Athearn promised ditch lights on these unit but the production models didn't have any. However, they have so exceeded my expectations that I cannot hold that against them. I can always add the ditch lights later.
The Catcliffe Demon blog has another review:
CLICK HERE (http://catcliffedemon.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/athearns-mp15ac-impresses/)
-Dee Das
images posted acknowledge the copyright owners at the bottom of each image.