Saw the new Athearn flatcars at the LHS this weekend. Nice looking models. I didn't get any as I was concerned about weight issues. Anybody get any yet? On a side note, the flatcars with the the two tractors were only $4 more. A pack of three tractors is about $10-$12?
I saw them too, (At trainmasters in Duluth GA) OH, MY GOD! The detail of this thing. The brake wheel and stirrups are super fine. The deck looks incredible. I had to leave with two. On the loaded cars, the only problem is the tractors are not loaded correctly. Bob Smaus did an excellent article for RMC on loading these flats correctly. The weight issue is no more or less of an issue as is with micro trains flats. I'd heard that Athearn was trying to outdo walthers on the cars they both model. Well, they outdid walthers and themselves. Athearn [ 02. January 2005, 09:58: Message edited by: hal ]
I'm with Hal here. I also picked up a couple of these flats on Friday. (at Trainmaster Models also Hal) One with the tractor load and one without. Great cars and the weight seems to be good for an empty flat. The detail on these cars is great!!!!!!! Athearn has done a great job on this model.
I haven't gotten mine yet. However, I did get the NACC box car and the detail on that was great. Talked with Mark at Rio Grande, he said 2005 was going to be a big year for Athern in nscale which means we should see a lot more.
I picked up some with the tractors, had to chuckle over their loading just two tractors on a 53' flat. It should be carrying six, which fills the deck but nowhere near hits the load capactiy of the car. Putting just two of these JDs on a flat is kind of like buying 4 happy meals for your one kid. Anyway, the detail is great, and the good news is the bogus saddle the tractors rest in is easily pried off the deck. With a bit of touch up, you get cheaper tractors AND new flatcar numbers! Pretty nice, thanks Athearn!
These are definately great cars! I am going to get my hands on a few before they are gone. I took photos this last week of the cars while at work. Click the link for additional photos. http://www.internettrains.com/atnscflca1.html
Just noticed: These little homeruns ride lower than Micro-trains. No need to lower these. Now we need some midwestern roads.
Athearn mentioned they were using their "New" truck and coupler with this car. What exactly did they come with???
I look forward to seeing more, right now I'd settle for pre-production photos of the sd70/75ms, and not the lone CSX photo seen on this site.
Just received mine from Wig Wag. (Thanks George and Debra.) Here is a view of the bottom: Note that the Accumate trucks are neld on by screws. I keep the trucks, at least for now, and remove the trip pins as I am a manual uncoupler. There is enough room for lead weight to fit out of sight under the sides of the frame. Mine weighs 0.6 ounces (19 grams) as is. Great detail. More pics.
Ohhh, cle-verrr. I like the way the centersill is "fattened" to provide for extra weight. This would be completely invisible viewed from top or side, you can only see it when the car is turned over. What an original idea! Did anyone else catch this?
Here they are trickling in, first two John Deere cars, then one of several preordered flatcars. They are really great models and I am glad that Athearn are also making transition era models for my layout. I hope they will build more cars for that era in that quality. It is true, the tractors look a bit lost on the car, but if we load them in "high density packing", we need a lot of tractors and cannot see much of the models Take care, Christoph
I posted this photo a few weeks ago. This is an Athearn flatcar that I reworked by body mounting MT couplers, used plastic tubing to shim around the truck mounting bosses so I could use MT trucks, I built my own blocking for the tractors ( I am going to add a 3rd), sanded the deck bolt heads off while adding a little woodgrain and then weathered the deck using paints and chalk. The car was dull-coated and weathered. A lot of work, but I feel it was worth the effort! Just not sure if I'll do another!
This is one great car, fits a lot of periods. So far, the earliest I can date this type is 1955. Do you mean sideways or the filled looking center section? If sideways, that’s supposedly the spotting feature, common to the GSC flats, like we’re all going to flip over the 1:1 ones to check. The filled center section is hollow, I think and likely shouldn’t really be there. Hate to tell the SP transition era guys, but the number series used is for 1986 Gunderson rebuilds. Fret not, SSW had these GSC flats in 1955. From Lee Gautreaux’s SP site, John Rodgers photo including one of the modified deck: http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/spcars/byclass/flat/f070-92g.htm interesting board pattern. S. D. Marty photo of a Pennsy flat: http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Propst's-photos/prr469433-5708-sdm.jpg I wanted to model this with the Athearn REA trucks (different from these open-top ones). And they don’t fit a 53’6” car (*sigh*) I'll take the 2 tractor load to be a partially unloaded shipment reblocked for transport to the next retailer. For nit-pickers, this is a General Steel Castings 53'6" car. There are other GSC flats in various lengths. I've got a (now identified) metal casting of the 60' version (by NSN?) The Walthers H0 GSC flat, almost always advertised as 54', is, I believe, this very car. Interesting that, even though nowadays everyone seems to want to make their own Bethgon Coalporter, LOL! Alan
