Dear Athearn, I wish you would make a...

glennac Apr 15, 2016

  1. Calzephyr

    Calzephyr TrainBoard Supporter

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    For those who were wondering what an F850 was... it is NOT a locomotive... but was fairly powerful... ;)
    [​IMG]
     
  2. WPZephyrFan

    WPZephyrFan TrainBoard Member

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    I would love for Athearn to do the U50, DD35s, DDA40X and all of their turbines.
     
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  3. nscaler711

    nscaler711 TrainBoard Member

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    New SD75Ms!!! Please!!!
    (202, 224 preferably)
     
  4. JMaurer1

    JMaurer1 TrainBoard Member

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    Veranda turbines (or any/all of the turbines). Other than that, just re-run what they already have. MDC old timer ANYTHING. Overtons fill a very nice niche. More of the actual Athearn stuff is too modern for me but I would like to just see them starting running more N scale.

    I get it, when they first started in N, they went overboard and over-saturated the market. The HUGE cardboard boxes were a big mistake as well. In the end, I recall the billboards being dumped for pennies. Still, instead of trying to learn from this mistake, they instead seemed to just abandon N scale and only toss one or two items out to 'cum the water'. All I am saying is give N scale a chance...
     
    WPZephyrFan likes this.
  5. rrjim1

    rrjim1 TrainBoard Member

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    If you were in charge of making a N-scale product, and also make the company money, after looking at all the different items that people here want, what would you produce?
     
  6. Thieu

    Thieu TrainBoard Member

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    Turbines and Overland coaches are the most mentioned items.

    Why does Athearn produce so little n scale? They have done some very nice locomotives and cars, with good quality. So they have the technical capabilities.
     
  7. JMaurer1

    JMaurer1 TrainBoard Member

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    I would run the things that we already have molds for: MDC old timer box and reefers and Overland passenger cars (both pulling good prices on that auction site). Minimal investment to get a quick return. This is almost a 'no brainer'. Then start looking at the other items you already have and can easily run (but aren't duplicated by other mfrs): 53' GSC flat car, 40' wood chip hopper, gunderson well car, wood side caboose. Then take that money and come out with UP turbines and a Baldwin AS-616.
     
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  8. Ghengis Kong

    Ghengis Kong TrainBoard Member

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    I think it would be a tie between DD35/40 and the turbines for profitability for Athearn to produce.
     
  9. Thomas Davis

    Thomas Davis TrainBoard Member

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    I would like to see the express and milk car trucks and some other "parts" made available. I also have several of the mill gons, but maybe I am the only person who really liked those. I'm also a potential customer for the PS 2 covered gon in the original ATSF paint.

    I've been happy with the several Athearn cars I have, they just don't make that much. Given the dominance of Bachmann for the train set crowd (and the "of course we have some N scale, its here somewhere" type hobby shop) and MT as the more serious hobby shop "standard" freight car, it may be difficult to crack the market in a lot of areas. The problem in their line, I think, is that they have a small group of offerings spread over 150 years in terms of time period, so they do not have the dedicated core group of modelers that IM has for its boxcars, or Bluford for their hoppers, or Kato for their passenger sets. I imagine most of us have a few Athearn cars, but very few have "fleets." I think they might do better (even if I don't get what I want) if they were to focus on one or two niche markets. Maybe the F59P and Bombardier cars are a move in that direction.
     
  10. wcfn100

    wcfn100 TrainBoard Member

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    Have you asked them? I know the milk car truck were available last year.

    Jason
     
  11. Calzephyr

    Calzephyr TrainBoard Supporter

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    I agree with the GTELs... veranda style.
    Rio Grande L-131 2-8-8-2 would be a must have as well.
     
  12. Logtrain

    Logtrain TrainBoard Member

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    ANYTHING new in N scale! I am tired of seeing the Athearn news letters and see new HO products and the same old N scale stuff that is a re-run after re-run but in different roadnames.
     
  13. JMaurer1

    JMaurer1 TrainBoard Member

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    Hey, I already suggested anything! Their newsletter has a bunch of HO scale and usually one or two 'charity' N scale items...and usually not very interesting charity items. They have so much N scale that they could do but they elect to not run them...
     
  14. Carl Sowell

    Carl Sowell TrainBoard Supporter

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    I just saw their HO version of the SP MT4 on woo woo woo site. Very nice looking. I would be in for a couple in N scale, hint, hint.

    Carl
     
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  15. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    Obviously this:

    [​IMG]
     
  16. Doug A.

    Doug A. TrainBoard Supporter

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    Well, I'm not currently purchasing any n-scale items to speak of, as I've taken a little detour into Z-Scale for now. But, there are a few things Athearn could make that would garner my attention, and at least one that would be an instant purchase "from beyond":
    -Retooled Thrall Hi-Side gons with stand-alone ladders and body-mounted couplers in FPPX and LCRX. When I return to N, these cars will be numero uno on my list of wants, and I'll likely look at 3D-printed versions at that point and custom etched details and custom decals. But, it would be really nice if Athearn would step up.
    Other possibilities:
    -Containers. I know that Atlas and ScaleTrains.com have made big announcements, but there are still holes to be filled.
    -Acid Tank Cars. Based from the prototype of the HO version.
    -Other Tank Cars. Sky's the limit for N, dozens of very common cars still on the table.
    -Carbon Black covered hoppers. Probably not Athearn's cup of tea, but I had to toss that in there.
     
  17. SPsteam

    SPsteam TrainBoard Member

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    A shrink ray so you can downsize your MT-4s to the correct scale
     

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