Kirk Reddie and I just got back from the Athearn Press Conference where the N Scale line was unveiled. Running samples of the F59PHI were on hand and special presentation cases of loco, Ford trucks, and billboards were given to the press (Kirk thinks he is going to be able to get it out of my basement.....heh,heh, heh!!!). The Galesburg & Savanna may be the first railroad in the group to have an Athearn N Scale engine polish its rails..... We tried to post pictures but failed. Bill Denton is going to try from his end, and if sucessful, will post to the files or photos section and notice will be sent out shortly. The detail on the F59PHI is really nice.... freestanding detail on the truck sideframes, MicroTrains couplers, excellent detail on the roof and sides, nose contour looks right. Runs very nicely. The Ford trucks have free standing etched stainless mirrors.....and are correctly proportioned and sized for N Scale. The wheels even have the correct pattern from the front single tire to the rear duallies..... The billboards will be a nice addition for any layout... F59PHIs will be out in December, the Bombadier cars in January/February, the trucks and billboards are in production now and should be out in October/November. We also saw some new locomotives at the Atlas booth but the show doesn't open until tomorrow!!! From Chicago..... more tomorrow...... if we can fit posting into our busy social schedule..... Charlie Vlk and Kirk Reddie
I hope the paint job is a little better, the one I saw in HO was a little rough around the edges. But, I still liked it. Are these units fly wheeled? Are they dcc ready?
rsn yes these are flywheeled and will be dcc ready. i have pics from the show and when they come back i will try to post some of them running. on a pisspoor note from the show, atlas' paul graf announced that someone stole the sample vo1000 and it was said athearn also lost a f59. this is bad when people can't wait for that time to buy them and it will ruin it all for those who can.
