I had the chance to stop by my local train pusher and asked him about the Chicago show, in particular Athearn's N scale entry. He told me the demo F59PHI looked and ran well- very quiet, in fact. What I forgot to ask him was the chassis configuration (Chinese metal split-chassis or another style?). He reported to me that the tractors, trucks & billboards looked good as well. Let's hope the production units run as well as the demo- if they do, we're in for good things from the boys in Compton!
Could you ask your "pusher" how much juice they required (power - stall current) to move them - lots or little?
The Athearn unit had a typical split frame drive with truck pickup contacts and frame springs. Nothing exotic. The lights circuit board is screwed into the frame halves in the manner of the E-R Sharknoses (but the unit is not made by the same builder). Expect the unit to be in the same class as Kato. Charlie
Split-frame, eh? Well, at least there's enough weight in the model. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get starting voltages on the demo model (my train pusher didn't have that info). We'll have to wait for the model RR media to come out with that info, since Athearn doesn't seem to be too open about things. Now the question is- is the chassis and drive of Chinese origin?
