Athearn blue boxes


J

jamesthetrainenthusiast

New Member
Hi all, I am new to the hobby (my dad and I did some model railroading nearly 25 years ago) so I don't really count that time. Anyways, I like to buy up some old blue box locos as they are fairly cheap and I practice painting, weathering, detailing, etc. on them. I am wondering what to do about an SDP40 I have that has metal side frames. They are brittle and some brake parts are broken off. Is there somewhere I can find replacement metal frames or even the entire truck assembly in the form of an upgrade? Thoughts please?
 
Hi James, and welcome to the forum! You can always pick up stuff on ebay, especially if you are looking for practice material. That is where I bought almost everything for quite a while.

There is a learning curve on how to bid, and what to expect. I would recommend on starting small. also pay attention to the sellers rating and number of transactions.
 
jamesthetrainenthusiast said:
Hi all, I am new to the hobby (my dad and I did some model railroading nearly 25 years ago) so I don't really count that time. Anyways, I like to buy up some old blue box locos as they are fairly cheap and I practice painting, weathering, detailing, etc. on them. I am wondering what to do about an SDP40 I have that has metal side frames. They are brittle and some brake parts are broken off. Is there somewhere I can find replacement metal frames or even the entire truck assembly in the form of an upgrade? Thoughts please?
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ebay is my go to source, but I also frequent local swap meets or train shows. Many hobby stores even have 2nd hand areas. It is often cheaper to buy a second unit for parts than it is to buy the part. It also doesn't have to be an exact match. I'm guessing any truck off an Athearn SD unit will work. You might want to go on to HO Seeker and see if you can find the part lists.
 
Train shows can often have parts and Athearn blue box stuff. Try to find a train show in a large city near you and go.
 
I am in no way connected with this hobby shop other than being a long time customer, but the owner has a nice selection of items on his E-Bay site. I'm sure if you watch the weekly postings you'll find some Blue Box and older model railroad items.

Southsidetrains.com

Just an suggestion.

Greg
 
Don't know if Athearn/Horizon Hobbies stocks (newer) replacement trucks, like they used to, but you might try their website.

Good luck, and welcome to the forums!
 
My NMRA local division (PCR-Coast) has a silent auction every meeting. Everyone is trying to get a small return out of their obsolete blue box collections. Everything from Megow kits to newer RTR "junk" is available to bid on. You get to see and even touch the items before you bid. Many have had trucks and couplers replaced. Bidding usually starts at $1.00 for a box of up to 20 blue box era kits. Last meet (March 4, 2017) there were over 300 bidding lots. I didn't find anything I wanted this last time but who knows. I once missed out on a pair of Bruce's Trainshop resin SP H-70-11 Ballast Hoppers by leaving too early.

Answer may be to see if your local NMRA division has similar opportunities to acquire stuff cheaply. You do have to join the National Model Railroad Association, manyin the hobby look upon the organization with disgust so don't flaunt it. But there can be some benefits as well. I personally am not into using the organization for personal aggrandizement or validation through the constant competition mentality but it does have some uses.
 
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