Diesel-Electric
Member
Hello there,
You guys remember my post on Athearn GP38-2 (and their diesels) asking if they were good? Well, I took the decision to go ahead and get one as there was positive replies.
Yesturday after a long wait I received my very first Athearn locomotive: RTR GP38-2, Norfolk Southern #5287.
I like to share my experience I had with it.
First, got it out of the box, I noticed a small piece of metal just lying there in the box.
Going thru the exploded parts diagram, I couldn't see any part resembling this piece I found. So after assuming maybe not a part of the locomotive, I decided to go ahead and break in the loco (I run all my new locos for one hour with no cars/load before putting into service).
And, the first problem comes: the "fire cracker" cab/headlight wasn't working! Now, I am going to install constant brightness/directional LED headlights soon, but come on, brand-new locomotive. So I assumed that metal piece was from the light assembly and opened the locomotive. Guess what: the metal strip in the light assembly wasn't touching the lower one. Bent it a bit and voila!
Now, put the shell back on chassis, and opened to 1/2 throttle (DC). Locomotive is really noisy, (my Bachmann GP40 without flywheel(s) is quieter!) But it ran smooth, with good low speed performance. So began the break in.
Now, second problem comes up: just 2 rounds on my track, each time it entered the straight section it made a loud noise similar to that of a bird chirping! I was like "oh no".
I let it run anyway assuming after a few rounds the noise would go away. Well, it got worse. So I stopped the locomotive, And upon inspection, found that the rear truck end axle was wider than the other axles and was rubbing against the side frame. Ran locomotive without side frames, no noise, pushed the two wheels in with fingers, re-installed side frames and no noise!
Now it runs well, and after the break in run, hauled a consist of 6 50' box cars, no problems! Motor is noisy unlike my Proto 1000 GP15-1, Bachmann GP40 and Walthers GP-9u, but hey, who said the prototype made no noise?
What I'm trying to say here is that, it's a pity, because it's really well detailed and painted for the price you pay for it. I would say it is really worth it. But when things like this happen.....and after reading the experience other modellers have had with these locomotives, no wonder Athearns get a bad rap!
I just hope their new Genesis GP38-2 won't follow the same quality control as that would be really bad for them!
Well on a lighter note, I still really like it. So much so, I'm thinking of getting another Athearn RTR GP38-2, a sister NS unit for #5287.
What do you guys think? Have to say?
Still wondering what that small metal piece is.........
You guys remember my post on Athearn GP38-2 (and their diesels) asking if they were good? Well, I took the decision to go ahead and get one as there was positive replies.
Yesturday after a long wait I received my very first Athearn locomotive: RTR GP38-2, Norfolk Southern #5287.
I like to share my experience I had with it.
First, got it out of the box, I noticed a small piece of metal just lying there in the box.
Going thru the exploded parts diagram, I couldn't see any part resembling this piece I found. So after assuming maybe not a part of the locomotive, I decided to go ahead and break in the loco (I run all my new locos for one hour with no cars/load before putting into service).
And, the first problem comes: the "fire cracker" cab/headlight wasn't working! Now, I am going to install constant brightness/directional LED headlights soon, but come on, brand-new locomotive. So I assumed that metal piece was from the light assembly and opened the locomotive. Guess what: the metal strip in the light assembly wasn't touching the lower one. Bent it a bit and voila!
Now, put the shell back on chassis, and opened to 1/2 throttle (DC). Locomotive is really noisy, (my Bachmann GP40 without flywheel(s) is quieter!) But it ran smooth, with good low speed performance. So began the break in.
Now, second problem comes up: just 2 rounds on my track, each time it entered the straight section it made a loud noise similar to that of a bird chirping! I was like "oh no".
I let it run anyway assuming after a few rounds the noise would go away. Well, it got worse. So I stopped the locomotive, And upon inspection, found that the rear truck end axle was wider than the other axles and was rubbing against the side frame. Ran locomotive without side frames, no noise, pushed the two wheels in with fingers, re-installed side frames and no noise!
Now it runs well, and after the break in run, hauled a consist of 6 50' box cars, no problems! Motor is noisy unlike my Proto 1000 GP15-1, Bachmann GP40 and Walthers GP-9u, but hey, who said the prototype made no noise?
What I'm trying to say here is that, it's a pity, because it's really well detailed and painted for the price you pay for it. I would say it is really worth it. But when things like this happen.....and after reading the experience other modellers have had with these locomotives, no wonder Athearns get a bad rap!
I just hope their new Genesis GP38-2 won't follow the same quality control as that would be really bad for them!
Well on a lighter note, I still really like it. So much so, I'm thinking of getting another Athearn RTR GP38-2, a sister NS unit for #5287.
What do you guys think? Have to say?
Still wondering what that small metal piece is.........