GP40X

[Stan]

Anyone have an athearn GP40X high hood. Does it run smoothly (i have no newer athearn units) and what about shell details. Very good, okay, poor?

[Randy Earle]

I have one, but I've never run it. The details are pretty good in my book.

[CIOR]

I have one, I bought the NS version as the unit was the first one I ran out of engine school.

No, it runs horrible, like most of my Athearn RTR stuff.
I plan on doing the "rebuild program" on it, with hard wiring the trucks and board, and motor and all that stuff, hopefully they will run much better that way.

[Stan]

Darn, why cant athearn get their act together on the motors. I love the atlas motors. They can creep along almost where you cant detect the movement. But athearn seems to have better details.

[hotshot3305]

Sept 13, 2008 12:41:15 GMT -5 Stan said:

Anyone have an athearn GP40X high hood. Does it run smoothly (i have no newer athearn units) and what about shell details. Very good, okay, poor?

If you purchase the orginal Southern version that Athearn brought out, the high short hood is seven (7) inches too long and to be correct, this seven inches needs to be removed from between the brake ratchet and the end of the high nose.
We sent the correct information to Athearn during the model design phase, but the nose length was overlooked at the time of production. However, Athearn was told again about the nose length and they revised it on the newer NS models. All high nose locomotives, both Southern and NW, had the older 81" noses and not the newer 88" noses.

Bob

Bob

[hotshot3305]

Sept 13, 2008 18:51:50 GMT -5 hotshot3305 said:

Sept 13, 2008 12:41:15 GMT -5 Stan said:

Anyone have an athearn GP40X high hood. Does it run smoothly (i have no newer athearn units) and what about shell details. Very good, okay, poor?

If you purchase the orginal Southern version that Athearn brought out, the high short hood is seven (7) inches too long and to be correct, this seven inches needs to be removed from between the brake ratchet and the end of the high nose.
We sent the correct information to Athearn during the model design phase, but the nose length was overlooked at the time of production. However, Athearn was told again about the nose length and they revised it on the newer NS models. All high nose locomotives, both Southern and NW, had the older 81" noses and not the newer 88" noses.

Bob

Bob

NSER, if you're interested, here's a scan showing where I made the correction in the length of my Southern GP-40X nose.



Bob

[Stan]

Thanks, I have not bought one yet so I guess it depends on whether I can locate an older one at a good price or just go with new. thanks again for the help

[CIOR]

Several of us have discussed why Athearn fails to catch up with Atlas, P2K, Stewart, Kato and others in their drives. From what many of us think, if they just changed the motors to the Genesis line motor, they would have the better setup. I think their gears have some work also, but I think the motor is the biggest hangup.

However, that said, T55 nailed the gears with the superior helical cut gear. Its by far the most quiet running engine I have ever owned. Just cost a little more for the helical gears.

[MONONC420]

I agree with Matt, the Tower 55 drive is by far the best on the market!
Christian

[Randy Earle]

This post about the short hood should be made of note to all that model High Hoods.

[sd45longhoodfoward]

I have one #7000 it runs great so far i was surprised that it ran so well being an Athearn rtr
but i did some work to it i first of all used some tooth paste in the trucks to seat and mesh the gears i ran it about 20 Min's each direction not actually on track but on a roller system.then i cleaned it out washed the trucks and gears down re lubed with La belle used liquid bearings on motor bearings and it runs just as well as my Kato NS SD 80 not all athearns are equal you do get lucky every now and then.I bought mine at Trainworld $69.00

[CP_8530]

Sept 3, 2010 9:34:33 GMT -5 sd45longhoodfoward said:

...not all athearns are equal you do get lucky every now and then...

I think this is one of the main problems that Athearn needs to adress, consistancy. One shouldn't have to test out half a dozen units at the hobby shop hoping to find one that runs decent.

They'd run a lot nicer if they chucked that motor. The early Proto stuff is basically the Athearn drive cloned, but with a slightly different motor with closer tolerances that runs a lot smoother.

That said, there are ways to tune the motor for better performance. On a few units I chopped 1/3 off the motor brushes and it helped with low speed. The same can be done with the long motor springs (but it's best to do either fix and not both).

[sd45longhoodfoward]

You can find the Total Southern GP 40X touch up on(ncrails.com/harpeGP40X_project_main.htm)It is a very informative on the changes to the Athearn GP40X to make it prototypicalncrails.com/harpeGP40X/bob_southern_gp40X_project_main.htm

[diesel]

I was at the Conn. NMRA show and I asked Athearn reps face to face, "Why does Athearn still have the motor it does in the face of the competition from all the really great running drives of the others."

The response, "Price point." YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! Athearns are not cheap any more. Why do they think keeping that stupid motor is a good idea. If their -9s ran smoothly and they fixed that radiator thing (not as nice as the Atlas or Kato on that detail) they might put Kato outta business at this point. -Bad management, bad decisions. If it wasn't for the not so great running of Athearns I would buy WAY more of them.

[Deleted]

I am afraid I have to agree with you all on the issue of Athearn motors. In fact between that and their flimsy handrails I have decided not to buy their stuff.

That however cuts out some of my favourite locomotives, GP15's, GP40X, SD45-2's, SD60I's, but I just don't feel satisfied with their product. If it were just the handrails I could replace them with Smokey Valley but to remotor a Genesis unit makes it an expensive model.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using ProBoards

[deez]

Unfortunately Athearn is the only GP40X out there. Ive noticed better details on the newer runs though. Both of my GP40X's still run like garbage. I even like the job they did on the underframe and fuel tanks. They're just sucky runners.

[jmlaboda]

If you are looking for inspiration I would recommend Bob Harpe's clinic on modeling a SOU GP40X... PM or email me and I will send you a copy.

[torikoos]

That price point excuse is purely of interest to Athearn, since indeed they're (the RTR stuff) not all that much cheaper than the competition, the money goes into their pocket. However, don't forget they're also releasing way more products than others, so some of that profit is used again to release new or retooled models. However, part of me would hope they release a few less new products, and use the money to retool/redesign that motor....

[sd45longhoodfoward]

well I had found a pretty reasonable solution to the motor problem i had found some Igarashi 12v motors with dual 2mm shafts @$5.70 per motor i did research they went for $30.00 and i also found out they are the same motor that comes in the Broadway Limited diesel locomotives/ i bought flywheels from A-Line @$9.00 per set and you may need some of their drive line products spline shafts yokes etc all which are not expensive so that for about $25.00 per loco you can have a smooth running machine/I had re motored all of my GP40X,even #7000 that ran great i figured if all had they same motors from the same motor lot.so i had bought 2 more units #,s7001&7002 one of the units from a member in here .so now all 3 of Southerns GP40X,s run like a clock in an intermodal train that i had modeled from a photograph of the units pulling 89ft flats with trailers on them/any way the motors are still available in eBay from seller bearbon for $5.70 per unit what ya have loose???with plenty to gain!#,s7001&7002 had to be stripped and repainted and decal ed from Norfolk Southern units back to their original livery Tuxedo fever!!!!!!forever

[Deleted]

Feb 9, 2012 12:35:32 GMT -5 torikoos said:

That price point excuse is purely of interest to Athearn, since indeed they're (the RTR stuff) not all that much cheaper than the competition, the money goes into their pocket. However, don't forget they're also releasing way more products than others, so some of that profit is used again to release new or retooled models. However, part of me would hope they release a few less new products, and use the money to retool/redesign that motor....

Good comment, well made!