I design and build products for a living. I really like your presentation and think your build quality is surprisingly good ! However, my time is worth more than $15 per hour and this took you way more than 1 hr. If you are retired and have no money to buy multiple turn outs, your video is really helping them. Your music is very appropriate by the way. Not distracting or irritating. I think you are a talented guy. That’s why I have subscribed. 😊
So how in the world did you get those new A-Line female worm couplings onto the metal shaft after removing the originals? I am rebuilding an early 80's Athearn BB SD9 and I could not slip the new worm couplings onto the metal shaft without redrilling the hole. They were way too tight. Then I had to use epoxy to bond them to the metal shaft. Pain in the A$$!
You can also use the BB/RTR motor already in the model, and get one of the Athearn RTR clip on motherboards with the 21 pin socket, and get a 21 pin decoder and speakers if you got a sound decoder. The BB and RTR motors are pretty much on par with the Genesis motors as long as you ensure to grease up everything properly.
I need some help. I will be using the exact Athern retro motor, as shown in your video. Could you please share what each soldering point on the PCB goes to?
Very I informative! I’m not currently building a layout but I would love to jus tint enough space, I was just wondering how you would make your own turnout
With the constant price increases on new sound or even dcc locomotives there may be a rush to buy the Athearn Genesis Motors to install on viewers fleet of older locomotives instead of purchasing the high $300(Ouch) or now over $400(Ouch Ouch) Canadian priced locomotives from hobby stores. I have a number of Athearn Blue Box locomotives and Dcc ready Kato's to retro fit. Thanks for making the video.
Great video, I like how you shut down the Snobs who always make those comments like Why didn't you buy this? Or do it this way? Sadly the Model train hobby has suffered what the Model hobby has dealt with and vice versa. Rivet counters are the worst and worse yet are the Ultra rich snobs who think the more you spend on a loco the better it is and that's just wrong lol. I have Athearn Blue box loco's that will out pull anything made today and that's a fact Jack! Wasn't even the motor either, the newer nickle silver nonsense wheels on loco's loose a ton of tractive effort over the older sintered wheel sets and that alone wins my claim. Even equally measured the new stuff is more geared for noise lovers over actual operation and $400 for a loco that pulls less for just some noises and a few easily added details doesn't justify the costs. DCC has great playability for multiple users at once but that's the only benefit of DCC, Sound just doesn't count because every system out there sounds just as phony as the last and there is no amount of money that help it out, it's just true. I have old Tyco's that will out pull modern noise making junk. Although to be honest that particular Tyco makes more noise than a 747 lol. Nickle silver means spin spin spin, Sintered metal means pull pull pull and are as easy to keep clean as the slippery nickle stuff. Nickle Silver on rolling stock is the best no lies, especially lighted cars.
I think the moment you get your first Genesis loco in your hands, you’ll change your opinion in a heartbeat! It’s not “just a few easily added details”, that’s laughable and absurd. The entire paint job alone is worth the price! It’s immaculate, flawless, and has all the tiniest printing and the 600V stickers etc. Heck just the NUMBER BOARDS alone are worth it. A blue box loco looks terrible with no number boards and I’ve never seen a way to get them besides attempting to apply each digit as a decal, good luck getting all 8 straight aligned! EDIT: front and back thats 16! The fine handrails blow the doors off blue box clunky paperclip-diameter wires. The cab INTERIOR is a glorious sight compared to a blue box stupid metal light bulb tower. You and I both know you’ll never super detail a blue box to even the standard of a Genesis right out of the box, they must have 100 parts altogether.
No blue box locomotive is on par with any of the new Athearn RTR, Roundhouse or Genesis stuff. The only decent blue box engines I have are the ones I painted, super detailed and added Kato motors. One thing about those "Ultra rich snobs".....at least they are selling off their Athearn RTR locos for better stuff - so now you can afford to replace your Tyco engines with pre-owned Athearn. PS: Don't worry about how much another spends on a model train - if the demand wasn't there = those expensive locos wouldn't be made.
Real model railroaders build their own turnouts. I build my own in N scale. i had trouble with some bulk PC board in that the copper cladding was too weak. I will try your supplier if he's still available. Thanks.
Genesis motor upgrades running backwards? I am in the process of converting my Blue Box Athearn F7s to the Genesis ATHG63842 motor. I put it in as others have with the black plastic part of the motor to the front, ran wires from the trucks with the right side being the positive and left the negative (former frame power). I checked and that is how it was connected with the old motors. Got it back together, put it on the track and it ran the opposite direction of all the original motored F7s. For comparison, I put a HO High performance motor ATH 84086 on a frame and the flywheels ran opposite of the Genesis motor. Am I missing something?
Just swap the trucks around. Athearn BB's are simple, if the front is to your left while looking at it, then the trucks power bars should be tab side facing you the bended back of the power tab end away from you. You can do it either way but then you'll have confusing operational errors when you swap engines.
Frankly I wish in HO trains longer than most to you were alive. We got along just fine with nice simple locomotive no sound effects no no DCCC no anyting. I have okay locomotives with sound effects and all that crap PS2 for control and I don't use none of it. Just don't see no use for it. When you got somebody locomotive sound effects running on the layout and gets to be a bunch of cacophonous noise.
I wouldn't say people got along fine back in the "simple days" before DCC... I remember LOTS of people fine-tuning, rebuilding, repowering, re-gearing, etc. to hopefully get different (and even the same brand and model) locomotives to run well together. Amongst other things...
Has anyone added a G2 motor to a Rail Power frame? I'm planning on using a B40-8 frame and Athearn Genesis motor and B + B trucks. Can I just add the retrofit kit to the frame? Or does it need to be isolated from the frame?
How did you do the rock face at 10:33? Did you press a big sheet of crumpled foil into wet plaster on the mountain? It does not look like there are a bunch of the molded rocks that seemed together like you showed earlier.
Hi I always wanted to learn this step of trains but always thought it was above my reach but you explained it well thanks. Have you ever attempted "Y" turn outs?
its in mine. with just a tad adjustment to the old frame. redoing a number of sd40, sd45, sdp45, sdt45, to start with. but even on just dc i had no problem getting up to 10 units to all pull together. (used to belong to a large layout club) just test as to who runs fastest and who runs slowest. line then up fastest in front slowest in the rear. worked great for a 250 car (weighted ) train. (did not need all 10 units).
