Very thorough review, and because I haven't looked at model trains for quite awhile, I had never heard of ScaleTrains, but since I am planning to build my first layout, and because I like the ESU Loksound 5 decoder sounds, I think I'm going to go with ScaleTrains if I'm considering buying a DCC encoder equipped locomotive.
Great comparison. I really want to like Athearn, they were one of the first locomotives I got which set my whole passion into motion - but I find myself wanting the ScaleTrains to win. I think its a "big guy" Horizon Hobby thing vs ScaleTrains, which is a smaller company made up of previous Athearn engineers who want to make a their own product. Both have small issues, but I appreciate that I get quick responses from ScaleTrains and a real person on the phone, vs dealing with Horizon Hobby. l appreciate the teardown as well, lots of people will end up taking their stuff apart, either for maintenance , upgrades, or even curiosity. Athearn makes a great locomotive, but I sense more passion and detail for the modeler with the Scaletrains.
I feel the same way! I still remember my Athearn blue box SW1500's being the pride of my railroad growing up and want to like Athearn more but Scaletrains has really but putting out some awesome stuff the last few years and has been rather consistent with price and quality.
@@ConrailSteve I bought my first ScaleTrains loco completely by accident. Someone I know was selling a used Operator Series SD40-2 with Loksound at a price I couldn’t resist. It’s one of my favorite locos now. I didn’t realize that ScaleTrains included ex-Athearn people, but that explains why the locos are so close in quality. I’m actually a bigger fan of ScaleTrains detail , but prefer Soundtraxx sound, so I’m usually buying Athearn. And I still own Blue Box SW1500’s that I’ll never part with.
Thanks for the side-by-side review, each are good in their own fashion, but I lean towards ScaleTrains. Keep an eye on the ScaleTrains, I have had 4 failures with this run of AC4400's, bad components on the motherboard leading to failures of the decoder. The 2nd complete failure caused the shell to melt directly above the decoder. I just sent my AC4400 back to ScaleTrains for a 2nd time (the 1st 2 they just replaced the whole unit), giving them yet another chance. If it fails again, I will perform my own surgery by replacing the motherboard with a Nix Decoder Buddy
Thank you for watching! Ill have to watch my Scaletrains AC4400’s closely when I start to run them for issues. They currently are awaiting renumbering and weathering.
First time watching and liked and already subscribed. I Had to laugh, as I knocked a handrail loose opening a new Athearn Genesis SD45-2 last weekend. This was a really objective comparison and well presented.
Thank you for watching and subscribing! Those dang handrails always seem to pop out but I’m glad they do rather than being glued in and impossible to remove if needed.
I had similar stair problems on my Scaletrains locomotive that I bought last Fall. I spoke to one of the Scaletrains repair representatives and he basically said that the stairs were very sensitive. A very very tiny bit of glue could be used to keep them on, but one must be very careful as to not make the glue noticeable. I would suggest that folks with this problem reach out to Scaletrains to get better and more detailed device on what type of glue to use and how to reattach.
Its a shame the stairs come loose and come off on some models but it's all part of getting a model that is detailed to the high level that they come in now.
Scaletrains has the best motors. As one who operates DC, Kato / Atlas motors were the gold standard in smoothness and quietness. Scaletrains was unable to find a satisfactory motor for their models.....so they make their own! I know that this makes no difference to those who run sound though.
I have been very happy with the Scaletrains motors myself as well. I run sound myself in everything but I still want the motors to run quiet. Something about the louder motors always gives me the feeling that something is not right with them and something on them is wearing out thus making the noise.
Thank you for watching! I enjoy Kato as well but detail wise they aren't in the same ballpark as Scaletrains and Athearn as far as right out of the box. I do have a healthy amount of Kato SD40's to detail and build though!
Thank you, Sparky! Athearn VS Scaletrains is really almost like the Chevy VS Ford in the car world. At the end of the day it really comes down to everyone's individual preferences.
I like both of them but I have way more Scale Trains models than Athearn. The fact that Athearn doesn't have a "keep alive" power booster installed is disappointing & you pay more for a Athearn than a Scale Trains. Another disappointment.
The keep alive not being a factory addition from Athearn is rather disappointing. Price wise for the DC/DCC Ready models retail price actually was the same for both Athearn and Scaletrains. The problem with Athearn is they always only advertise the list price for models when alot of the time they are much cheaper at a store for sale.
On my ST Dash 9 I bought bout 2 years ago, I found a missing bottom step, when I unboxed it. NOT a good start to the day when that happens. My one gripe I have with all ST models, is their plastic couplers dont have trip pins.I uncouple with the KD uncoupler ramps, & HAVING to change out the couplers to have trip pins, was a real PAIN. Wouldnt it have been just as easy to put trip pins on, & those that dont want them, can remove them with wirecutters in a jiffy.My first attempt at replacing the couplers was trying to put the"ole no5 s" in them. WELL, fu..k me, what a cockup. I was so peeved I emailed ST with my disgust, & they told me I should use the whisker coupler. That was fine but in the meantime, I had destroyed a 3 set of covered hopper stirrups.FFS!! I would have been ok with their plastic couplers IF there had been trip pins on them. I was cursing ST for a long time after this. One piece of luck was those hoppers were "operator" series at like $45NZ. If they had been RCounter at around $70-80NZ I dont know what would have happened. I would also buy ST sound equipped locos purely for the ESU decoders. For DCC ready locos? it would be a toss up. Thanks for the comparison video, Cheers Michael NZ
The steps seem to be a common problem on today's super detailed locomotives unfortunately. As far as the couplers go, I have had the opposite experience in a way. I don't use magnetic uncouplers and always remove them and have had a number of times detail parts as well as coupler boxes have broken trying to cut them off. I will agree that changing couplers out today with how fine detailed everything is is a chore. Thank you for watching!
Great Video! Great timing with this video and showing the differences! Both look great but i think Scale Trains is the new "leader of the pack"! I personally think Scale Train color is alot better and detail is alot better also i think they sound better. Also i am a fan of ESU LokSound and i do like the weathered wheels!
Which one has the easier access to pop off the wheel covers so that you can access the gears to clean and lubricate them down the road? I have found through personal experience and confirmed through other RU-vid videos that you cannot access the truck gears on Scale Trains, their SD40-2 being a prime example.
This is something I will keep in mind to include in future review/ comparison videos. I know to remove the trucks on either model would require disconnecting wiring and removing the weights but as far as disassembling the trucks both I believe would be difficult due to the fine detail on each. I have never disassembled a Scaletrains truck before but will have to attempt it in the future to find out how bad it is. Excellent question/ comment thank you for asking this!
And the ST has a ground light on both sides, but the Athearn only has one on the conductor side. Athearn is saying it's road number specific, but I haven't been been able to confirm if the prototype is like that. My gut feeling is Athearn messed up, and they haven't figured out a reasonable fix yet.
New subscriber. Qx: how do you battle basic dust from collecting on your layout? Do you cover it when not using it? If so, how? Ty, South Milwaukee Greg (fan of: DM&IR, C&NW, TMR, Soo Line, BN, GB&W, CSX, CR, Chicago area, WC, M&SP)!
Hello and thank you for subscribing! Dust so far hasn't been a major issue on the layout yet. With the backdrops being almost 3FT tall past the top of the layout it almost makes the layout into a separate room by itself and I don't have any HVAC vents going into that area. What little dust I run into I tend to wipe off with a cloth carefully but haven't had to do that much in the 4 years I have been working on the layout so far.
I prefer ScaleTrains over Athearn any day because you get way more detail and they’re still cheaper then an Athearn loco. And I don’t know what it is but some of Athearn’s products look too toy like for my taste for the ridiculous amount of money they charge, I only turned to Athearn for their Amtrak P42/P40DC’s they released recently because they’re literally the ONLY HO brand that makes detailed and accurate Genesis locomotives as I’m not a fan of the Kato Genesis units at all. As far as freight engines I think ScaleTrains kills it!
@@ConrailSteve Thank you! Finally someone else agrees, I have always thought the same and it’s not that Athearn makes bad products of anything but I expect a much realistic looking model for what they charge because their prices are just ridiculous.
Roughly 150 to 200 Conrail units and another 50 to 75 foreign power units. Still have to sit down and count everything one of these days but that is a rough estimate.
Thank you for watching! If I can find the time to later this year I would like to build a small N scale shelf type layout to use my N scale equipment on and have something for you N Scalers to really enjoy!
Scale Trains, broadway, atlas .....i gave up on athearn the first few years of horizon....only dedicated to the toy train collector and not the hobbyist, horizon is in business as a toy company....
I have had similar feelings over the last few years myself about Athearn. Recently I kept seeing reviews for these new Athearns and wanted to give them a chance to see what the real deal was myself with them. I won't be jumping on the Athearn bandwagon anytime soon but after checking out the AC4400 I will give them more of a chance in the future.
@@cp368productions2 um okay dude! They turned all the RC stuff into toys and they are doing with trains...there is no modeling anymore the way IRV gave it to us, no undecorated so forth.
Good catch! I appreciate things that I missed being pointed out. This was the first real look I took at these both and I wanted to cover the things most noticeable on a first look.
@ConrailSteve As it seems to me, and I could be wrong. The ScalesTrains unit seems to be a skōsh/slightly larger in some of the details than the Athearn unit. Could be a trick of the eye or paint, like the front hood door window. But sutile differences can be a good thing in modeling veiwing, as a whole. ScaleTrains detail on the see-through screens are excellent. On another side subject. Have you ever had any experience or operation of the RailPro controller system? As on the Kpack channel on RU-vid.
I have not had any experience yet with railpro systems. It seems like an interesting system from what I have seen but have not had a chance to operate with it of see it in person as of yet.
Not a very fair or compete review. Had you reviewed an Athearn unit equipped with sound, you would have heard the newer Soundtraxx boards with the Athearn sugar cube speakers to be much more realistic sounding than the tinny and weak ESU sounds that a lot of people seem to think are so great. As far as reliability is concerned, I have experienced six motor failures between three ST units in the past 18 months. Not a good track record.
I tend to agree as Scaletrains tends to blow Athearn out of the water the majority of the time. But I do feel like Athearn has stepped up to the Scaletrains level with the Genesis 2.0 line and while I still prefer the Scaletrains stuff I really have been pleasantly surprised by Athearn.
