Railroad Forums 

  • Athearn Dummy Locos & Blue Box Kits

  • Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.

Moderators: 3rdrail, stilson4283, Otto Vondrak

 #1015404  by Bigt
 
Other than ebay, does anyone know of a source for Athearn dummy locomotives and
blue box car kits? I realize that the supply for these items must be drying up, but, still
hope there might be someplace. Thanks.
 #1020578  by Montrealrail
 
If you planning to pass by Montreal,theres a hobby store in Laval,just north of Montreal,called Van-Horne Hobby..There's a lot of blue box locomotives..
Powered and dummy..lot of F-units,SD40-2 and many more,also some BUDD RDC still availiable here..
when I will pass by on next time,I will try to get a picture of the showcase if the owner are agree for it..

I found my Illinois Central SD40-2,CN Dash9 and SD40-2 CN SW900 there and some many rare items..

The only bad thing,he does'nt have website..

but,have a try if they can send you the items by the mail,here's address and phone number

Van Horne Hobby
111 Blvd St Martin E
Vimont, QC H7M 1Z1

(450) 669-4175


Also Hobby-Junction in Dorval,he have a huge lot of Blue box freight cars on a display

1761 Av Cardinal
Dorval, QC H9P 1Y5

(514) 631-3504
 #1021332  by Otto Vondrak
 
Bigt wrote:Other than ebay, does anyone know of a source for Athearn dummy locomotives and blue box car kits?
Ebay, train shows, and any model railroader's closet who has been in the hobby more than 25 years!

-otto-
 #1022989  by CNJ999
 
Sadly, we saw the last of the production of such kits by Athearn a number of years ago and although reasonably plentiful on sites such as eBay for the time being, over the next few years their number is likely to steadily dwindle and their prices rise as more and more hobbyists turn away from the increasingly costly RTR versions. Already I've seen some Athearn rollingstock kits pricing out at around $20 on eBay that had once sold in hobbyshops for $6 or $7. Certainly they are not worth that kind of money!

If you are really into kits, at least for rollingstock, look into Accurail and Bowser instead of older Athearn's. Both companies offer nice, relatively easy and economical kits that are superior to Athearn's, although the selection may not be as broad. I'm an old fashioned hobbyist, a true model railroader not simply a collector of RTR as so many are today and the great majority of my rollingstock are stock, or modified, Accurail/Bowser/older Train Miniature cars.

CNJ999
 #1023193  by Bigt
 
CNJ999....Thanks for the advice. Yes, I too am a modeler from the "old" days....40 years to
be exact. I find it a shame for what has happened to our hobby, all the RTR stuff, limited runs
etc. I really don't care if the loco or car has the correct number of rivets as built in 1935, or,
whether the handrails scale out to be 1/2 inch too big in diameter, or, "old 1201" had mismatched
bearing covers after 1957! To me, the manufacturers, although apparently listening to demand,
are pricing most of us right out of the hobby....only my opinion, but, that is the way I feel. I don't
know how the "leaders" of our hobby can possibly think kids - the future of the hobby - will be able
to afford what is coming out now. If I wanted to collect expensive model railroad equipment I would
be doing so with old Lionel!

As for the Athearn equipment, locos in particular, I have always had a fondness for the dummy units
as I do a great deal of static display pieces for a collection. Certainly no need for power units then. And
yes, I agree with you in regard to the Bowser and Accurail models - great works and very reasonable in
price. Thanks again.
 #1024938  by ApproachMedium
 
When I find blue box stuff cheap I buy it. Kits for under $10 are worth it for a club environment. They help me get club owned cars on the railroad so people always have something to play with and they help me get some of the new guys in the door to do something other than: Open box-Run train. Show them how to build a few kits so they can learn some skills and then they can handle anything. Its how the old heads taught me when I joined 5 years ago. If they want some of them for themselves I can just sell them to them. A couple of new guys we got recently are in college and dont have much spare money for today's expensive rolling stock and engines.

And the best part of all about the Athearn cars, they have a durability that nothing today can meet. If you drop one on the floor, it probably wont break and if its mishandled your not going to break all them little details off.
 #1028043  by Montrealrail
 
the Athearn Blue Box serie are the strongest model train that I never had..
My first locomotive was an Athearn F7 with superpowered motor,and 19 years later,it still work fine,I never had to change a piece,exept for a horn,on the roof..
 #1028068  by Ken S.
 
I went to a place in Maplewood, NJ yesterday that had some old Roundhouse kits in stock. This place is trying to phase out the train stuff in favor of gaming, but I found an Accurail covered hopper (ACF data only) that I had been searching for and a Roundhouse boxcar that fits into the type of freight trains I like to run (CHTT patched out something). Some of the Roundhouse stuff was new enough to include BNSF items.
 #1028071  by ApproachMedium
 
Ken S. wrote:I went to a place in Maplewood, NJ yesterday that had some old Roundhouse kits in stock. This place is trying to phase out the train stuff in favor of gaming, but I found an Accurail covered hopper (ACF data only) that I had been searching for and a Roundhouse boxcar that fits into the type of freight trains I like to run (CHTT patched out something). Some of the Roundhouse stuff was new enough to include BNSF items.

Where is this located? Are the prices reasonable for the kits? I am one of the few under 30 that actually likes to build kits, trying to get some of the new members of my club in to them too.
 #1028089  by Desertdweller
 
I would hope that the people who run Athern are aware of how the Blue Box kits are missed. Maybe then they will put them back in production.

Nothing will kill this hobby as fast as making it unaffordable to beginners will.

There needs to be a modern equivalent of the Blue Box kits. We used to joke that they were "shake the box kits". That meant, they were so simple to built they would almost assemble themselves if you shook the box. I haven't seen that term used for years now.

Simple assembly kits made it possible to amass a roster of cars and locomotives at a reasonable cost. It also added value for the buyer in the form of additional time needed to assemble them. This was assembly of the most basic type: even the parts were pre-painted.

I have been in this hobby since 1968, and I really miss the simplicity and affordability of the past. The Athern Blue Box locomotives, as I recall, only needed to have the handrails (included) installed. They were made of steel wire, and were inserted into pre-drilled holes by using a needle-nosed pliers. A little weathering and you were ready to go! Now, I suppose we will be buying our models re-weathered, too.

Les
 #1028092  by ApproachMedium
 
My favorite part about blue box locos is the handrails. While they may not be super scale or anything, once glued together they made the model indestructible. I dropped an SD9 once on a concrete floor and the shell came off the frame, that was about it.
 #1028231  by Steve F45
 
Ant, that store in maplewood is called Maplewood Hobby-1970 Springfield Ave. And im over 30 and like to build the kits. I prefer them over RTR rolling stock. Im always surfing ebay for kits. Every walthers autorack I got is a kit and even the athearn automax i bought were undecorated so they needed to be put together. All 7 of them.
 #1028380  by Bigt
 
Going back to my original inquiry regarding Athearn dummy units. I realize that the "old" Athearn is no
more, and, that Horizon is now the owner / producer. I have had correspondence with them regarding this
issue and to say that they are a bit arrogant is to say the least. It is very apparent that they are only inter-
ested in the modeller to the extent that they want our money....period. You will get what we want to produce,
and, you will pay what we want, and, you will like it. Unfortunately, a few of the other manufacturers seem to
have the same mindset, maybe not quite with the same attitude of the Horizon people, but, still along those
same lines. The one manufacturer that has really surprised me is Walthers....they won't even answer a simple
email or regular letter! I guess it pretty much tells us where our hobby has gone.....limited runs, high prices,
and poor customer relations. I mean, really, you are a manufacturer producing HO scale locomotives...how hard
would it be to leave out the motor and power train and offer a dummy unit??? Atlas O does it, why not Atlas HO?
However, I do wish to mention the good people at Accurail. They have always, always been very friendly and
helpful no matter what my inquiry, suggestion, request for help might be. They are the exception to the
rest.....a great company to do business with! Just too bad they don't do cabooses and locomotives!