MEGA Vintage Athearn Locomotive Collection - Let's See What Runs!
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- Опубліковано 24 лис 2024
- In 2021 I received a message from a guy named Ricky saying he had acquired a massive lot of vintage Athearn blue box locomotives which he no longer had space for.
He offered me the entire collection provided I paid for the shipping which seemed like an incredible offer so I sent him the funds. Around a week later he said he was ready to ship out the trains and then his account disappeared.
At this point I assumed I had been scammed however a year and a half later I received another message explaining what happened and that the trains were on their way.
They eventually arrived and today I finally got the chance to open them up and see what the condition of each locomotive was. - Розваги
The red black and yellow SF locomotives are Santa Fe. That’s the Kodachrome paint scheme from when they were going to merge with southern pacific but the merger wasn’t approved. They were going to paint SPSF on them once the merger was approved. Since it was never approved the joke is that SPSF stands for “shouldn’t paint so fast”. You can also find Southern Pacific locomotives with the same paint scheme just lettered SP.
Don't forget the SP locomotives have the text offset from the Santa Fe units, they were all set so they just had to add the two letters to all of them and they were pre-aligned. Would Have made the merger paints simple to do had they been able to merge
@@raymarshall6721 most of them were lettered as SPSF but were "fixed" after the deal fell through
@@aspenGF8 incorrect
To
BNSF should do a SPSF Heritage Unit
Great way to start a Friday morning
Seeing all of those BNSF locos reminds me of when I used to work with the BNSF at their Phoenix Mobest yard. Phoenix is a terminus for BNSF, so loaded trains would come in with 3 or 4 locos on them and stop. Then they had to get empty train cars out of Phoenix to the rest of the system. They'd also occasionally have to send extra locomotives out to the rest of the system. Twice a day they'd run a "Baretable" train of empty container cars out to LA, and occasionally combine it with a "power move" of excess locos. I saw trains with 9 or 10 locomotives heading out at least once a week.
Were you working there prior to the merger or only after it was known as BNSF?
@@SMTMainline After the merger. It was back in 2014.
@@SMTMainline❤😂😊
I’m definitely sad to see that they weren’t handled properly during shipping but super happy you finally got to see what was in those boxes!
Have fun!
Ricky 🚂
The strength of the blue-box line (of locomotives and rolling stock) is their simplicity and robustness. They’re really easy to service as well. One thing I like to do is solder some 24-26 ga. stranded wire from the metal strip on top of the motor to the metal current-pickups on both trucks, as well as the one on the light; this improves the conductivity as opposed to the metal current pickups just riding on the top strip with only the springiness to rely on. 😊
Super. A lifetime supply of HO locomotives for most model railroaders for free, and only three out of dozens of boxes of locomotives and train cars and train stuff donated and mailed to you. Incredible. Hello again from the Tracy Mountain Railway in Colorado. 💙 T.E.N.
Sometimes I think I need to start posting more train videos on here so I can get followers who would send me stuff.
Then I look at the pile of projects I've already got going and realize... I'm doing fine on my own there.
The blue and yellow Santa Fe F-unit is the same paint scheme as my very first engine (also an Athearn blue box F7) back in the early 200X's. It's gone through a lot but thanks in part to things I've learned watching your videos it's still running strong.
OMG it's just unbelievable, here in Argentina you have to save a lot of time to be able to afford one of those, they're sold as "new" and really expensive :(
You're really lucky to live in a country with good economy and to have such generous friends!!
Yes, feel lucky here in USA too. I feel for you that the situation in your country makes it more difficult and expensive for people to enjoy this cool hobby and others. I'm glad hat a minimum of used equipment can still offer lots of fun operating potential. Plus, there are so many other fun parts of the hobby to enjoy like I do.
Not everyone in North America has the time, money, space or anything else to get into a hobby. Many struggle just for housing, food - things are not cheap, many hours must be worked by lower income people just for basics.
I bought only my first HO train set new and a few engines and cars on sale a long time ago. I could not buy any new equipment these days. I am content and thankful that I can buy a used piece here and there and fix it up. Learning how SMT Mainline fixes these things is inspiring to me and fun to watch!
I am jealous of the fact that every single one of these units is an Athearn blue box
He did it again, folks, he bought another collection of engines
Better yet, they’re all Athearn!
Wow Harrison nice haul from this guy named Ricky here! Very generous of him to send you all of this! I also have a Santa Fe fp45 too from athearn.
I’m a locomotive engineer for BNSF I’ve been trying to get my hands on some BNSF units mainly a dash 9 or some kind of gevo. Also I’m looking forward to a video of the repair video.
At 5:48 you called that CNW AC44CW a Dash 9 just keep that in note and I would love to see that unit nice and repaired
Athearns are practically indestructible. A little TLC is all that's needed. Good unboxing. From Texas.
Nice to see people sharing their equipment!
Please record your fixing of some of the trains. Your previous videos tackling taking apart and fixing your broken locomotives have inspired me to fix an old GO train n scale locomotive from my childhood. Your videos explaining the parts and what to look at for which problem, helped me get the courage to figure out and fix mine. Runs great now, it was only drawing power prior.
I'll probably do videos on all the units which don't run. I haven't done too many Athearn videos (mostly because they're hard to break) but there are some common failure points I'd like to show how to fix.
The long nose Santa Fe SD units were called "Snoots". They held the first version of electronic loco-control in the nose. Yep, late 70's or early 80's electronics. No vacuum tubes. "Solid-state" as we called it back in those days.
Edit: Michael beat me to it. Still, for the algorithm. One more thing. If you want to accurately portray the Espee units, mask off the numbers and then completely coat the sides/top with grey primer and then dust the roof with flat black. You want to barely see the color underneath. I saw many an Espee with the cab numbers wiped clean, and nothing else. Running diesels constantly in tunnels and snow sheds makes that happen.
Wow so fantastic thanks Harrison some more fixer uppers!
Wow a really nice collection I love all of the Santa Fe I also like the one Chicago great Western
That's an amazing collection of athern locomotives.
Love all of the F and FP45s. By some of my favorite locomotives
That is a serious haul of loco's. Very nice 😁👍
It’s fun having you pen boxes! Feel like I’m right there w/you!! A ghost…haha😂😅🎉❤
5:44 OMG! A Illinois Railway Museum Resident!
WOW, that is a massive score. Well done Harrison.
What an amazing haul of engines!
In a time where products are designed and manufactured for planned obsolescence it is so nice to see the longevity of an Athearn Blue Box locomotive. A model that could be built 30 years ago, run hard for years, put away in storage for a decade then brought back into operation with minor servicing. I could handle a few Athearn project locomotives but the amount sent to you would seem a bit overwhelming to me!
They are remarkable. I’m sure they were a brand of choice compared to much of the junk being rolled out in the 80s
Got an Athearn blue box Milwaukee Road GP9 when I was a kid, so would have been about 1991 or '92. It was still working when packed up around a decade ago, and I wouldn't be surprised if I took it out of storage today and put it on the track it would start right up!
@@BadgerlandRailVideos My wife got a standard issue Athearn F7 Santa Fe Warbonnet with the chunky metal weight that sits above the motor back around 1988 on her 16th birthday. Probably run just for a couple years then packed up. Got it out of storage last month, lubed it, added kadee couplers, and replaced the wheelset since the gears on the originals were cracked. It runs really well! It is now the designated passenger train locomotive. Meanwhile I also got my childhood Life-Like and Bachmann F9s and GP38-2s out of storage as well...yeah those units... hmmm...not run so well LOL!
Wow Harrison those are nice looking athearn locomotives and I wished I could get more of those C44s because they're usually a lot of money and those long nose sd40-2s are called "Snoot nose" and awesome video and I always enjoy watching your videos and so does my grandmother and I also love your older videos and also greetings from United States of America
Actually working on my layout at the moment of watching one of your videos so maybe I'll make a video before it gets too late but I'm not sure
Those SD40-2s with the longer nose was called a "snoot". The longer nose was necessary to house the radio control equipment for the remote helpers in mountain territory. Some SP tunnel motors had that long nose as well.
It looks like you now have a Western railroad starter pack. There are a lot of locomotives with detail parts, but two caught my eye. The first would be the Red and Silver Santa Fe Warbonnet F7A. I noticed that there was not any steam generator detail which should be actually correct for the locomotive. The Red and Silver Warbonnet F7Bs would have the steam generator, but not the A units. Steam generation was necessary for passenger operation, but not all of the locomotives needed them. The second unit was the Mopac geep. I noticed it had four exhaust stacks which the Athearn shell normally had the standard two. Also, the person went the extra step to remove the dynamic brakes which was a standard feature on the Athearn shell. Overall, this is a neat addition to the collection, and it will be nice to see a future update(s) on how these locomotives are brought back to top order.
I got an old steam model train it broke way back when plus my brother has a Santa Fe train the red and grey broked as well enjoyed the video going to watch some Jaw Tooth train videos sorry for getting off topic.
Man this would be a dream haul, all those engines to work on, tune up and get rolling. I wish Ebay and the like sellers wouldn't be so greedy, a shame to see many old items just sitting and not running on a store page. Great video, looking forward to seeing some of the repairs. Can't beat an old Athearn, they run forever and when they don't they are very easy to get going again.
Five years ago you could find nice lots for under $200, now it seems to be rare to find a decent one under $400.
Probably one of the biggest collections you’ve unboxed! Lots of variety and look alike as in there lol! I have a CNW AC44 from Athearn asw and I hope someday to find some SPSF merger painted power for my layout sometime! Kinda sucks not all of them run but I think you might be able to tackle the problems!
I doubt any of them have serious issues. They probably just need fresh oil and some stuff put back in place.
WOW!!! I'd say that was worth the wait! Knowing you Harrison, these be riding the rails within a few weeks!! :)
Awesome locomotives!!
Can't wait to see the maintenance and repair vids for these engines!
here's some info on the actual locomotives (if they existed in real life):
2:20 ATSF 0-6-0 switcher, appears to be fictitious.
2:35 ATSF F7A #271C, no information found, although likely retired.
3:03 BN SD40-2 #6777, appears to be retired.
3:11 BNSF SD40-2 #6836, still in service on BNSF to this day.
3:17 BNSF SD40-2 #6915, still in service on BNSF to this day.
3:22 ATSF SD40-2 #5059 "Kodachrome", still in service on BNSF to this day.
3:43 ATSF SD40-2 #5027, still in service on BNSF to this day.
3:55 UP SD40-2 #3626, appears to be retired.
3:58 ATSF SD40-2 #5036, appears to be retired.
4:06 ATSF F7A #326, no information found, although likely retired.
4:37 BN SD40-2 #6784, appears to be retired.
4:45 UP SD40-2 #3623, still in service as RCPE #3434.
5:22 CNW F7A #4073C, preserved as SLRG #576 in the Lehigh Valley paint scheme.
5:30 CNW F-unit, unknown number.
5:33 MP #234, no information found, although likely retired.
5:42 ATSF FP45 #92, preserved in the IRM, looking to be restored.
5:48 CNW AC4400CW #8814, still in service on UP to this day.
6:06 (top): UP AC4400CW #6872, still in service on UP to this day.
6:06 (bottom): UP C44-9W #9711, appears to be retired.
6:13 BNSF C44-9W #1000, still in service on BNSF to this day.
6:23 ATSF GP50 #3827, still in service on BNSF to this day, although the model appears to be a GP38-2 instead of a GP50 like its real life counterpart.
6:28 UP AC4400CW #6736, still in service on UP to this day.
6:45 ATSF FP45 #5946, destroyed in the 1994 Cajon Pass derailment.
6:47 ATSF FP45 #5945, preserved in Barstow CA.
6:51 ATSF FP45 #93, preserved in Wichita KS.
6:55 ATSF FP45 #5975, appears to be retired.
6:58 ATSF FP45 #5950, appears to be retired.
7:01 ATSF FP45 #5913, no information found, although likely retired.
7:05 Amtrak SDP40F #506, appears to be retired.
hopefully this helps.
Thanks for all this information!
10:38 that one does have a loose fly wheel, I have a few athearn units with loose fly wheels and they sound the same
The ATSF Geep is a GP50. You can tell by the longer hoods and larger radiators (as compared to a GP40). GP38s only have two fans. Also, the road number checks out against a GP50 (796317-4) built in 1981.
I’ve got that same little 3-axle N-scale switcher, but different paint scheme. What’s weird about it is that - although a 4-axle unit like a GP30 will go around a somewhat tight curve just fine, the little switcher has a nasty habit of derailing. I don’t know if it’s because it doesn’t have a “blind” driver in the center, or if one of the wheel sets is out of gauge. So I’d check the gauge on yours if you’re going to put it in service. 😊
Thanks for the tip!
The "SF" locomotives are actually Santa Fe locomotives in a paint scheme called the "kodachrome" paint scheme. Some SP or Southern Pacific locomotives also had the "Kodachrome" paint scheme. It was supposed to be a merger between the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific in 1987, but they were a little too confident the merger was going to happen, so they painted some units in the kodachrome paint scheme and the railroad that the unit belonged to would for example if it was a Southern pacific locomotive it would only say SP and they would add the SF later when the merger happend and vice versa with the Santa fe. But when the "SPSF" (Southern Pacific Santa Fe) merger was denied by the ICC, they had units that were left on both railroad in a merger scheme that never happened. Railfans eventually made a joke about the failed merger, and they started calling it a joke. "Shouldn't paint so fast," railfans called it. I think there might still be at least 5 units still in the kodachrome paint scheme from 1987 running around the United States ringht now. Well, besides that, this was a fantastic video!
That's a nice haul
Woooo! Arizona representing! 😁
Harrison=you're like a kid at Christmas time==HA HA==you are so lucky
Whish I could come across a deal like that congratulations on your purchase
Quite the haul,, looks good probably could get 85% running just fine.
I was at the Mad Town train show this morning and i got a SF Kodachrome F45 at the cost of 25 dollars! And it was also an Athearn.
The nice thing is, you can still find replacement parts for the old Athearn locomotives. They are really easy to upgrade as well.
Nice locomotives
I'd take the best of the best and repair them. The other ones I'd part out and store the spare parts. Then, the shells can be sold or given away to the people looking for such. Only because I've noticed that several people are voicing a desire to own certain models. Best regards, and keep them videos coming. A Fan in Washington state.
I think they should all be revivable but time will tell.
Those Santa Fe "Kodachrome" SD-40-2s are sweet! I have a pair of them myself (1 powered, 1 dummy) which my mom bought for me back in 1989 or 90. When I sold off most of my collection in the late 1990s, I kept those because, well, they're gorgeous and for sentimental reasons.
I also have a few SD40-2 kodachrome units as well
so cool seeing these trains in good condition
i just adore his unboxing videos
Hey Harrison! How much would you sell that. War Bonnet Santa Fe?
When you said great big Rollin railroad had me dying 🤣 😂
That truly is an amazing collection of locomotives. I particularly like those Kodachrome units. Also you should do a video organizing all your locomotives into different railroads, I feel like that would be really cool to see.
Talk about being Loco loco 😂. Imagine a lashup of all those, looking as if they were all on the way to the desert storage tracks.
yesterday I went to the Pasadena Texas Convention Center for this year's train show taking place there. I ended up setting a budget of 60$ because if I had more, guaranteed I would've spend ALL of it. I ended up buying a bag of a few fully assembled buildings consisting of a schoolhouse, a logging/industrial building, a small garage, and a train station. Along that at the same person's selection, I bought an old Athearn F unit in the Union Pacific paint scheme and a b unit to go with it. At the same selection, I also bought 3 pieces of old rolling stock for 10 dollars. I'm happy with my purchases, the locomotive runs, but it smells toasty whenever I run it but otherwise runs perfectly fine. Probably just needs some cleaning.
Very awesome collection!!! I’m sure you will have fun with them!!! I’ve definitely been looking for some of those red black and yellow Santa Fe units for quite a good amount of time now and also either the FP45 or F45 locomotives but I’m sure the day will come eventually!! I absolutely love Athearn locomotives they just have some of the best detail and run absolutely fantastic!!!👍👍
I love them too. I started collecting them back in the early 90s and still have them Atsf espee Mopac Mkt and Burlington Northern
im jealous of the fact that theres that many locomotives smt mainline i love your content keep it up!!! i have never had any athearn locomotives ever keep it up!!!
Nice haul Harrison! I think the silver and red F unit is either a Genesis or Intermountain model.
Agreed. It looks too highly detailed to be a blue box unit
I think someone talented got their hands on it and repainted the locomotive and added those details.
hello SMT Mainline & it's is Randy and i like Yours video is cool & Thanks Harrison Friends Randy & Good Luck on The Vintage Athearn Locomotive Collecttion Thanks Harrison Friends Randy
Thanks 👍
I love this video! Great lot, and I would love to see you work on these locomotives SMT!
18 of 32 officiallly run - yes I was keeping track WOW what a great find
Athearn bluebox is a good well rounded product they last long and I’m happy to own a few products from the bluebox range that run well and are great for simple dcc units
Noticed a lot of these have damaged or missing hand rails. Any plans to do a video with one as a how to for replacing handrails?
I'll have to order some. I don't think I'll do a specific video on attaching hard rails but I might include it as part of the video for the locomotives that didn't start. I did a livestream where I added some a while back ua-cam.com/video/plUOXkDhlW4/v-deo.html
Wow you hit the jackpot I’m generally surprised that you got that many engines in one haul congrats
So which do you have more of, locomotives or passenger/freight cars?
This is incredible. Surely you are running out of space, hahaha. Don't worry, I still have some empty shelves if it just gets too much for you.
Lots of good EMDs! The SF is Santa Fe. The UP 9700 series are D9Ws. The 6700 series UP should be an AC4400CW. This is an impressive unboxing! Lots of project locomotives! Keep it up Harrison
The up and cnw operation lifesavers are both AC4400CWs. Note there big AC converter box under the dynamics vents on the conductors side. The santa fe GP unit you called a gp38 is either a gp40 or gp50
I like your channel
NICE collection i have alot of the early 90s blue box Athearn Ho
The amount of locomotives he's sent you is impressive hope we get a video of you fixing some of them
These would be cool to see all cleaned up and repaired, and maybe a few new parts (the CNW dash 9) some of these would look good back to back as pairs/sets.
Amazing video, truly the previous owner was very dedicated. And I fell quite jealous I've been in the hunt for a BN sd 40-2 for quite a time.
Looks like the Santa Fe Corwith yard engine facilities circa 1996 in HO.
The CNW dash 9 was the last new power the CNW got before being borged and saw similar Fs hauling commuter trains through town growing up. The long nose -2s were called snoots in the railfan community for obvious reasons. IIRC they were SF and UP only and the extra nose space was to house the radio control gear for mid train helpers.
The Superchief FP45s are interesting in the fact the smaller Santa Fe lettering one is the actual passenger livery one while the billboard lettering ones are the late 80s/90s repaints for hotshot intermodal service.
The Amtrak FP45 mod could possibly be an attempt to simulate an SDP40 (IIRC) an early Amtrak loco that had a derailment issue the ended their careers fairly early. Something to do with the location of the steam generator at the rear of the locomotive and either weight of the water tanks or sloshing of the water as the tanks emptied would under certain circumstances force the rear truck to derail. Kind of a PITA if it does that in the approach to Chicago Union Station but can ruin your day very effectively if it happens at speed out where Jesus lost His sandles in Nebraska.
Very cool lot of stuff, could make a nice santa fe lashup
Dang, worth the wait for sure. That’s my kind of haul, full of Santa Fe. I can just hear all the kids who watched this video.
Kid: Hey ma, pa, can I have a PO Box?
Parents: Why?
Kid: People will send me trains.
You know what's crazy, when you find somebody with the same name as you.
Im curious, does anerican ho locomotives work woth european ho like marklin
No, mostly because of the different AC and DC power used, the way two and three rail locomotives pick up power, and the uninsulated wheelsets on the Marklin rolling stock which will short out a two rail DC layout. American rolling stock, with or without insulated wheels, will operate fine on Marklin HO three rail track. If you put insulated wheels on Marklin locomotives and change the power pickup to the wheels instead of a track slider and wheels, they will operate on american AC powered HO track, but you would need to convert the locomotive to DC to operate on most two rail HO layouts, and visaversa for converting an American two rail DC locomotive to Marklin three rail AC operation. 💙 T.E.N.
Amazing the stuff people give you, all is well deserved too...!
...watched some of your last livestream, enjoyable, seems alot of "Youngsters" follow along
The MEGA anything box/lot videos generate the most views...
...I'm an "Oldster", love watching you dig through those boxes P.S. enjoy your trip!
That is awesome.
Very nice haul Of locos.
Most just need a Cleaning and regrease. Probably just cleaning commutators ect....
Cosmetically.....some clue and re-alining rails
Overall man good find!!!
What s cool unboxing! Thank you for sharing!
Very cool Harrison! The UP and C&NW units are actually AC4400CWs, the way you can tell is the large electrical box on the conductor's side, whereas the BNSF C44-9W only has the air conditioning unit behind the cab. You can use Athearn ready to roll parts (geared axles, truck assemblies, etc) on these blue box locomotives too! While not the cheapest option, it does improve the performance quite a bit!
I also discovered recently the screw in motor mounts and their screws (part numbers 84026 and 84027) are the perfect replacement motor mounts too which helped smoothness immensely.
Wow Harrison that Haul is Great Double Nice!!!!!!
Genuinely cool
I love the old kodachrome paint on those three
a lot of nice running locomotives! the best, in my opinion, are the GP and the Sante Fe at the end. atleast you also got a N scale locomotive that 'runs', bet the problem is going to be the worm gear. can't wait to see the repair videos for the ones that had issues. Great Video!
6:07 6872 is an AC4400CW.
6:37 Also an AC4400CW
These were built in the same era as the dash 9.
They are essentially a dash 9 with AC Traction Motors
I love these locomotives!
Video got my 'like' when you found the 'low rider locomotive;' :D
I like your trains so much
One amazing haul!
Along time ago, there were many trips to the hobbyshop that started out like this."I'm looking for something in an SD40-2,"😂 I know. I do the same thing with GP38-2&GP9s😅🚂🇨🇦
That's an interesting way of looking at it. I wonder how long it took to accumulate all these engines.
Normal person... Life time. You or I. 2or3 trainshows lol
those yellow bonnets are beautiful
I've always said, Athearn Blue Box engines are built like a MACK truck 👍
Hi Harrison its jacob. I was watching your video about your ho scale shinkansen. And it made my think that my aunt and uncle are going to japan. And they are going to ride on the newer shinkansen.
3:59
ATSF 5036 was then repainted and renumbered to BNSF 6351, but sadly it was wrecked in 2004 near Gunter TX