Ron, you are a truly gifted and talented model railroad enthusiast , to say nothing of your entertaining and informative vlogs.You are doing a great service for this hobby, always making it fun, you are a true treasure , this world needs more men like you, much respect!
Ron, your videos are some of the most entertaining on RUclips! I believe it must be because of the magnificent sound effects you use! Keep up the great work sir!
There we go- got our own call sign- 33%’ers. Love those Athearn F-units and the extra-heavy weights. If I recall correctly my first Athearn unit was the undec F-unit, followed by the Sw-1500, the GP-7/9, and then the GP-35. They were my start in “better quality/non-Christmas present temporary train sets” in HO scale railroading. Had to put them away for 10 years while I did my thing with the US Army, but got started again when my bro in law bought a Christmas train set for the nephew and the BIL and I started railroading while the nephew wasn’t all that interested. Go figure. I have learned so much from you and your channel- can’t thank you enough! Keep on railroading!
I just got a couple ole backmann F7 running this last weekend. Your timing couldn’t have been better. Great show as usual Ron. Thanks for the inspiration…
OMG, I was already laughing at the squeaky B unit, and then the friggin band drive come flying by, I haven't laughed that hard in a while! Thanks Ron 😂 33%!
I'm a great believer in waste not want not. As a Brit who models US railroads I've bought a few scrapped locos over the years and rebuilt them. Your brilliant videos are my classroom for this great hobby with so much information including some very informative comments.Great tutorial. Thank you for sharing
33%er here. Wow, this was a blast to watch. You're really good at judging which ones are worth patching up, and which ones, well,, are not! Obviously, you put some thought into that process.🙂
33% er. At the beginning, I was going to say "What do I do with all my extra parts?" Well, "drive to Montana and drop'en off with my buddy Ron of course". ;) I've had that squeaky wheel problem too. figure out (if you can) the wheel or axel and use the "Kadee Greas-em". GREAT video, Thanks!
So happy to see you take a plunge and get these units running. You totally have what it takes to open up a repair store! Now only if we should get more Santa Fe shells to you somehow?? Always happy to be in that 33% group, always watch to the very end. Your videos never fail to impress me. It’s always a pleasure to see you working on something, for our measly entertainment! The videos never fail! Take good care my friend!
A bag of popcorn and this, what a nice evening I had! Nice to see them old dinosaurs roaring down the tracks again, and I love your sound effects! Love from Sweden
Another great video. 'F' units have always been my favorite. The Santa Fe warbonnet was my first train. Still have it 50 years later. One of these days I will have to see if it still runs. Thanks for sharing. Until next time.
I feel your pain. I've got 6 Triang, Transcontinental, double-enders on the bench, taunting me, along with, at least twelve other locomotives that all turned up at the same time! All needing a good service and clean, a paint touch up and a bit of detailing. It's gonna take days! Up the 33 per-centers!
Man, keep up the dang good work. You have been teaching People that want to learn about this equipment, the best basic I’ve seen, I’ve got to a point in my life where I have to let my collection go , So I will leave it there, still enjoy the videos.
Hi Ron, great video. Good to see you save so many. 5 day marathon, good results. Really enjoyed the final showing of them running, had a good chuckle when the rubber band unit flew across the screen in a hurry..lol. priceless 😄 Keep up the good work, good to be in the 33% gang. Cheers
Uptown trains for the uptown girl? Great video, I enjoyed seeing what you could get running again, nice parade. I should send you my N Scale Chessie F3 that I can't get running.
@@classicmodeltrainsLike a glutton for punishment, I picked up another at a train show this weekend that supposedly works. Hoping I can use it to figure out why my original one doesn't work. We shall see . . .
Hey Ron the steps on f units the super glue works but what works better is super glue hack with the baking soda and the or charcoal mixture will help support the steps on better so they don't break off Great show man thank you
I love f units. As a kid, I never saw one in action unless it was on TV or the actual Ringling brothers train making it's was through my small town of Bogart Georgia. There are several at the southern rail museum. At one time, stone mountain had one. Enough of that rambling. I want to eventually gete one of those band drive engines. They seem to fast but very cool. If I run a across one cheap. I will grab it. Thanks for this great post. I watch your videos on TV.
I find there is something meditative when problem solving and repairing/restoring locomotives. One of the channels I watch uses a voltmeter and ammeter after resto. Another uses a voltmeter before and after from time to time. To me, eking out that last bit of speed, torque, noise reduction, power of a hunt. Often when I see vids of boxed parts trains, my mind starts racing to id problems before and during operation. It amuses me often that I can id problems before power is applied. Pre corrective actions just spill out. Just saw one of those 50's drives the other day and though Wow! they had a gem before the band drives? Cue the queries! How, what, what about??? Always great learning. I am about ready to embark on a long list of resto's and repairs and am looking forward to it. Your vids always give "just one more bit" of info, background, approach to tackling a loco. Thanks bud. If you did not live so other worldly far away, it would be fun to get some fingers stuck into a loco's innards. As always, I enjoyed the vid. Thank you.
Thanks Anthony, Sounds like we watch video's of things getting worked on the same way. Always one step ahead of the process on the show. Hope your repair (s) go well for you. Glad I maybe gave you a fresh hint or two :-)
33% here. Got a few RBDs B&O post office, Wabash, GT, & Rock Island. Have another Rock Island F unit. I need chassis for. Front of chassis was cracked and someone tried gluing it together. Varney I think. Metal chassis. Anyways another awesome video! The power a-b you should put that Digitrax in both. Same speed calibration great pieces, hell of a train.
Another great video Ron! I actually watched it twice already. Great content and interesting. I watch other train modeling videos which are good and helpful but just something about yours just stands out from the others. Something about your style and presentation I guess. Referencing some of your older videos was great which had me going back and watching those too. Keep'em coming!! Hopefully I bring up the 33% number.
Hi Ron, A company called American Limited made coupler conversion kits for ath and other models . They came as a a sets a b a sets a b b and a b b a sets , you can purchase them with or without the diagrams also. Unfortunately the downsides are they are kits , with our old eyes lol. The coupler mount on the locomotive has to be cut off almost to the coupler pin hole and the new relocation box installs easy with a new clip. If you do this relocation, id glue the mounting side of the box to the coupler frame so it wont pull off , sometimes they do. With the diagram kit they are super close and diagrams work and look more prototypical than the walthers accordion garbage 🗑️. The couple boxes recommend #5 kadees . But a whisker should work. Also the headlight draws power in the A , thats the reason its slower then the B , redirect the headlight with a microbulp and a small aluminum tube glued behind the headlight on the shell with Duco cement or hot glue works. Hope this helps ! Great videos as usual Ron
Save the F unit shells for their fans! All the various fans and exhaust details on the roof can be used to super detail different locomotives like Tyco, Life-like, and Bachman GP-7 & 9 units and make them look superb. You can even use the single larger fan on the front radiator/generator end near the cab for use on GP-18 & 20's that have the single fans instead of the dual fans. I usually carefully drill out the cheesy looking fans on AHM/Bachmann GP-whatevers with a corresponding drill bit and replace them with the finer see-through type F-unit fans. Once you glue them in from the back side of the GP shell with a tiny dot of CA smeared around the rim, they look great and only cost a little labor.
My favorite Athearn F7 has to be the brass flywheel version that was introduced to us in 1984. BTW ever thought of getting one of the RTR HH ones as a comparison? I mean I used parts from them to restore my 1984 engine.
You can stiffen up those glued on steps by carefully drilling .005 holes in the steps and in the bodies , tedious, but worth it. Those frames are not painted, they are chemically blackened. I used to do exactly what you are showing here buying junk boxes at shows for a dime and building respectable models out of the junk and parts. Hours of hobby fun!
would love a video on how to install the close fit couplers on the athearn f-units,the factory couplers fit the locos way to far apart,kadee does make a close fit coupler adaapter kit but theres no instructions
Yup, My shorty kadee's didn't shorten them up enough. Still to big of a gap if ya ask me. I will have to see if Kadee has a kit for the F units. Probably a good idea for a vid!!
Very nice work Ron! I’ve done similar, from time to time (coincidentally I did it with some chassis and trucks this morning! Do you believe it?) It is very nice to give life (or a new life) for these beauties. Thanks for sharing the results my friend!
Hey Ron. ! Another very cool video. I had to 33% it to find out the model. I need some advice on an old athearn F unit repair. Needs axle gears. But I don’t know what year . I got the whole set at the York Train show in York PA. Twin New Haven A’s and freight cars. It must be closely after the metal gear tower . This in is a plastic tower. Metal side frames needle or pointed end axles with a plastic tube gear that goes all the way wheel to wheel. Also the gears in the tower are herring bone design. Once I know what year to search for maybe I’ll find those axle gears. Hope someone knows what I am explaining. Thanks.
Also it would maybe be a neat video showing each year from the beginning to now on athearn chassis and drives . Showing the improvements and maybe what newer gears and towers fit older frames. So we could upgrade
Thanks Steve. I'm not exactly sure if athearn still offers them axle gears. I've had a loco or 2 that they took out the sintered iron wheels with the side frame bushing and installed new N.S. wheel sets. seems the new axles the diameter is smaller than them old ones. I Could be wrong. Yeah a line up of all the athearn drives would make up a good video for sure!!
Well I’m sure athearn doesn’t offer them darn gears. But if I know which year or parts numbers they are I could search eBay or other sights to find the used ones 😊
Dammit , wrong guess again for the Classic Model , I guessed Melissa McCarthy . Just curious , can you buy the super weights separately ? Another great video too , thank you .
Wow you actually got a lot of stuff done in 5 days when you think about the filimin and stuff. Fav part was the Rubberband drive showcase lol! Love your channel, Ron! Does it make much difference if your B-unit is a bit faster than the A-unit? Doesn't wear out the motor or anything like that? I got two walthers that do a similar thing... Churs!
Thanks Dave. Yup a lot of Fellers picked up on that band drive rocketing by. I'm not sure if it hurts them if there not completely the same speed. To me they are pretty close so I believe they will work well together. One Feller mentioned the light bulb in the "A" was what was causing it to run slower. If it was a LED they would be even closer to the same speed.
Ron when gluing steps back you once the step is glued and dried put a drop of Krazy glue in the back not the gel the regular glue then sprinkle a little baking soda on the drop of glue then a small drop on that it will harden like a rock just make sure you scratch up the plastic a bit before putting glue on the back side of the step.
HO you dont need a bunch of special tools. Lionel pre/post war, to really get into them you need special pullers and what not. The "O" stuff is easier because of the size only :-)
Hi. I'm Mark and I'm an Athearnaholic. Hi, Mark. I love the smell of melting ABS. I love spending days and weeks adding Walthers F unit detailing kits, A-Line "scale" window sets and Details West "see thru" fans....low version. I build bridge rectifiers and add LED lights because I can't countenance perfectly functioning 60 year old tungsten bulbs in my locos. My number boards must be drilled out, filed and lighted. My finger tips bear the scars of Xacto chisel blades because my cast on handrails must be shaved off and replaced by the manna grab irons from Tichy. I hoard my remaining MV lenses. I do all this to spite the investment bankers who think I should buy things ready-to-roll for $$$$ and therefore kill the hobby long term because most kids can't buy a $299 F unit. They could bike up to the local hobby shop and buy a $3 Chevron ACF hopper or a $24 Trainmaster. Alas, the world has passed me by...and I am happy for that.
Get a real camera from Cannon or an equal brand. I have always thought that GoPro was for capturing action shots while being bounced about as in motocross, sky diving, sprint cars. I may be out of touch. Thanks for posting. You need a Marx F unit to add to the already bloated collection. Marx made pretty good HO scale. I feel better than any Tyco and many others.
I have a Marx F unit. Did a video on it a while back. Yes the Gopro is called an action camera. the mic on my iPhone is starting to go. I need a simple point and shoot video camera
Easy.... Erica Eleniakski... ....scenery is looking good brother! TrailerHood..? ok back to the video... ok, edit comment: Balls! Margaux Hemingway.... whatever, they look alike...
Ron, you are a truly gifted and talented model railroad enthusiast , to say nothing of your entertaining and informative vlogs.You are doing a great service for this hobby, always making it fun, you are a true treasure , this world needs more men like you, much respect!
Thank you Joseph for your kind words Sir!!
Really nice project. It is great seeing that one persons junk really is another person's nice working/running trains.
Thanks. I like the broken dirty ones a lot better than the shiny new ones any day!!
Ron, your videos are some of the most entertaining on RUclips! I believe it must be because of the magnificent sound effects you use! Keep up the great work sir!
Thank you Marty :-)
There we go- got our own call sign- 33%’ers. Love those Athearn F-units and the extra-heavy weights. If I recall correctly my first Athearn unit was the undec F-unit, followed by the Sw-1500, the GP-7/9, and then the GP-35. They were my start in “better quality/non-Christmas present temporary train sets” in HO scale railroading. Had to put them away for 10 years while I did my thing with the US Army, but got started again when my bro in law bought a Christmas train set for the nephew and the BIL and I started railroading while the nephew wasn’t all that interested. Go figure. I have learned so much from you and your channel- can’t thank you enough! Keep on railroading!
Thank you for the Nice compliments, a good story and service to our nation!
I just got a couple ole backmann F7 running this last weekend. Your timing couldn’t have been better. Great show as usual Ron. Thanks for the inspiration…
Glad you enjoyed it John
OMG, I was already laughing at the squeaky B unit, and then the friggin band drive come flying by, I haven't laughed that hard in a while! Thanks Ron 😂 33%!
I'm glad a few Fellers caught on to that ;-)
Love those old Athearn flywheel drive F locomotives. They're like a cat with 9 lives.
Seems like it for sure!
I'm a great believer in waste not want not. As a Brit who models US railroads I've bought a few scrapped locos over the years and rebuilt them. Your brilliant videos are my classroom for this great hobby with so much information including some very informative comments.Great tutorial. Thank you for sharing
Thanks Chris! Glad these are helpful for ya :-)
I have seven old blue box's. I couple dummy loco's as well. Love them! Easy to service/work on, and they run forever.
I hear ya Matt :-)
33%er here. Wow, this was a blast to watch. You're really good at judging which ones are worth patching up, and which ones, well,, are not! Obviously, you put some thought into that process.🙂
Thank you for all your support. If the body is in pretty good shape the mechanicals are easy.
I don't have any trains anymore and always look to see if you have a video up. Great job as usual. 33%'er.
Thanks for all your support Richard! Sorry to hear you dont have any trains :-/
Love the "fly by" of the hi-drive unit, made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the great content, love the videos! Go 33%ers!
Thanks Ben! A few Fellers really picked up on that band drive fly-by ;-)
looking great Ron looks like my den full of every type of ho scale locomotive you can think of
Thanks Irene
33% er. At the beginning, I was going to say "What do I do with all my extra parts?" Well, "drive to Montana and drop'en off with my buddy Ron of course". ;) I've had that squeaky wheel problem too. figure out (if you can) the wheel or axel and use the "Kadee Greas-em". GREAT video, Thanks!
Thanks Lynn for all these great projects!!
So happy to see you take a plunge and get these units running. You totally have what it takes to open up a repair store! Now only if we should get more Santa Fe shells to you somehow??
Always happy to be in that 33% group, always watch to the very end. Your videos never fail to impress me.
It’s always a pleasure to see you working on something, for our measly entertainment! The videos never fail!
Take good care my friend!
Thank you for the kind words :-)
Hello Ron how are you doing buddy I'm glad you got all them F units running again they look cool
Thanks Paul :-)
I always enjoy bringing a basket case back to life. That was a big time dedication to go through a lot of that size. Thanks for the video. Go 33% ers!
Yup! Its satisfying for sure :-)
OH MY GOSH.....Great video. swimming in Ho Trains now.
Thanks
@@classicmodeltrains I reply in hopes your site might increase publication mostly...
Awesome job, Ron. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching Russ!
A bag of popcorn and this, what a nice evening I had!
Nice to see them old dinosaurs roaring down the tracks again, and I love your sound effects!
Love from Sweden
Thank you Mr A.
Another great video. 'F' units have always been my favorite. The Santa Fe warbonnet was my first train. Still have it 50 years later. One of these days I will have to see if it still runs. Thanks for sharing. Until next time.
Thanks John!
I feel your pain. I've got 6 Triang, Transcontinental, double-enders on the bench, taunting me, along with, at least twelve other locomotives that all turned up at the same time! All needing a good service and clean, a paint touch up and a bit of detailing. It's gonna take days! Up the 33 per-centers!
Sounds like a lot of (hopefully) relaxing work ahead of you ;-)
Pieces parts, just a holy moly!!!!!
Yup yup!!
Great video RON do love the old Athearn GP7/9s and F units as well! Awesome work was cool to see them run!
Thank you very much Erick!
Another fantastic video Ron! Definitely one of my favorites, but I am also an Athearn Blue Box nut. Take care, Jeff.
Thanks Jeff!
Man, keep up the dang good work. You have been teaching People that want to learn about this equipment, the best basic I’ve seen, I’ve got to a point in my life where I have to let my collection go , So I will leave it there, still enjoy the videos.
Sorry to hear your liquidating your collection Clif. Hope you find new ways to enjoy the hobby
Great job!! Nice little project 😎
Thanks Terry :-)
Great video. A lot of work. I knew the Model of the Week was a Hemingway but could remember her first name. She sure is cute. Later Dude.
Thanks Mark! Yes that Margeux sure has a "girl next door" kinda look to her for sure.
Hi Ron, great video. Good to see you save so many. 5 day marathon, good results.
Really enjoyed the final showing of them running, had a good chuckle when the rubber band unit flew across the screen in a hurry..lol. priceless 😄
Keep up the good work, good to be in the 33% gang.
Cheers
Thanks Robert :-)
Great video. Love F units. . My idea of 5 days of heaven. Especially when they look that good at the end 👍✌️
Thanks Darrell :-)
Uptown trains for the uptown girl? Great video, I enjoyed seeing what you could get running again, nice parade. I should send you my N Scale Chessie F3 that I can't get running.
Thanks John! If that N is a Bachmann I wont be able to fix it either ;-)
@@classicmodeltrainsLike a glutton for punishment, I picked up another at a train show this weekend that supposedly works. Hoping I can use it to figure out why my original one doesn't work. We shall see . . .
Hey Ron the steps on f units the super glue works but what works better is super glue hack with the baking soda and the or charcoal mixture will help support the steps on better so they don't break off Great show man thank you
Thank you Lawrence for the good tip! I need to remember this one for sure :-)
ron you are the reason i stayed in ho you make it a blast i have old lionel and marx also
Thanks Greg! Glad you are enjoying the hobby :-)
Thanks again for Another great video Ron. 33%
Your welcome Sir!
Wow a lot of work but they all really turned out amazing and I really like them great job 👏
Thank you :-)
Frankentrain!…..good video always enjoyable…
Best kind!!! :-)
Ron, another great video... lots of great info and nice resurrections... keep up the great work.... oopss model train Fun !! ... ~;0)
Thanks Tim!
Thank you for sharing.👍
Thanks for watching!
I love f units. As a kid, I never saw one in action unless it was on TV or the actual Ringling brothers train making it's was through my small town of Bogart Georgia. There are several at the southern rail museum. At one time, stone mountain had one. Enough of that rambling. I want to eventually gete one of those band drive engines. They seem to fast but very cool. If I run a across one cheap. I will grab it. Thanks for this great post. I watch your videos on TV.
Thanks for the compliments and a interesting story as well :-)
Very cool video of these cool athearn locomotives!
Thanks Matt
I love this channel!
Thank you David!
Great video. Gotta love those SantaFe F units. Lol
Thanks Bob!
I find there is something meditative when problem solving and repairing/restoring locomotives. One of the channels I watch uses a voltmeter and ammeter after resto. Another uses a voltmeter before and after from time to time. To me, eking out that last bit of speed, torque, noise reduction, power of a hunt. Often when I see vids of boxed parts trains, my mind starts racing to id problems before and during operation. It amuses me often that I can id problems before power is applied. Pre corrective actions just spill out. Just saw one of those 50's drives the other day and though Wow! they had a gem before the band drives? Cue the queries! How, what, what about??? Always great learning. I am about ready to embark on a long list of resto's and repairs and am looking forward to it. Your vids always give "just one more bit" of info, background, approach to tackling a loco. Thanks bud. If you did not live so other worldly far away, it would be fun to get some fingers stuck into a loco's innards. As always, I enjoyed the vid. Thank you.
Thanks Anthony, Sounds like we watch video's of things getting worked on the same way. Always one step ahead of the process on the show. Hope your repair (s) go well for you. Glad I maybe gave you a fresh hint or two :-)
Great video Ron. Awesome collection.
Thanks Dale
😊 Very cool video!! Great job!!!😊
Thanks Tony!
GREAT SHOW. THANKS FOR SHARING
Glad you enjoyed it
33% here. Got a few RBDs B&O post office, Wabash, GT, & Rock Island. Have another Rock Island F unit. I need chassis for. Front of chassis was cracked and someone tried gluing it together. Varney I think. Metal chassis. Anyways another awesome video! The power a-b you should put that Digitrax in both. Same speed calibration great pieces, hell of a train.
Thanks John. I'll probably let the new owner (s) put whatever brand of decoder they like the most in these.
That was epic!
Thanks Paul :-)
Yes great video Ron I like the Black Widow I dont have one yet
That one seems to have caught the eye of a lot of Fellers
Another great video Ron! I actually watched it twice already. Great content and interesting. I watch other train modeling videos which are good and helpful but just something about yours just stands out from the others. Something about your style and presentation I guess. Referencing some of your older videos was great which had me going back and watching those too. Keep'em coming!! Hopefully I bring up the 33% number.
Thank you Wayne for your compliments and support of my channel :-). I try and present the info fast paced to keep up the momentum
Great idea for video. Should inspire a few viewers who have a large "spares" box". Good presentation . Nice Classic Model. Thanks
Thank you very much Steve!
Hi Ron,
A company called American Limited made coupler conversion kits for ath and other models . They came as a a sets a b a sets a b b and a b b a sets , you can purchase them with or without the diagrams also. Unfortunately the downsides are they are kits , with our old eyes lol. The coupler mount on the locomotive has to be cut off almost to the coupler pin hole and the new relocation box installs easy with a new clip. If you do this relocation, id glue the mounting side of the box to the coupler frame so it wont pull off , sometimes they do. With the diagram kit they are super close and diagrams work and look more prototypical than the walthers accordion garbage 🗑️. The couple boxes recommend #5 kadees . But a whisker should work. Also the headlight draws power in the A , thats the reason its slower then the B , redirect the headlight with a microbulp and a small aluminum tube glued behind the headlight on the shell with Duco cement or hot glue works. Hope this helps ! Great videos as usual Ron
Thanks for this good information Albert. Some close couplers and diaphragms would really make these look nice!!
Great find
Thanks Dave
I have a band chassis for Athearn but Walmart does not carry the paints to match the Southern railway paint schemes.
Yup, Its hard to get the right shades of paint that's for sure
Yes! F-unit brigade!
:-)
Great video Ron
Thanks 👍
Ron. Ya turned yourself into Larrys Truck&Electric in HO Scale😊 Great efforts🚂🇨🇦🇺🇲🙋
Thanks 👍
Save the F unit shells for their fans!
All the various fans and exhaust details on the roof can be used to super detail different locomotives like Tyco, Life-like, and Bachman GP-7 & 9 units and make them look superb.
You can even use the single larger fan on the front radiator/generator end near the cab for use on GP-18 & 20's that have the single fans instead of the dual fans.
I usually carefully drill out the cheesy looking fans on AHM/Bachmann GP-whatevers with a corresponding drill bit and replace them with the finer see-through type F-unit fans. Once you glue them in from the back side of the GP shell with a tiny dot of CA smeared around the rim, they look great and only cost a little labor.
Sounds like a good idea to me
@classicmodeltrains The scavenged fans from F units really look great on those old AHM geeps, and they are literally free!
pleas start working on the seaboard system sd40-2
waiting on parts
I have a black scheme Southern railway plus A unit with B unit in Amtrak for my railroad layout.
Right on!
TY
:-)
My favorite Athearn F7 has to be the brass flywheel version that was introduced to us in 1984. BTW ever thought of getting one of the RTR HH ones as a comparison? I mean I used parts from them to restore my 1984 engine.
RTR "HH" version? you mean like a new athearn F unit? Never though about that but sounds like a good idea!!
@@classicmodeltrains Yeah "HH" stands for the Horizon Hobby version which is just the 1984 Blue Box that's been updated.
You can stiffen up those glued on steps by carefully drilling .005 holes in the steps and in the bodies , tedious, but worth it. Those frames are not painted, they are chemically blackened. I used to do exactly what you are showing here buying junk boxes at shows for a dime and building respectable models out of the junk and parts. Hours of hobby fun!
Thanks for the wire hack. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me!!
outstanding video
Thank you so much 😀
would love a video on how to install the close fit couplers on the athearn f-units,the factory couplers fit the locos way to far apart,kadee does make a close fit coupler adaapter kit but theres no instructions
Yup, My shorty kadee's didn't shorten them up enough. Still to big of a gap if ya ask me. I will have to see if Kadee has a kit for the F units. Probably a good idea for a vid!!
Very nice work Ron! I’ve done similar, from time to time (coincidentally I did it with some chassis and trucks this morning! Do you believe it?) It is very nice to give life (or a new life) for these beauties. Thanks for sharing the results my friend!
Hay Regis!!! Good to hear from you my friend. It’s been a long time. :-)
Dealing with many things these past mounths. Thank God everything is fine: alive and kicking!
I do Southern, Seaboard air line and Atlantic Coast line Railway in DC.
All nice looking livery's for sure!!
proud to be a 33.00 %er!
Right on!!
I need an Athearn F-7 Amtrak shell. Cheers from eastern TN
:-)
Hey Ron. ! Another very cool video. I had to 33% it to find out the model. I need some advice on an old athearn F unit repair. Needs axle gears. But I don’t know what year . I got the whole set at the York Train show in York PA. Twin New Haven A’s and freight cars.
It must be closely after the metal gear tower . This in is a plastic tower. Metal side frames needle or pointed end axles with a plastic tube gear that goes all the way wheel to wheel. Also the gears in the tower are herring bone design. Once I know what year to search for maybe I’ll find those axle gears.
Hope someone knows what I am explaining. Thanks.
Also it would maybe be a neat video showing each year from the beginning to now on athearn chassis and drives . Showing the improvements and maybe what newer gears and towers fit older frames. So we could upgrade
Thanks Steve. I'm not exactly sure if athearn still offers them axle gears. I've had a loco or 2 that they took out the sintered iron wheels with the side frame bushing and installed new N.S. wheel sets. seems the new axles the diameter is smaller than them old ones. I Could be wrong. Yeah a line up of all the athearn drives would make up a good video for sure!!
Well I’m sure athearn doesn’t offer them darn gears. But if I know which year or parts numbers they are I could search eBay or other sights to find the used ones 😊
Dammit , wrong guess again for the Classic Model , I guessed Melissa McCarthy . Just curious , can you buy the super weights separately ? Another great video too , thank you .
Perhaps on the eBay. Ive never seen them offered from athearn
Wow you actually got a lot of stuff done in 5 days when you think about the filimin and stuff. Fav part was the Rubberband drive showcase lol! Love your channel, Ron! Does it make much difference if your B-unit is a bit faster than the A-unit? Doesn't wear out the motor or anything like that? I got two walthers that do a similar thing... Churs!
Thanks Dave. Yup a lot of Fellers picked up on that band drive rocketing by. I'm not sure if it hurts them if there not completely the same speed. To me they are pretty close so I believe they will work well together. One Feller mentioned the light bulb in the "A" was what was causing it to run slower. If it was a LED they would be even closer to the same speed.
Ron when gluing steps back you once the step is glued and dried put a drop of Krazy glue in the back not the gel the regular glue then sprinkle a little baking soda on the drop of glue then a small drop on that it will harden like a rock just make sure you scratch up the plastic a bit before putting glue on the back side of the step.
Thanks for the good tip Norman
How do you get different brand bodies to fit on different brand chassis? I was really hoping you videoed that fix
These were all athearn chassis and athearn bodies. The F unit bodies all fit from the beginning of time till now I believe.
Yippie love parts
Yup!
Hey Ron what are easier to work on HO or Lionel O ?
HO you dont need a bunch of special tools. Lionel pre/post war, to really get into them you need special pullers and what not. The "O" stuff is easier because of the size only :-)
Hi. I'm Mark and I'm an Athearnaholic.
Hi, Mark.
I love the smell of melting ABS. I love spending days and weeks adding Walthers F unit detailing kits, A-Line "scale" window sets and Details West "see thru" fans....low version. I build bridge rectifiers and add LED lights because I can't countenance perfectly functioning 60 year old tungsten bulbs in my locos. My number boards must be drilled out, filed and lighted. My finger tips bear the scars of Xacto chisel blades because my cast on handrails must be shaved off and replaced by the manna grab irons from Tichy. I hoard my remaining MV lenses. I do all this to spite the investment bankers who think I should buy things ready-to-roll for $$$$ and therefore kill the hobby long term because most kids can't buy a $299 F unit. They could bike up to the local hobby shop and buy a $3 Chevron ACF hopper or a $24 Trainmaster. Alas, the world has passed me by...and I am happy for that.
There are many of us Athearnaholics! My particular disease is Blue Box!
Sounds like you do a lot of customization to yours. Thanks for all the info and manufacturers names to get the good details from!
This happens often with lots of f units. No DCC though :(
Nope. Kept them all natural
I sure wish i have those Athearn parts, But, I don't trust shopping on line.
Buy broken ones locally perhaps?
@@classicmodeltrains I always do, depending on the train show vendor, And, as always, thank you for answering my comments.
Get a real camera from Cannon or an equal brand. I have always thought that GoPro was for capturing action shots while being bounced about as in motocross, sky diving, sprint cars. I may be out of touch. Thanks for posting. You need a Marx F unit to add to the already bloated collection. Marx made pretty good HO scale. I feel better than any Tyco and many others.
I have a Marx F unit. Did a video on it a while back. Yes the Gopro is called an action camera. the mic on my iPhone is starting to go. I need a simple point and shoot video camera
The frames you tried to strip are chemically blackened, and won't strip like paint. You have to primer and paint over the black to change colors.
Yup! Your the second Feller to mention that. I'm used to the old ones. Never worked on that new of a Athearn :-)
Mariel Hemingway. Well almost right.
A base hit on this one. perhaps all the way to third!!
I use gorilla super glue to glue the truck frames back together
:-)
Easy.... Erica Eleniakski...
....scenery is looking good brother! TrailerHood..? ok back to the video...
ok, edit comment: Balls! Margaux Hemingway.... whatever, they look alike...
Trailer park, Nice ones like the early 60's offered is what I'm going for :-)
Bringing parts locos back from the dead? That’s not a challenge, that’s Tuesday!
Love it!!
You Can never Stop Doing this if you Love Model Railroading.
Sounds good to me!
I would like to have the Seaboard locomotive
Its just a shell currently. I want to fix it up real nice and sell it.
I think it's a Hemingway.
I would have guessed Marielle, if I knew how to spell that.
Dang. Missed it by that much.
You were very close!
To funny band drive
VRoooooooom!!
Elle MacPherson
No but a few other Fellers guessed the same
Christy Brinkley?
Close but......
The old uh, buzzzaabuzzabuzzzzzbuzzaaaaa
Works like a charm every time ;-)
Hubba hubba looks like Christie Brinkley
She does look a lot like a younger Christie for sure :-)
Looks like my parts drawer.🤣 That's what happens with 60 plus years of modeling.
Yup. them parts area's can get pretty full over time!
The classic model looks like my classic girl friend. I thought at that time I had meet the girl of my dreams...then I married her sister!
Too funny :-)
I would much rather have a box of broken locomotives than one brand new one.
I agree.
33% ter here lol😂
Thank you for all your support!!
Sale me the SP f-unit.
Some one already called Dibbs on that one :-/
😅
:-)
I quit buying project engines. Anymore I only buy lightly used engines that come in their original boxes.
Sounds like a good idea to me as well :-)