# Athern Blue Boxes



## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

*Athern Blue Box*

I was just wondering. What is the general opinion of Athern blue box here at the Forum?
Are they Dcc ready?Do they come equipped with ditch lights?
Thank you, for your participation. tr1


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

In my opinion all the boxes are blue. Well that's really all I know about them. What exactly do you want to know tr1? Pete


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Over half of my RR equipment is BBs. Mainly because of price. The rolling stock is
not the most detailed but good enough for me. The engines are noisey but good
pullers and very durable. They seldom break and if they do are easy to fix. The
cars need knucle couplers and metal wheels added. The engines need the couplers 
also. I haven't found a better engine in the $30 range than the BBs.


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## dannyrandomstate (Jan 1, 2012)

Blue boxes are a great for the price. And if things progress with the layout they are super easy to convert to DCC. Even with a few add on parts they can be really good engines.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I didn't see your other questions before. They are NOT DCC ready.
None have working ditch lights. DCC is not hard to add but not
plug in. Ditch lights can be added.

Bluebox stuff is old. Has not been made in years. Most are 20 or 
more years old. BBs were made before DCC and most were made
before ditch lights were required on mainline engines.


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## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

I was looking at a Dcc command station to day.I have to get my layout up and running,then i'll
convert over to DCC from regular dc.It is my understanding that not much if any upgrades
will be needed. The 15 awg. wire will suffice. you said earlier DCC is not difficult to add(but not plug in.)<what does that mean?


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

DCC is not difficult to add(but not plug in.)<what does that mean? 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DCC ready engines have a plug to plug a DCC decoder into. Blue Box engines have
to be wired by you (or someone else) for the decoder. No plug included.
You need some soldering skills to add DCC to BBs. You basically rewire the whole engine to add DCC. That includes the motor and the lights, and power
pickup from the wheels.


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## Smokinapankake (Sep 8, 2011)

I love Athearn's blue box stuff. In fact, when I'm searching for a new loco, typically I'll look for it in the BB assortment. Unfortunately, the only Alco's available in BB form are PA's. 
As others have said, they run forever, are easy to repair/maintain, are good pullers, and above all affordable. They do have their quirks (loud, mostly, and with a cheesy power strip along the top of the motor) but their foibles are well known and easily remedied. They are pretty easy to convert to DCC if you have the slightest bit of skill with a soldering iron.

As far as collectibility, some is but most is not, due to the fact that they made them by the bazillions, and there are still a bazillion out there. The BB rolling stock is fondly known as "shake the box" kits because they are so easy to assemble that you could just shake the box and an assembled product would come out. They only take about 15 minutes to assemble. 
Athearn is good stuff; they've been around since the mid-40's.


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

I have converted and repowered Athearn BB locos and have added DCC and sound to them.


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

Blue Box Athearn's = Best Buy, No Bull, Bulldogs of Beasts, and you can't go wrong! -


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## golfermd (Apr 19, 2013)

I've had pretty good luck with the BB's. The price is right and one of the easiest engines to convert to DCC and sound. My preference are the undecorated engines so I can paint and detail them to my liking (and better accuracy). Micro-Scale has great sets of decals.


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## morland (Sep 25, 2012)

I'm agree with everyone else, BB are reliable, easy to work on and don't break the wallet. Over half my fleet of engines are BB.

-Trever


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## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

*Negating effect?*



rrgrassi said:


> I have converted and re-powered Athearn BB locos and have added DCC and sound to them.


 Isn't the whole sound thing kind of negated with noisy eng- 

ines, along with an older-style train board system(that tends to amplify the rolling stock movement running along the rails on cork roadbed?
tr1


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## morland (Sep 25, 2012)

A lot of the BB's I have are not that noisy and there are some tweaks you can do to make them a little quieter...I have a couple that are noisy but they wouldn't be candidates for sound.

-Trever


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## golfermd (Apr 19, 2013)

I have yet to experience any excessive locomotive sound issues with the BB's.


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## Grabbem88 (Feb 24, 2012)

Lol I got one I bought for my daughter and it is ungodly loud even with a proto motor in it.
Most noise is amplified by the shell and it's weak fastening points.

But I also got some that are almost whisper quite so it's a crap shoot I guess


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## BNSP (Oct 7, 2013)

They are all I have used for many years, best bang for the buck and good details.


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## jjb727 (Apr 13, 2012)

Blue box series is affordable, Genesis can be anywhere from $100 to $500 depending on the item. I dont really need THAT MUCH detail, nor do I have the money to spend on it (though I would love to have a UP greyhound challenger!)


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## ggnlars (Aug 6, 2013)

Two main sources of noise are the motor and the gears in the trucks. If the motor is noisy the it needs some lube and the gold surface on the rotor cleaned. The brushes or brush springs may need to be replaced. All of these should be checked and corrected before converting to DCC. Hand in hand with the noise is higher than desired current draw. Particularly bad for DCC. 
The gears on the wheels are notorious for cracking, leading to a grinding and the clicking noise. If they are cracked, they need to be replace. This is a very common problem. Particularly with similar interchangeable parts that were made for P2K units. 
The other gears in the trucks are crud collectors and can create a grinding noise. These need to be cleaned and lightly lubed. 
There are lots of links out there on tuning up Athearn BB loco's. The NMRA site has a couple that I have used a a guide. 
Do these things and the noise issue will likely go away.


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## marx1 (Dec 11, 2009)

The way I see it is athearn is a good product, how ever alot of other manufactorers make better running engines. Buy this I mean smoother running like atlas-usually cost more. I don't know if its from the motor design(windings) or a capacitor here or there to help power loss during bad pickup conditions. But athearn has been a good solid base to start from for me that u can add stuff to. And just look at them, they are pretty durible. some buchman, and other stuff have plastic handrails and don't look just right.


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## ggnlars (Aug 6, 2013)

A general comment. Irv Athearn strove to keep the cost of his products low. So he did not choose to do some of the things that the later loco's have done. Namely a lot more weight, Additional techniques to reduce vibration and better electrical connection. The later units are catering to the revit counter segment of the hobby. They have a lot of details that are separately installed. Because of the desired appearance these are extremely delicate and break easily. 
The manufacturer and installation of these details and the drive improvements have driven the cost up. An adequate loco can be had from a Blue box unit with some small adjustments


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## blvdbuzzard (Jun 1, 2012)

I have a 1/2 dozen or so BB engines. All run well for me. I do not need to count the motor windings as it rolls by. They may not be silent runners, but neither are the full scale loco's. I have added sound to a GP-38, GP-35 and a FP59H. I have also added DCC to 1 GP 38, GP 35. I added new lights to them as they had the one giant light bulb that lite up the entire insides of the engine. I used (5) 12v grain of rice bulbs for my GP35. (2) for the front, (1) for the number boards, (2) for the rear lights.

To ad DCC is very easy on the BB model. First one took me about 45 minutes or so, watched a few youtube videos then tore into mine. The last one took about 10 minutes. After adding the DCC it does run smoother and sounds is a tab bit less too.

I call these the 5 foot rule engines. They look good enough from 5 feet away. I also have a newer RTR GP-35. The detail level is so far above the old BB engines. They have a 1000% more detail then my 15 year old BB engines. Yet if I compare the cost, my old BB was $19.99 and the new RTR was $99.99. The new RTR my be 5 times the cost, but it is well past the that in detail. It was about the same to come up with the $19.99 back then as it is the $100.00 today.

I have thought about ordering all of the detail parts for the old BB shell, but can not find a list and I am no good at figuring out what horn, bell, head light goes with what engine or railroad.


Buzz.


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## Smokinapankake (Sep 8, 2011)

blvdbuzzard said:


> I have thought about ordering all of the detail parts for the old BB shell, but can not find a list and I am no good at figuring out what horn, bell, head light goes with what engine or railroad.


5 foot rule applies directly to this comment, and justifies sparing yourself the time/effort/expense. At least that's how it goes at my house... 

Personally, I kind of like the growl, and I really like the big ol' headlight. Reminds me of when I was an 8 year old kid with my first Tyco train set. Turn the room lights off and experience the magic. I ran the wheels off that GP-20, I tells ya!


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## blvdbuzzard (Jun 1, 2012)

Oh yes, my brother and I had a Tyco F7 we ran the wheels off. Man we ad fun with that thing.

I was really looking at detailing a couple of my BB engine until I bought the RTR version. It would cost about as much for the detail parts as a new RTR and I could not make it look that good, so sort of let the steam out of the sails there.


Buzz.


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## marx1 (Dec 11, 2009)

AAahhh,, the good old days, I'm feelin it now. But I have fun finding all those detail parts. Fighting people off on ebay for that part(last one in the world!) Waiting for that last piece I needed to come on sale. you know, adventure.


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## blvdbuzzard (Jun 1, 2012)

If I could find a list of parts I need for my SP GP-35's I would spend the money on them in a heart beat. I would love to tear into a body shell and make it look good. Yet, I have not found the list. I always get go through our catalog and order what you need. If I knew that, I would have all ready ordered them.

I almost ordered the etched brass fans for the one I was going to put sound in. Then I figured if I did that, I would need to add more details. So I started but could not find what I needed so I gave up and bought the RTR one and put sound in it.


Buzz.


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## marx1 (Dec 11, 2009)

blvdbuzzard, if u go to Hoseeker.net u will find most trains diagrams and find ur part number u need. I see there was several gp35's made, 1 in 1973, and 1997, and a RTR in 2005. If its athearn,but the fans are part of the body?


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## blvdbuzzard (Jun 1, 2012)

That is a nice site. I had not been there before.

Yes the fans are part of the shell, but, the fun part is.

Putting these fans in place of the ones that are cast as part of the shell.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/744-310

http://store.blueoxtrains.com/cannon-1706-ho-detail-part-36-radiator-fans-gp35-sd35-sdp35-sd38/

These are the types of parts I want to find. Anything to add to the details of the bland shells. I want to shave the molded grab irons off and replace with wire one, add the lift rings, new fans, some of the fuel piping, connection hoses, antennas, and all of the add on's I can find.

Buzz.


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