Athearn Mike

[Hoople]

Hi guys. Just wondering how an athearn mike perfroms, and is it a good deal to buy it for $50, new?

[wade]

Smoother runner, not a good puller but 50 bucks is a great deal.
Wade

[SteamGene]

The reason it only costs $50 is because it is notorious for having a plastic gear that breaks with alarming frequency and then is almost impossible to aquire from Athearn.  OTOH, NWSL has one available.
You will also have to mount your own operating front coupler.
Gene

[Hoople]

Hmm... That's interesting. I thought Genesis was better than that...

Maybe I'll save up for a BLI mike instead.

[SteamGene]

Save for the BLI.  Look on the BLI site for the direct sale discount locos.  At one time there were quite a few USRA light Mikes for sale there.  IIRC, $135 for sound.
Gene

[Virginian]

If it runs well, it probably is not one of those with the afflicted gear, as it has been out a pretty good while now.  The Athearn Mikes do need some weight added to pull well, but the mechanism is really good, and I don't know about you, but it's a long way from $50 to $135 from where I am looking.
Don't get me wrong, I like the BLI Mikes okay too, and I have one, and I really like the sound.  I have 5 non-sound Genesis Mikes and I like them too.

[BaltoOhioRRfan]

IMO, get it. I have one and the only problem ive had with it is the soder on the contacts to the motor broke. Simple fix once i got instructions on how to take the boiler off from Athearn(they were VERY helpful). and the Athearn one is the closest to a real B&O Mikado as anyone has made. I can't recall the B&O having a Mike with the headlight in the center like on all the ones out now.

[Nigel]

Hi guys. Just wondering how an athearn mike perfroms, and is it a good deal to buy it for $50, new?

It depends on the warranty the seller will give you if the axle gear is cracked.

It is interesting that Athearn in thier latest news letter referred to the HO Challenger as thier FIRST Genesis Steam Locomotive, and the Big Boy as thier second.......

If you want a USRA Light Mike; also take a look at:

• Oriental Powerhouse (made in late '80's) - they runs as well as any HO steam locomotive ever, they show up on ebay from time to time
• BLI
• Bowser
• Cary boiler on a Mantua chassis

before spending your money.

[Atlantic Central]

I have two of them, no gear problems with mine, but they needed a lot of weight to pull reasonably well. One is in the process of getting a Bachmann tender. While I am not unhappy with them, I would not buy any more either.

Nigel makes good sugestions about the other choices.

Sheldon

[rogertra]

Yes Nigel, I also noticed that Athearn's most recent Newletter said that the HO Challenger was their FIRST Genesis Steam Locomotive.

I've written to Athearn asking them about this and what did they consider their 2-8-2 and 4-6-2 locomotives to be, as my boxes clearly say "Genesis".

I got the feeling from that newsletter that Athearn would rather forget both the 2-8-2 and the 4-6-2, given all the problems and Athearn's complete lack of customer service.

[MrMunchkin]

I have two of these and one pacific, the first one is from the very first batch and has worked flawlessly since I got it several years ago, the other developed the split gear syndrome soon after I got it. I contacted Athearn and they told me to send it back and they would fix it, which they did, however, now the headlight does not work.. The pacific seems to have caught the split gear disease and when I called Athearn they told me to E-Mail them and they would send me the wheelset with a new gear attached  and instructions as to how to change it.
As far as how strong a puller it is, it seems about average for a plastic steam loco of it's size, it's definately more powerful then a Spectrum Consi or S Y Mike, a little less so then an IHC Mountain.
The Oriental Powerhouse Mike mentioned in one of the replys was actually manufactured by the same Korean company that did the Athearn one (Samghongsa) but it is totally different, and is a little more powerful a puller, it dosn't run any better, and does not have an opperating headlight, I have one and I was very dissapointed with it.
Another option worth checking out would be the IHC Mike, which, while not as well detailed as the others, was very reasonably priced and is an excellent runner. I don't know if they currently catalog this loco, but I'm sure their still around as they made them by the zillions.   P.M.

[ebtbob]

Good Morning All,

       Having owned two of each the Athearn and BLI light mikes,  I can tell you that the BLI model is the better buy even though the out of pocket expense is more.   There are no split gear problems,  and BLI response time on a repair is much quicker than what Athearn's is these days and the BLI mkes are much better pullers.  All that was spoken before me about the Athearn mike is correct in regards to the weight issue.  However,  in the first run of the mikes there was also an issue of tracking,  which had any number of corrections possible.  Also,  you will have to put your own operating pilot coupler on the Athearn model where the BLI has one factory installed.
       I too was interested in the last Athearn email proclaiming the Challenger as the first Genesis steam engine.
      The mention of the IHC mike was interesting in that I also had one of those at one time.   The IHC line of engines does not follow any one prototype and in general,  I do not believe they are even considered to be of USRA design.   Now if you can get past that,  you can have a really nice engine.   Yes,  they are VERY spartan with regards to detail,  but just changing the bell and whistle,  and adding some pop valves will dress up the engine nicely.   I also added a LaBelle crew to mine.   This engine will also need a operating front coupler added.    The mechanism used in the IHC models is really quite nice with a flywheel mounted up in the cab to the rear of the motor,  painted black and really not noticed.    All the IHC engines I have owned,  or still do(I have two of the 2-10-2s) ran every bit as good as my Bachmann Specturm engines and in the case of the light mountains,  were actually better pullers.  The one BIG drawback to the IHC engines is the flange size.   All IHC engines except the new 2-10-2 have oversized flanges making it necessary to use code 100 rail on your layout.

Bob

[Hoople]

Thanks for all the help. I'll just save up for a BLI mike, because if I bought the athearn one for $50+$150 for sound stuff=$200 when I could get a better, more powerful WITH sound BLI one for $135 or $150 (trainworld).

[Virginian]

Yep, if you want sound anyway, the BLI is the way to go all right.
I do not know about all IHC engines, but I think they have all gone to the RP25 wheel contours.  At least, I know the little 0-8-0 I got a while back had small flanges.  Nice little engine.

[lanny]

I agree with Virginian. Go BLI for a Mike if you can afford it. The sound, for me, is very special on the BLI Mike ... having at one time or another had several BLI steam sound locomotives as well as Athearn and Lionel, what I found is that the BLI heavy Mike sound, even on my DC/Analog, is so familiar to the sound I remember hearing as a kid, when the ICRR Mikes went through our town (specially on a late summer night when all was very quiet and the windows were opened. The sound of my BLI mike never fails to take me back in my memory to those days.

I have a couple or three IHCs which have been or are going to be converted to 'ICRR resemblance' locomotives. For me, that means pretty much stripping everything down to the shell and starting over with necessary brass and styrene details. But I agree with Virginian and others, the IHC, though 'generic' in looks, not really prototypical of very many roads and  not as well or accurately detailed as Spectrum, BLI, etc., are very good, dependable runners, specially for the price.

I just picked up an IHC 'Premier' Consolication on eBay for a little over 30 bucks, as well as another 2-10-2 DCC ready 'Premier' for 81 bucks. Nice locomotives for those prices.

lanny nicolet