I have very vivid memories of the days when, except for brass, Athern quality
was about as good as you could get. Down thru the yrs. Athern has done an
outstanding job for modelers. I have two road names on my layout: CB&Q for
my brass and latterday diesels, and the Nebulus Gnarl for all of my
non-Burlington power. For the NG I have had a field day collecting the good
stuff that has come out the last 15 yrs. that runs great, but isn't
Burlington. I have a number of old Athern diesels which still run ok. I
woudln't try to make a Burlington engine out of Athern's 2-8-2, but I would
gladly pay $150 and add it to my NG roster if I had a place for any more good
steam on my layout. Athern and Bachman are doing ok with their new steam.
It runs great! The steam they used to turn out was really poor, and I
wouldn't use it because it woudn't run well, and if it did run, wouldn't stay
on the track. I can understand that they need to charge $150 for a good
steam product, and I'm sure they have to stick with a single standard engine
for that price, as it would add greatly to the cost if they were to try to
customize accurate versions of various different raliroad classes. Don't
sell Athern short.
DRale
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