... Athearn saying, and I quote: "We'll have a new steam locomotive in N scale." What could this be???
Oh man, perhaps its an 0-8-0 steam switcher or a Challenger. Or maybe an early Atlantic to go with their 2-8-0 and 2-6-0. I do hope that it runs as well as their present steam offerings.
Hmmm. I wonder what they mean by "new?" Does that refer to their company? Or completely new to N scale? Which means something we have never seen? Boxcab E50
Are you referring to Clinton's famous response, "That depends on the meaning of 'be'?" Or something to that effect. "New" is probably the most overused marketing word, right up there with "first" or "only." I hope Athearn surprises us. With the inevitable consolidations in the market, "new" could mean anything.
Completely new per their announcement at San Diego in August. I suspect it will be large as they implied sound in the San Diego statement.
Well George, an n-scale version of their HO 4-6-6-4 would certainly be welcome, especially if it runs well out of the box. Plenty of room in a beast like that for sound plus a good drive train. So far, it looks like Athearn has done a good job in n scale and lets hope they continue.
Athern has come out with the old MDC 2-8-0 but I don't think they have put the MDC 2-6-0 in their boxes yet. Maybe they just mean the 2-6-0 although I hope it is something new just like everyone else.
I too hope its something brand new. However, sound in the 2-6-0 would still be novel. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what Athearn does. Some medium to large steam with excellent running characteristics (including good pulling power) would be welcome by this modeler. Since I don't do DCC sound would probably not be a big deal for me.
From Athearn's announcements this summer, the steamer will be a new loco with sound and as George said , it could be a large loco. Check what they've done in HO for some indications of what might be on the horizon for N scale. Whatever it is, it's nice to see a new entry in N scale steam if it happens. Their slightly redesigned 2-8-0 (tender) happens to be a fine running loco. I have it in Southern green. Mark has one in B&O on the LLL. Stay cool and run steam..... Stay cool and run steam......
Ah, I hope its small! Too much BIG stuff in N-scale. Something in the order of a 0-8-0 or 0-6-0, maybe a modern 4-6-0? As per the BIG statement, you can get almost any large steamer in N-scale (2-6-6-2, 2-8-8-2, 2-8-8-4, 2-6-6-6, 4-6-6-4, 4-8-8-4, etc.), but you can't find a good 0-8-0 or 0-6-0, even in brass.
Athearn does not yet make the 2-6-0. So I will bet that the "New to them" loco will be the old MDC 2-6-0. Any takers?
This will be a completly new engine. It will have sound and DCC on board. I belive it will be a rather large engine because of the space needed to add DCC and sound. This engine has been rumored for over a year. Athearn themselves have propogated this rumor. I suspect they wanted to get the SD70 project out the door before anouncments. We'll also probably see a few more transition era tooling as well. I'll have a full report from Springfield.
