Do I regret or celebrate this impulse buy? (F7 Athearn Genesis A-B)


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PPPPPP42

Member
I'm not even 100% clear what I just bought, but I know I wanted a really early model CNW F7 A-B set with digitrax stuff and that they were hell and gone out of my budget new. This looks like a converted earlier set with a dinged up grill on one side (doesn't bother me and I hope to fix it some) red LED headlight is a tad odd though I like that they are already LED's, wonder what the motivation for red was.
I don't actually know a ton about the digitrax system in use but I have picked it out as the definite DCC choice for my upcoming layout build based on research and reviews.
Usually when I jump on what seems like a decent deal it turns out I missed painfully obvious stuff, at least its not several hundred on the line, $138.95 shipped is palatable even if its a total loss.

What I bought:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Athearn-Gen...URyFS2mZ7rzVLcA7eW1VE%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

This is the board both units have, seems a more basic one. I am unclear if it even does the full digital movement functions or any sounds, I know its no tsunami like the new Genesis F7's come with at least.:
http://www.digitrax.com/products/mobile-decoders/dh165a0/

As an interesting aside apparently that 4083A unit was built in '49 and then updated and eventually sold and looks to have been restored:
http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr903.htm (scroll down to the correct unit #) dunno bout the B unit but its within the correct serial block to have been purchased at that time by CNW.

I have been homeworking to death lately to settle on what I wanted and this is my first model railroad purchase in 15-20 years. Suppose I will have to go buy the digitrax set and some track to test run it too (don't laugh) I seem to have some carts before horses issues going on here.
 
My friend dont feel bad I had 6/8 locos before I had any track down. I have 8 switchers and my yard is only down on paper,though that will soon be changing.
 
Don't regret your purchase OR having engines before you have a track. Having the engines will inspire you to get the track and watch them run. There is NO right or wrong to buy things, no order and no rules - just so long as it all comes together in the end :)
 
PPPPPP42 said:
This looks like a converted earlier set with a dinged up grill on one side (doesn't bother me and I hope to fix it some) red LED headlight is a tad odd though I like that they are already LED's, wonder what the motivation for red was.
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That isn't a headlight that is the light that is turned on when the loco is going backwards. It becomes the tail light so to speak. The headlight is in the lower housing.

I don't actually know a ton about the digitrax system in use but I have picked it out as the definite DCC choice for my upcoming layout build based on research and reviews.
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You do realize that the decoder brand does not have to match the "system" brand.

This is the board both units have, seems a more basic one. I am unclear if it even does the full digital movement functions or any sounds,
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The DH165AO is not a basic board. That is one of the boards I would recommend for that unit if someone was asking, "what decoder to use?" today. It has no sound, but that doesn't make it a basic board. You can add sound with their sound bug board. The hard part with sound isn't the board it is the speaker.

I have been homeworking to death lately to settle on what I wanted and this is my first model railroad purchase in 15-20 years. Suppose I will have to go buy the digitrax set and some track to test run it too (don't laugh) I seem to have some carts before horses issues going on here.
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It is a fine unit and should serve you well. $138 is a good price too. I would expect to double that if you want pre-installed sound (e.g. www.trainworld.com HO-F3).
 
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PP.........., I had several locos before I even started designing my layout.
I am not even sure they are in the same era.

Before you jump into buying a DCC system check them all out well AND ask for some advise here on the forum.
All DCC systems will run the basic locos. Some DCC systems are just a little more advanced, I guess is the word, than others.
Some are expandable, I think there may be possibly one or two systems that are not. You need to check this out.
Digitrax is a good system and it is very expandable however, so is NEC. NEC is is very much worth looking into.
A number of people here have an NEC system and have no complaints.
I have Digitrax simply because I did not ask any questions before I bought it.

Ask questions, we love to help when we can.
If these people don't have an answer then most likely there ain't one.
 
Ah, glad those are good dcc boards, I will probably pick up a pair of digitrax sfx006 to plug into them then.
The red backup light is cool, I didn't know they had that.
Just about every question possible has been asked about DCC on this and other forums and I have been really reading the hell out of stuff and comparing options for a fair while. I have settled on digitrax because they are very modular and expandable and the company even updates certain older equipment if you send it to them plus different generations of parts work well together. That might be true of others too I suppose.
I actually plan to buy way the hell more function and capacity than I need for power supply and DCC gear (super chief) because that's really the core of everything and I want to be able to use it for a long while without wishing I had better stuff, though with the modular nature of it I can just update. I don't mind spending the extra money at all to get higher end equipment this time around (within reason).

EDIT: I had looked at NCE and decided on digitrax because they seemed to cost more for a similar product.
Also if the red light doesn't come on automatically when the locomotive is put in reverse as was suggested above, what dcc function turns it on? Is it just a manual function then?
 
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The red light isn't a "back up" light .... not sure where you got that from. (?)

The red light would automatically come on if the train was put into emergency. It could also be turned on manually which would have been used if the train was standing still on an active main. If / when the train was run in reverse, if anything, the engineer would run the headlight in dim. As a rear marker light, the class lights could be turned on as a red marker light (those little lights above the number boards).

The red light was usually an animated light, either a Mars or Gyra-light.

Mark.
 
Well it showed up. Haven't run it yet as the rest of the toys aren't here yet.
I have a warning to all who buy Athearn Genesis F7's or similar, the foam in the box is too tight for it and far too stiff and dense, if you even gently slide it out of its foam without prying the foam away from it (hard to do as it doesn't like to compress much) you will bust both the horns off, ask me how I know. A very delicate super glue job corrected this.
I had to make a few other super glue repairs to things like the loops around the steps on the trucks, and take the cover off (a nightmare of delicate moves) to reroute some wires as he had an ugly bundle of purple wire piled up in the cab from the LED install, and fix an out of place cover locking clamp that was holding the body crooked. The LED wire leads kinda suck, they are way too heavy a wire to be convenient in there. I hope I like their appearance and function for all the bother they are.
I managed to correct everything I could find wrong and the bad side grill is actually just a little bit loose in the middle with some probably glue gunk in a few spots you can see through it on the back side which you can't actually see unless you are looking at it from less than a foot away with a flashlight and you know to look for it.
So assuming it works correctly I am overall pleased I think. These brand of locomotives are absolutely gorgeous, though I think we have reached the level of too much detail for a useable toy as just picking it up slightly wrong breaks parts off or bends railings. They even have the damn lifting eyelets on the roof engine access panels which are so impossibly small you can't even see them at more than a foot away.
 
PPPPPP42 said:
I have a warning to all who buy Athearn Genesis F7's or similar, the foam in the box is too tight for it and far too stiff and dense, if you even gently slide it out of its foam without prying the foam away from it (hard to do as it doesn't like to compress much) you will bust both the horns off, ask me how I know.
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The newer issue have gone to the sturdy plastic packaging that "opens" off. Much nicer. But I still broke a off a piece from my new set (see last weeks WPF), that I can't even identify where goes.
These brand of locomotives are absolutely gorgeous, though I think we have reached the level of too much detail for a useable toy as just picking it up slightly wrong breaks parts off or bends railings.
Click to expand...
This is why I am developing two different fleets. One for the camera and the other for operating sessions where things get banged around.

They even have the damn lifting eyelets on the roof engine access panels which are so impossibly small you can't even see them at more than a foot away.
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Just wait until you roll it down a slope and all those lift rings get smashed flat. Ask me how I know....:eek:
 
wombat457 said:
Don't regret your purchase OR having engines before you have a track. Having the engines will inspire you to get the track and watch them run. There is NO right or wrong to buy things, no order and no rules - just so long as it all comes together in the end :)
Click to expand...

That's great advice because I want to buy the locomotives but I don't have any track nor a layout plan yet.
 
Ironic that you should post today. Though there is no particular order to buying things certain decisions need to be made in advance. For example the location of my potential layout just got shifted and I am switching to N scale, (a conversation for another thread). Sometimes I want to punch myself in the face.
I should mention in addition to that A-B unit I have 4 CNW 40 foot box cars and 2 fuel brand (forget) tank cars and possibly 2 CNW passenger cars on the way (when the ebay auction ends).
Talk about charging off in the wrong direction. At least I won't lose a ton selling it all off and didn't buy anything but the engines and rolling stock.

Good news is my Digittrax setup just showed up at the well equipped shop in Duluth, MN (about 2 hours north) so I will have to browse the N scale stuff and pick up some track when I get there.

EDIT: So in answer to my original title question I regret this purchase though it will be a deal for someone else I'm sure.
 
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