Model Railroading > Disappointed with new Genesis F units

I just opened up a new Genesis Santa Fe "modernized" F unit to replace a popped off retaining clip on the rear truck. I'm very disappointed with the quality of this model. While handling it I took a closer look at the workmanship. It sucks. Glue residue on the body, detail parts out of alignment, flaking paint on the belt line near the pilot. Finger prints on the window glass. Every screw securing the body and couplers were loose. Inside, caught in the cab interior details was a side window glass, even though both windows on the shell had those parts. And GREASE everywhere. It looked like the assembler packed so much grease into the top of the truck tower that when the retaining clip was pressed on, the excess grease was forced out the gaps and has oozed all over everything during transit. The truck pivot pin had a wad of grease big enough to lubricate the entire loco. I had to take both trucks apart and clean them thoroughly and remove grease from the chassis surfaces, a task that has taken well over an hour so far, and I haven't started putting things back together again. Plus, to get to the clip holding the front truck the cab interior has to be removed. Surprise - it's glued on so while removing it the locating pins break off, so now it will be loose unless I figure out another way to secure it. I haven't run this mess yet, but I'm not hopeful. And I still have four more of these locos to inspect, clean and fix.

These will probably be my last Genesis models.

Rick



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/09 09:46 by swsf.

Personally, I think the model companies have 'F' unit us to death!!!! You'd think that was the only model that ever ran on the mainline. Please stop the F's and make some B36's, SD series etc, etc......

gp39 Wrote:
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> Personally, I think the model companies have 'F'
> unit us to death!!!! You'd think that was the only
> model that ever ran on the mainline. Please stop
> the F's and make some B36's, SD series etc,
> etc......


As long as the Genesis line continues I'm ok with that. There seems to be a broad suspicion of the manufacturing in China. There's some recent concerns about how things are built after the large contracts have been signed. The Economist had a book review with some interesting comments a few weeks ago. Then there's those well publicized problems from the general media.
Overall, the recent products have been tremendous.

send athearn a bill for your time
D

I learned a long time ago that if you have a complaint about something tell it to someone that has the capacity to do something about it (Athearn). If I complained about things wrong with all the products I buy I would never run my railroad.
Wright up a list and send it back....that's the best message.

Ed

For my money, you still can't beat the standard "blue box" F-Units. I have run the wheels off of mine. But then, I am not a connoisseur for detail or DCC! I put my SF F-Units on the track with a long line of vintage Athearn passenger cars and let them run for a long time! "Everybody to their own taste, said the old lady as she kissed the cow."

Maybe someone else got their hands on it before you did and screwed things up?

Don't clean, don't fix. Send them back to Athearn. Only then well things improve.

I just bought 4 HO Santa Fe F45s in yellow warbonnet. All of them had a strong odor of fresh paint like it hasn't cured yet. I let them out of their boxes so far the odor is going away. Other than that I am happy with them.
Matt

I tend to agree that you got one that was severly fondled, I haven't bought alot of Genesis engines of late, but those I have bought along with the RTR stuff has all been up to snuff.

Just an FYI for all of you, Athearn has just moved again and is down sizing. There sales are way off and they are trying to do the same jobs with less people. One good thing is parts are shipping faster. Remember you get what you pay for when hiring help.

Wow. The amount of misinformation posted on the net (see the prime example quoted below) never ceases to amaze me.

PE - Uh, sure...

shannon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just an FYI for all of you, Athearn has just moved
> again and is down sizing. There sales are way off
> and they are trying to do the same jobs with less
> people. One good thing is parts are shipping
> faster. Remember you get what you pay for when
> hiring help.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/09 20:02 by SP_8299.

shannon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just an FYI for all of you, Athearn has just moved
> again and is down sizing. There sales are way off
> and they are trying to do the same jobs with less
> people. One good thing is parts are shipping
> faster. Remember you get what you pay for when
> hiring help.

The only correct info here would read:

Just an FYI for all of you, Athearn has just moved again and one good thing is parts are shipping faster

My advice: make major loco purchases in person at a hobby shop so you can inspect and test run the goods before you buy.

swsf Wrote:
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> These will probably be my last Genesis models.
>
> Rick

Yea Rick, I'm with you.

About a week and a half ago I received an Athearn SD60M from the latest run. It arrived in its new "wood block" packaging and it was busted-up severely in many areas. I usually buy brass locomotive models, but occasionally I would buy a plastic model if it was nicely done.

So anyway I've decided that I'm not going to buy plastic locomotive models anymore. They're much too fragile, and paint and finish application on plastic models is nearly impossible to achieve accurately. I'm going metal all the way, except for train cars. I'd rather have one nice brass model rather than five rickety plastic models no matter how accurate and detailed they may be.

My sole suppliers for locomotive models will be Overland Models, Division Point, Precision Scale, Union Terminal Imports, and Broadway Limited Imports.

I'm just disgusted with plastic locomotive models. I'm done! I'm really done.

MARK

Update on my Genesis problem. All five locos will be returned. After cleaning the grease out of the trucks of the first loco and lubricating them properly, I discovered that the wheels bind due to the gears meshing too tightly. My dealer has notified Athearn about these problems and that the locos will be returned for a full refund. We are awaiting instructions on where to send them.

Rick

It seems with the Genesis locomotive units, there is no one at the throttle anymore looking at Quality Control. All these problems have been around for years on the Genesis locomotive line.

Too much glue in many spots
Frame glued to shell
Over lubrication of trucks
Warped and broken handrails
Poorly designed packaging
Cheap bulbs that burn out quickly
Poorly designed electrical system that causes erratic running

There is a person on this board that works for Athearn. He seems more concerned with misinformation. Maybe Paul could PLEASE tell us that this information is being seen by the RIGHT people at Athearn. I too am not ordering anymore Genesis locomotives till they address these issues. I am NOT anti Athearn. I think they make great stuff. I just am tired of paying big bucks for all these QC issues that are not being addressed. If Paul wants to PM me privately, I will gladly send these complaints in a professional manner to the right Athearn person. No more alias email's to Athearn for me. No response.

Bruce

swsf Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Update on my Genesis problem. All five locos will
> be returned.
...discovered that the wheels bind due to
> the gears meshing too tightly.
...

Is this inside the truck or the worm gear to truck interface (which would be related to motor position)? Are these the Roco style drives?

Seems that the truck design should be vetted, or they are getting parts from a mold with problems, or maybe some other short cut. Could the trucks be replaced or is it more complicated than that?

Definitely not a good thing simply based on the price. The missing QC would be related to the HH takeover, sometimes it works, usually it doesn't. This would be a bad thing.

TCnR Wrote:>

> Is this inside the truck or the worm gear to truck
> interface (which would be related to motor
> position)? Are these the Roco style drives?
>
> Seems that the truck design should be vetted, or
> they are getting parts from a mold with problems,
> or maybe some other short cut. Could the trucks be
> replaced or is it more complicated than that?
>
> Definitely not a good thing simply based on the
> price. The missing QC would be related to the HH
> takeover, sometimes it works, usually it doesn't.
> This would be a bad thing.

In my almost 40 years of modeling I have used a method I picked up from a master modeler when fine tuning trucks. If everything is running correctly, when placing a truck on a smooth surface such as a pane of glass and pushing it, the wheels will turn freely. This is with the worm gear at the top of the tower removed. There should be no binding. The glass surface is slippery, and well constructed trucks will roll freely. These did not, with the wheel binding almost every time. I believe the problem is that the gears are a fraction of a millimeter too large and there isn't enough space between the gear teeth of meshing gears to work with each other without the teeth of one gear binding into the valley between each tooth of the other. When forcing the truck along, a slight, almost unoticeable vibration is felt, indicating that the teeth are rubbing too much against each other. I used to be a machinist and know about the proper taper relationship of gear teeth to mesh without binding or slack. These would not pass inspection if they were my gears to machine.

Rick

The 1st batch of the Fs ran very nice, smooth as silk. Then I got another more detailed F's a year ago, and they run nice, but not the top notch runners as before. Yes quality has taken a dip in my opinion!