Model Railroading > Athearn CA8 availability?

The new Athearn UP CA8 class cabooses are fantastic!  Unfortunately my dealer got shorted and I would still like one more in the 1960s scheme (small reporting marks and square slogan board with green printing).  Does anyone know of a supplier who might still have a non-sound one on the shelf?  

Thanks in advance.

Gary B.
Waverly, NE
 

Try the Train Station in Columbus, OH

Andy

Question on the actual models of the CA8 UP caboose that were just delivered did Athearn make the cupola the correct width, which is flush with caboose side?  The photos of the samples shown on the Athearn website show the cupola side slightly overthanging the car side.  This is wrong.

What's wrong with the slight overhang? Appears to be there on the prototypes... 

UP 25555 (Colton, CA 1977)... 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/captain_railroad/12559257905/

Athearn model (UP 25555)...
http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATHG78318

~ Mr. MRL

I'm not a CA8 nor UP caboose expert, but I think Athearn discussed this on one of their Tuesday videos, and said they have confirmed the model is correct with a slight non-alignment of the copula on the real cabooses. 

They also said, yes, they will be doing the 3 Kaiser assigned cabooses with the green K instead of the red P on the copula. (Not sure which numbered class they are, but they will do them.)

Mike ONeill
Parker, CO



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/20 12:26 by mcdeo.

English's Model Railroad Supply in Montoursville PA has some.  I was in their store today.

DGOLDE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Question on the actual models of the CA8 UP
> caboose that were just delivered did Athearn make
> the cupola the correct width, which is flush with
> caboose side?  The photos of the samples shown on
> the Athearn website show the cupola side slightly
> overthanging the car side.  This is wrong.

There is more "overhang" pn the model than on the real cars.  I stood beside the CA9 (almost identical to CA8) on display in Belvidere, NE and looked at just that aspect.  The Athearn model is OK, just not quite "pefect".

Gary B.
Waverly, NE

---

Overlnd Hobbies in Muncie, IN.  

Shawn

What kind of "sound" comes from Athearns cabooses with sound?

I have some of these on their way to my store now, due next week.   Contact me if you'd like.

Jason Eminian
Smith Brothers Hobby Center

tomstp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What kind of "sound" comes from Athearns cabooses
> with sound?

I just picked up my CA-8 today.  The caboose has a Tsunami SoundCar decoder.  One of the sounds is a Clickety-Clack that represents running on jointed rail. As the throttle is advanced the sound speeds up in frequency. Flange squeal and flat spots. There is also a caboose whistle.  The CA-8 has working marker lights as well.

Link to the Soundtraxx SoundCar decoder page: https://soundtraxx.com/products/tsunami-soundcar

Have not had a chance to run the caboose on my layout yet.

Hope this helps.

Bob

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/20 17:25 by up421.

Perhaps the cupola on the caboose in the photo is only mounted off center and not too wide?

Chris

DGOLDE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Question on the actual models of the CA8 UP
> caboose that were just delivered did Athearn make
> the cupola the correct width, which is flush with
> caboose side?  The photos of the samples shown on
> the Athearn website show the cupola side slightly
> overthanging the car side.  This is wrong.

> Perhaps the cupola on the caboose in the photo is
> only mounted off center and not too wide?

The Athearn Genesis CA-8 that I had on order today had both sides of the cupola overhanging a bit much. The cupola still casts a bit of a shadow in some lighting conditions.
I am hoping that Athearn addresses this issue for future runs - including the forthcoming CA-9 and CA-10s.

Cheers,
Harry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/20 11:34 by tracktime.

Conductor bitching about poor dispatching.

tomstp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What kind of "sound" comes from Athearns cabooses
> with sound?

tracktime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Athearn Genesis CA-8 that I had on order today
> had both sides of the cupola overhanging a bit
> much. The cupola still casts a bit of a shadow
>  in some lighting conditions.
> I am hoping Athearn addresses this issue for
> future runs - including the forthcoming CA-9 and
> CA-10s.
>
> Cheers,
> Harry

The overhang might bother me if it was overly noticeable.  I am interested in these cabooses as D&RGW did have pooled UP cabooses on their Kaiser train, but reportedly that specific version was just announced to it won't be shipped for about a year.  Hopefully the overhange will be tweaked in future runs.

Cheers, 
Jim

It is clear from the photos presented here and shown in the UP caboose book from the UP Historical Society that the overhang is at most the width of the steel plate that makes up the the side of the cupola.  Which on a 1/87 scale model means there should be no overhang at all.   It is a shame that the folks at Athearn did not notice this error on the preproduction samples and make the necessary corrections on the production models.  If Athearn makes a correction on future models then Athearn should recall these models and replace them with with correct CA8 models. 

If you are looking to purchase one of these models I would suggest that you try The Train Shop in Santa Clara, California.  The Train Shop is an excellent train hobby shop with excellent prices.

The configuration of the UP cupola, which is essentially unchanged since the arrival of steel cabooses on the road, is an outlier among what Athearn insists on referring to in many places asan "ICC caboose." Most of them do display an overhang at that spot. Many of the UP classes were Kenton products, and yes, Athearn was told about the cupola side plates early in the process. There is certainly no shortage of stuffed and mounted UP cabooses to study.

My dealer in the Northwest received his initial order late this week.

The question is very simple, even for this crowd. If the "error" bothers you, don't buy it and save your money for your next "must have" product.

I agree with PHall, if the "error" bothers you so much don't buy it.  I purchased one and the "error" does not bother me in the slightest.  The only people who will see mine on the layout are myself and my wife.

That said, perhaps a replacement decoder is in order.  A decoder that could have conversations recorded on it.  The conversations would be complaining about the overhang on the cupola, triggered by a function on the decoder.  Would be quite entertaining.  Definitely tongue in cheek!

Cheers!

Bob

> What's wrong with the slight overhang? Appears to
> be there on the prototypes... 
>
> UP 25555 (Colton, CA 1977)... 
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/captain_railroad/12559257905/
>
> Athearn model (UP 25555)...
> http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATHG78318

Those photos seem at odds with the photo posted later in this thread. The prototype in this photo does have a thick plate overhang the side. Perhaps not as much as the Athearn, but in the 1/87.5 ballpark. Not at all like the proto photo further in the thread which has a thin plate in this location.