Re: Athearn Genesis vs InterMountain

Matt=A0&=A0Kathleen=A0Brennan wrote: I am comparing the UNION PACIFIC Athearn Genesis F3A and the UNION PACIFIC InterMountain F7A.

----------------------------------------------- Sorry! I didn't read your post carefully enough! The F3As didn't have Farr stainless steel grills and the F7As did.

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad:

Matt....stay with the Athearn Genesis.......I have two Athearn Genesis NP F-9 and I am VERY VERY happy with them. I also just ordered 3 more Cheerio from Australia Peter

Yes. The IM represents an early F7 which was delivered with stainless steel grills. The Athearn is a mid-production "chicken wire" F3.

The Intermountain F unit is about as good as any other top line model on the market *except* for the Genesis F unit.

The overall accuracy on the IM shell rates about a 9.5 out of 10, but the Genesis/Highliners shell is a 10 out of 10.

I don't currently have any of the Intermountain drives, but the Genesis later runs are excellent and I have no complaints. I would say they are fairly close in running performance. Athearn has the better sideframes however.

In terms of paint and finish the IM stuff is about a 7 and the Athearn again comes in at near 10 out of 10. Not necessarily the UP, which I don't currently own any samples of, but on others like the PRR, B&O, Santa Fe, Erie Lackawanna, Northern Pacific, etc. the Athearn finish is about as good as it gets.

Andy

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You have sealed the deal ;-) Thanks Andy! We own an ATSF F7A/B Athearn Genesis engine combo. It certainly is a magnificent performer. I will go with the Athearn Genesis F3A [A/B if I can afford the additional cost].