New Loco

 Hello folks - no Freight Car Friday this week - however I did receive a long awaited package in the mail yesterday afternoon from Pacific Western Rail Systems Pacfic Western Railway (pwrs.ca)

In August of 2019 Athearn announced a new release of their Genesis GP 7 model in Maine Central Harvest Yellow paint scheme. I had not purchased any of the Athearn Genesis locos since the late 90's when I purchased one of the lines first releases - a Canadian National SD70 (sold off years ago), so I was curious as to the quality of the line after 20+ years. I opted for a non-sound equipped version. They are offered in four road numbers  - I picked # 567 , as 2 of the offered road numbers were the same #'s as the Atlas models released back around 2005 in the same paint scheme of which I already have on my roster ( which I must say still work great!) The model was well packaged with a heavy box and foam inserts with a plastic tray that the model is secured with along with all the associated paperwork (exploded parts diagram, etc.). I did have a small disappointment when I opened the model  - one of the etched metal radiator side grills at the back end had fallen off - not a big issue as I quickly (and carefully ) glued it back in place - just a little disappointing when you pay this much for a model! Several months ago , I picked up a new 21 Pin TCS decoder (EU621) to have on hand when I received the locomotive  EU621 | Train Control Systems (tcsdcc.com)   Removing the shell of this model was straight forward - only requiring the removal of the couplers and coupler boxes and the shell lifted easily off. I installed the EU621 decoder and replaced the shell and installing a new set of Kadee #158 ( scale head whisker couplers). Removal of the shell on the model is much easier than doing that on the Atlas GP7 models. I placed the loco on my programming track in my workshop and used JMRI to change a couple of settings including the address # and to have independent control of the front and rear lights ( something I prefer). That was about it and then onto the layout for a test run - It runs very nicely with smooth slow speed performance. It seems to be slightly lighter than my Atlas models, so I would suspect that it might not be able to pull as much, however i don't think that will be an issue as I don't run long trains. Their has been a lot of discussion on the MEC Facebook page about this model - seems some folks are disappointed in the paint color - it definitely is a different shade of Harvest Yellow than the comparable Atlas models and that has caused a fair amount of negative comments. That being said ,I think it is a very well done model esp. with the MEC specific detail parts ( nose bell , horn , etc.)and am glad to have it in my collection. Till next time folks.....

Athearn Genesis MEC GP7 #567