A look at the Athearn F89F TTEX "Long Runner"

[bbussey]

Also... I know most modelers don’t look at the TOFCs from track-level, but the lack of the center sill extending all the way to the coupler pockets is glaring. The airspace is noticeable on the Athearn model when coupled to the BLMA model which has full-length center sills, an appearance similar to the MTL heavyweights.

[garethashenden]

Were those Atlas cars originally BLMA? I seem to remember having issues with my BLMA flats.

There are Atlas designed cars and BLMA designed cars, two different models of similar prototypes. The ones made my BLMA and the ones made by Atlas with BLMA's tooling are good cars. The ones Atlas designed have problems with the trucks hitting the floor and the couplers not having enough lateral swing.

[carlso]

There is another manufacturer not mentioned. I know this thread is about Athearn but BLMA and Atlas has been mentioned as well.

A few years ago now I purchased a set of these flats from Alan Curtis Models while he still owned the company.  These are not as detailed as many of you would like  but I built them for operating reliability on club layouts performing during shows. The public doesn't care about what details may or may not be present. Many don't even know that such a unit actually was in use, ever.

Here are 3 images, pretty simple. These are white metal and fairly heavy and track well. The flats appear to have warped a little but no biggie to fix...







The trailer straddling the two flats just floats as I cut off the king pin, drilled a small hole and installed a short piece of pb wire, then drilled a hole on the top of the support. I have never had any problems with it.

I have a short Y-T of it in action if interested.

Be well,
Carl

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Part IV

Let's take a look at the competition. The MTL ACF 89' flat is the grand daddy of all modern intermodal flats. It's still a good design, though some aspects are showing their age like truck mounted couplers and ride height.

Let's look at the three newer models. From left to right: BLMA/Atlas ACF F89J, Athearn Bethlehem F89F, and Atlas ACF smooth side flat.

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BLMA vs. Athearn.
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This is probably the most important comparison as both have outside rub rails. You can see deck height in the Athearn model is 3-6 inches higher than the BLMA model. The BLMA model has slightly crisper detail overall. The Athearn car is sturdier, which is good. I've had BLMA flats shed parts.

Athearn vs. Atlas.
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The ACF car is going to look lower due to the in-board rub rails. Still, the Athearn car sits a bit high. Those awful Bachmann couplers are the only way to get these Atlas cats to run reliably. I really need to find a better solution. Paint is comparable as is construction - both are cast zinc. The details on the Athearn car are a little better.

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This shot is a good example of the difference in ride height. The Atlas car sits about right. The Athearn car isn't bad, but could be a lot better. That being said, the Atlas car is unusable from the factory due to the coupler issue and the wheels rubbing the chassis. (You can also see the lack of QC on the paint of the Atlas model.)

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Part  V

Athearn vs. MTL
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The MTL car runs a bit high here. A lot of this is due to the pizza cutter wheels. Although this is stock, I rebuilt several as seen below. Since I'm now out of MTL etched hitches, I'll need to use some BLMA parts to convert the remainder of my fleet to RTTX and KTTX flats.

Athearn vs. MTL modified.
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The MTL car was lowered using BLMA trucks and a shaved down bolster.  Couplers were body mounted. The deck was updated with out-board rub rails, MLE hitches. Like the prototype, I masked off the the pre-painted areas of the flat and only repainted what was needed. Microscale decals were used following prototype photos.


Final thoughts:
One interesting thing I found was that the couplers on the Athearn car also ride high. This will be useful when lowering the car as it will mean that the couplers will sit at the right height. Of all the cars shown here, all but the rebuilt MTL car run at the correct coupler height. I do need to change out the shank on the lowered MTL car to match the MTL coupler gage.

Another positive is that there is plenty of room between the wheel tops and the bottom of the chassis to lower it. These look like they will take BLMA/ESM trucks without any modification. That should provide just enough reduction in height to match the prototype.

[bbussey]

Nice to know that the Athearn flats can be height-adjusted with a BLMA/ESM truck swap.  That must mean the F89F auto racks ride high as well.  I swapped in AccuMates on my two Athearn flats, but I'm going to scrounge up two pair of BLI clones to see if that is even better.  I think my lone Conrail H32 covered hopper still has its original BLI couplers.  My NYC USRA-clones don't.  I also have the PRR K7 stock car I bought to see if I could open the slats that can be a donor.

[w neal]

Hmmm. I dunno Brian. Its too bad we don't know anyone in the coupler game. Seems like a guy could make a tiny bit of money creating an Athearn coupler replacement...

[bbussey]

BLI has the perfect drop-in.  MTL front end, AccuMate back end.  Works great.  Gotta lobby them.

[John]

Hmmm. I dunno Brian. Its too bad we don't know anyone in the coupler game. Seems like a guy could make a tiny bit of money creating an Athearn coupler replacement...

Sounds like a good opportunity 3d print coupler pockets that fit

[tehachapifan]

Good photo comparisons on ride height. I have noticed thru a lot of proto-photos that channel-side flats tend to ride a little higher than flush-deck flats. This is really evident on long runner flats that are made up of a flush deck and a channel side car. So, the channel side cars sitting higher than the MTL or ATL flush-decks might not be off as much as thought.

[peteski]

BLI has the perfect drop-in.  MTL front end, AccuMate back end.  Works great.  Gotta lobby them.

Yes, they adopted the RMR (Vlk) coupler head - I agree that it is one of the best "compromise couplers" currently available in N scale.  Similar to MTL, but with better appearance.

[bbussey]

I took a work break and swapped in BLI couplers and ESM trucks. Much better, as the model now stands at the same height as the BLMA F89J model. The ESM truck bolster is slightly thicker than the Athearn bolster, so I put a dab of Goo in the screw holes and loosened the truck screws a quarter turn. My BLMAs still have 1016 couplers, and I need to swap in 1015s to get closer coupling and eliminate the coupler droop.

[bbussey]

By the way, I stole the BLI couplers from the pair of Pennsy K7 stock cars that I plan on milling out someday. No provision for the MTL coupler nubs. So that means you will have to pick your poison on which models you want to modify the coupler pockets to accept MTLs.

[tehachapifan]

Ride height looks perfect now, Bryan! Might have to get me some of the ESM trucks! That said, you kind'a lost me a little when you mentioned having to add a dab of glue and back off the screw. I'm not sure exactly what you mean with that. Could you clarify? Thanks!

[bbussey]

The ESM truck bolster is slightly higher than the bolster screw column, so the truck won’t pivot if the screw is fully tightened. However, the screw is a little loose when not tightened. So I added Walthers Goo in the screw cavity so that the screw would remain where I set it.

I changed the BLMA couplers to 1015s no more droop and better coupling distance.