Athearn plans new run for Genesis FP7s in HO Scale

Rock Island 403 is part of a double A-unit set, just as Athearn will provide among its coming Genesis HO-scale offerings, with the road’s Peoria Rocket on July 29, 1961. —Kevin EuDaly collection

Athearn plans new run for Genesis FP7s in HO Scale

HO ScaleAthearn is working on a new group of its Genesis-series FP7 diesel locomotive models. The high-quality HO-scale reproduction will come with LED lighting and rubber m.u. hoses and is due in hobby shops in early 2021.
Among the planned road names, Athearn will offer Frisco and Rock Island F-units with a mix of liveries and road number-specific details.

Frisco, officially St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, purchased a dozen Electro-Motive Division (EMD) FP7s (5040–5051). Athearn plans to reproduce three FP7s (5041, 5045, and 5047) for this coming Genesis offering. You’ll find two of the coming Frisco FP7s in a set release, where the model will be paired with a matching livery F9B unit. Those set releases will present Frisco’s black with yellow/gold body striping. The individual Frisco FP7 release will present a modified rendition of that scheme with yellow/gold nose and stripe coming around and stopping at the cab door.

Rock IslandRock Island FP7s from Athearn Genesis will include a silver-backed single-unit offering and paired sets of FP7s with one gray backed and one silver backed FP7 as shown. These highly accurate offerings will also provide a mix of other details, including blanked-out or painted-over portholes.

Rock Island (RI) releases will also provide a mix of looks and will present buyers with single FP7 offering (RI 406) and two FP7 paired sets (RI 402/403 and RI 409/411). Rock Island bought 10 FP7s (402–411) and with this release, Athearn will make available half the road’s one-time roster of this four-axle passenger F-unit prototype.

Athearn will follow Rock Island practice and provide a mix of modified Rocket scheme examples with maroon front ends featuring white striping and back ends with either silver or gray body. Details will also replicate Rock Island’s mixed features and you’ll find FP7s with single and dual headlights, blanked-out and/or painted-over portholes, and many other road- and number-specific details.

Frisco

Athearn plans two Frisco liveries in its coming Genesis F-unit releases. Frisco 5045 shows a simplified mid-1960s look with yellow body striping reduced to the front of the unit and absent from the sides. Frisco offerings will include this look on a single FP7 release and you’ll find FP7s with matching F9Bs sporting a more elaborate yellow striping. —Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection

Other road names coming in this group will include Chicago & North Western (late era 1970s decoration and details with FP7 singles and FP7/F7B sets), Cotton Belt (Daylight scheme FP7 singles with “Cotton Belt” on one unit and “St. Louis Southwestern” on the other release), Southern Railway (single FP7 and double FP7 sets reproducing 1970s era appearance as used in Amtrak service in the western U.S.), and Southern Pacific (FP7 single and FP7/F7B and double FP7 sets featur-ing 1960s “Bloody Nose” livery).

FriscoFrisco FP7s will arrive in early 2021 from Athearn Genesis in HO scale with a single-unit re-lease showing a modified black scheme with striping appearing on the nose and around the side to the cab door, while FP7/F9B two-unit sets will include the upper striping band and full lower stripe.

Athearn Genesis ready-to-run HO-scale F-units in this release will include standard DC offerings, which will come equipped with the manufacturer’s “Quick Plug”plug-and-play technology featuring a 21-pin socket for conversion to Digital Command Control (DCC). Models with DCC and sound will possess SoundTraxx-made Tsunami 2 audio systems. Additional features for these F-units will include cab interior, windshield wipers, lift rings, wire grab irons, and fuel tank with fillers, gauges, breather pipe, and retention tank. The models will include McHenry scale-head knuckle couplers. Athearn expects to deliver this new production in early 2021.


May 2020This announcement appeared in the May 2020 issue of Model Railroad News. Subscribe Today!

This article was posted on: April 13, 2020