Model Railroader – October 2019

Facts & features

Price: $49.98; three-pack, $147.98

Manufacturer

Athearn Trains

1600 Forbes Way, Suite 120

Long Beach, CA 90810

http://www.athearn.com

Era: 1965 to present (depending on livery)

Road names: First run: Louisville &

Nashville; Burlington Northern

(as-delivered scheme); Western Pacific;

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; General

Chemical; Kansas City Southern; and Soo

Line. Second run: Burlington Northern

Santa Fe; BN (1991 scheme and August

1975 repaint); Chicago, Burlington &

Quincy; Pennsylvania RR; and

Union Pacific.

Features

• 36" metal wheelsets, correctly gauged


• Body-mounted McHenry scale couplers,
  at correct height


• Weight: 4.8 ounces

62 http://www.ModelRailroader.com

Product Reviews

Athearn offers five different trough hatch

covers and one style of round cover.

Framing the hatch covers is a painted

etched-metal Apex Tri-lok running

board with L-shaped wire corner grab

irons. The running boards have 13 sup-

ports per side, correct for a pre-1975 car.

Models depicting post-1975 covered hop-

pers have nine supports.

The blue paint is smooth and evenly

applied, and the yellow printing is

opaque and legible. The lettering place-

ment matches a prototype photo in

Steven D. Johnson’s Louisville &

Nashville Color Guide to Freight and

Passenger Equipment (Morning Sun

Books Inc., 2000).

Test time. The model’s dimensions

closely follow prototype drawings pub-

lished in ACF Center Flow CF 4600 by

Eric Neubauer (Society of

Freight Car Historians, 1994).

The Genesis-series car has cor-

rectly gauged 36" metal wheelsets.

The body-mounted McHenry scale

couplers are at the correct height. At

4.8 ounces, the model correctly matches

National Model Railroad Association

Recommended Practice 20.1.

I took the three samples we received

(L&N, Burlington Northern, and

Western Pacific) to our Wisconsin &

Southern Troy Branch staff layout.

The covered hoppers performed flaw-

lessly while being pushed and

pulled through no. 5 turnouts and

30"-radius curves.

Conclusion. For a half century, the ACF

4600 Center Flow has been earning its

keep on North American railroads.

Athearn has done a great job covering

the various body styles and detail

options on its HO scale Genesis model.

This well-executed covered hopper will

be a standout in any freight car fleet.

• Cody Grivno, Group Technical Editor

Late body, round hatches

Early, low brake wheel

Early, high brake wheel

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This year’s articles include:

• Planning a modern diesel
  house in N scale.


• Modeling the Southern Pacific
  — in the United Kingdom!


• Tips for building layouts
  more quickly.
  
  
  • Fitting your layout into your
    family room.
  
  
  • Planning the Rio Grande over
    Colorado’s Tennessee Pass.
  
  
  • And more!