Athearn Steam (the first go round)

in the early sixties, Athearn made one of those rare mistakes which he could not resolve. he announced the soon-to-be sold steam locomotives, which weren't even out of the planning stages. The normally reliable HiF drive was promised, and was even printed on the earliest boxes. It was to have been located in the tender, and many early locomotive tenders have the large "drum axles", which were a necessary feature of the drive system. The drive issues were never worked out, and delayed production, for quite some time. The tendee drive was finally scrapped, and a gear drive hastily substituted. Quality issues, and warranty work, meant a short life, Athearn steam. Shown here are two of the Pacific types, in the original release boxes, boasting the "Hi F drive" on their sides, giving the incorrect notion that these locomotives did, indeed, have the band drives in them. The "incomplete" loco is actually an unassembled b&M Pacific, and very rare find, in this condition. This was the prototype of the locomotive Mr. Athearn selected to model. The next photos shpw examples of the USRA based 0-6-0 switcher that was offered, along with an 0-4-2T locomotive, which had no specific prototype. While still readily found, these are hard to find in mint condition. This must have left Athearn with a bad karma, he never produced another steam loco. The company would only do so as part of the Genesis line, when it had been sold to other interests.