Athearn F59PHI "New Mexiko Rail Runner"

[SONIC883_de]

Hi,

 

some time ago I was looking for US N-Scale trains and I wanted to start with Santa Fe trains. I like the Super Chief so i bought KATO F7A+B and Passenger Wagon Set A+B. After some time I sold them, because I can't collect all.

 

In this time I have seen a H0 F59PHI in the New Mexico livery an I feel in love. Now Athern brings the loco and wagon in N-Scale. Gah... It is such a beautyful train - I must have it. Maybe I can make some money over.

 

Have someone some more Infos about the prototypical New Mexico Rail Runner? I know the official Site and the Wikipedia article

 

And someone have some photos of the modeltrain?

 

 

-Kai

[Eliphaz]

I have admired these trains for a while, very attractive design !

 

Pictures can be found here:

http://www.railpictures.net/

just put "Railrunner " in the keyword search box, they have about 25 photos of the railrunner trains.

here is a sample thumbnail.

 

This guy has a few pictures also : http://www.rr-roadtrip.com/  . You have to look through "MISCELLANEOUS PASSENGER" to find them.

 

 

The F59PHI that Athearn makes is not exactly right for this, but it looks close. The actual engines are MP36PH,  made by Motive Power (formerly Morrison-Knudson) of Boise Idaho, using an EMD diesel engine.

 

There is a small model company in Canada,

 

True Line Trains

445 Edgeley Blvd,Unit #1

Concord, Ontario, L4K 4G1

Canada

 

info@hobbycraft.com

http://www.truelinetrains.ca

 

who have obtained license to produce models of the MP36, but so far they have not made any announcement.

So it may be that the EMD F59 model is the closest we will ever get.

 

The Bombardier double deck cars made by Athearn are just right.

 

I have not seen the N gauge model with the NM Railrunner paint. If you can find this set and do buy it, please remember to put pictures in this thread.

[David]

That's an impressive paint scheme, I just wonder, given the F59/Bombardier combo, if they run it backwards (push) using the cab controls in the end car for one leg, or if they turn the engine around each time. The road runner and those feathers look a lot less speedy if they where going in reverse.

[SONIC883_de]

Thanks for the Link-Tip!

 

Yes, the most shots are from the lower 100-Numbers, these are MP36 or so (I am not a name-genius). The Athern Models are 108 and up (or so), these looks like the F59.

 

Look this video at 0:21 forward and have a look on the loco number and have a look the the model. Looks like same

http://www.nmrailrunner.com/santafe_depot.asp

[Eliphaz]

more pictures and a little write up

http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/Albuquerque/

 

Railrunner owns only nine locomotives. all of them are MP36.

 

there are no facilities for turning the trains. the road runner runs backwards half the time.

[to2leo]

Hi Kai,

Both the coaches and loco are coming to N in Athearn.

http://www.wig-wag-trains.com/Athearn-Pages/Passenger/Athearn_Bombardier-Commuters_Product-Page.htm

http://www.wig-wag-trains.com/Athearn-Pages/Locomotives/Athearn_F59PHI_Product-Page.htm

 

I got the GO Transit set and will be adding more with this release.

[cteno4]

its a very nice train to ride on. ive been working in Albuquerque a lot for the last year and ridden it up to santa fe for the day for fun. its nice scenery going up the valley. most of its path is through reservation land i think. seems pretty well used and folks enjoy it. New Mexico is one of those big states with very few people in concentrated areas so this is a perfect option for them to tie together the majority of the population corridor with a pretty straight forward train system. trip is about the same time as driving. free shuttle bus on the santa fe end to get you the last mile or two into the heart of downtown.

 

very pretty trains, one of the few in the us with some pizzaz!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Eliphaz]

drifting off off topic, but the Utah  UTA Frontrunner is also very appealing

and has the same equipment as NM DOT

http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/9/5/5/5955.1208668683.jpg

[Guest ___]

 

We're receiving them here in Maryland as well.  Interesting to note this picture was taken at MPI's assembly facility, yet MTA has yet to take delivery of these units.

[westfalen]

I've already had a Railrunner loco and cars reserved with Feather River Trains. Athearn have made the cars before but I always thought doing the paint scheme was a waste of time without the loco, when they announced the full train I jumped at the chance. It's a definite on my list of things to see and do on a trip to the US in 2012 that I'm thinking about.

[traindork]

These are very nice looking trains. Athearn had a sample at the N Scale Convention, and they look really great. I can't wait to get mine.

I was in New Mexico a few months ago, and took a few pictures. Here's one: