I think I have "rebuilt" around 100+ of those old Athearn Blue Box GP9's, F7's, rolling stock and, well, you name it. I started modeling when the old Globe F7 came out, predating Athearn. They were dummies and no way to power then. Then Athearn took them over and brought out the Hy-F drives with rubber band drives. Well, we had the world by the throat then, and were in heaven!! Then came the GP9 (which actually was a GP7) with real gears and real trucks and flywheels and FINALLY we could have a railroad. Yes the hoods were too wide and the details lacked, but WOW!!! I like your work! You are a true kitbasher and modeler!!! Keep it up!!!!

Ron: great video. I’m a dog lover, so your shepherds at the beginning was perfect. My wife and I are raising a lab, and her work with her is super. She also is trying to move me from O scale to HO; this video is inspiring me. Thank you for this tutorial.

Look at those happy puppies. Some people have a train room you have a train house good for you

Try Lock-tite instead of CA glue. Green will leach into the joint. The Blue does not require heat to free up. Steer clear of red unless you are prepared to use heat to loosen it. Cheers Ron, you are awewsome. Love the channel! Chief Rodge

Hi Ron. Beautiful job on the paint match and overall maintenance!! I learned in this video how to remove the truck holders without them flipping acrost the bench on to the floor. We all know floors have a big appetite to eat parts.

Hi Ron great restoration vintage HO trains are absolutely the best!!! Made in America for the most part free of all that electronics! Old School!!! Another great Video TU!!!

LuckilyRon, I found this today. Great video. I am working on that in Great Northern. One was shipped in blue box, the other in wrapped in newspaper. They match, they just need love.

In my old house I had a huge layout. 4 Athearn blue box engines (with added weight) could pull a unit train of 100 properly weighted cars. For the money, those engines were a great value.

Athearn blue box was the best ho scale era. They are ultra easy to fix and more reliable. Still have my original Athearn blue box motive power. To bad they do not make them any more.

Ron, you do great work!! The GP-9 looks top notch, and may run better than straight out of the box. I also liked your Rivarossi Big Boy restoration and really enjoyed it. I have a box of various Rivarossi loco parts/pieces. I dug through it looking for a boiler cap for you, but my dismay I don't have one. Sorry. My son made a comment to you about jewelry cleaner. He had told me about it, it works very well for loco motors. I had mentioned to him that I had just received a diesel loco from E-Bay that wouldn't run. He told me about using the jewelry cleaner. So I went straight to Wally World, got some, came homeland hooked my power pack to the motor, dunked it in and nothing for about 10-15 seconds, then it started sputtering, and then came back from the dead. Thank you for your video efforts. Love 'em! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Wow! If I had a workshop as awesome as that, I would be happy to live there 😀👍

You really did an amazing job with this loco. Your railings looked amazing. The paint was spot on. It was in really bad shape when you pulled it out of the bag. Looks great on the layout now. Thanks for another great video.

Fantastic job again. This engine looks awesome. I note improvement in your camera work and commentary as well. One cannot help but to be entertained and well informed here with your channel. Well done...

Great idea with the soapy water!!! Your handrails are fantastic too! Very cool!!! Thanks again for your videos. BTW 91 IPO alcohol works great to strip Athearn paint! Just minutes in it and too brush and paint is all gone read for repainting. All the best. Wonderful job restoring her!

My second watching of this video has been just as entertaining as the first. I love vintage model railroad equipment so your locomotive explorations and restorations of half century old mechanisms are premium watching. I recommend use of chopsticks for pressing Athearn handrail stanchions into place. The wood is more forgiving to the paint surface should one slip in the installation process. Experience from assembly of some 100 Athearn handrail sets over the years. Best wishes and keep up the good work.

If I ever have to explain to a novice or someone that isn't into model trains, i'm just going to say: "pack them and treat them like you would with your Christmas ornaments".

Great job on those hand rails, that whole job was pretty awesome.

That was a great choice for the yellow and gray. I couldn't even see where you had painted over. Another idea for damaged engines like that could be severe weathering by making the damaged paint look like patches of rust

im forever an anthearn fan. cheap and run fantastic

Love your videos :) I turned a lot of my locomotives into Rock Island units and others into The Rock units love modeling the old Chicago Rock Island line and I love watching train repair videos after I got done work on my units :)

Appreciate the tlc to bring the old athern back to life

Great video ! Love the cabin and the dogs 🐕

SUPERB video! Love the old 1960's - 1980's Athern engines! 👍🏻🎅👍🏻

Oh no.dropped brush! Glad ya found it.But it is how I end up with parts locos. Dropped brushes&springs🤣

I love dogs and trains -- so great video, Ron!

Great work! Love those older athearns

great job on refurbishing that athearn gp-9 they are my favorite locomotives

Great job on rehabbing that engine. It looks great.

Awesome restoration, it's a shame that the locomotive arrived so poorly packaged, I know Dan Heckler, aka Dirtydan's Trains, had a similar thing happen to him and as you can imagine, he was most unhappy! Even though this locomotive will never again be 100% original, it looks great, keep up the great work!

i rode on one in the 1960s my dad worked for UP,i love the GP-9S.

Well done! If you ever get a UP locomotive that the paint is just too far gone and needs a total repaint, Badger Modelflex #16-24 Armour Yellow and #16-25 Harbor Mist Gray are really good for that. I once saw a color picture of 5 UP locomotives in a row that were all fresh out of the paint shop, and no two had the exact same shade of yellow, so there is some variation there.

That kind of packaging in my and several other people's experience is why some time back I declared everyone on all auction sites guilty & stopped using those sites. Now, on to happier things: I really liked those white metal flywheels in the couple GP7, F7, Trainmaster, and the FP45 I had back then. That mechanism was durable, reliable, simple to maintain, and ran well enough for me. Glued some rectangular drapery weights inside the shells of the hood units. Those jokers would Pull.

An amazing transformation! You really made a silk purse from a sow’s ear this time. Excellent paint and railing work! I sure hope you got at least a partial refund and that you left negative feedback for the horrible packing. Consider visiting and joining the Tyco Depot forum, where we discuss all types of vintage 1/87 scale trains.

Athearn blue box handrails, motor mounts, and other parts can be used for replacement parts for this unit. These parts are still available from various sources. There are some minor differences such as the trucks, but a lot of the other parts are interchangeable.

I have a few of the Athern blue box locomotives, and they're great running locomotives that pull their share! I like that you fixed up this old locomotive and based on what I've seen here there, and everywhere, nod to the Beatles I likely won't be buying those Walters train line or mainline locomotives. I've got a handful of Proto, 2000 GP locomotives that I really like even though I have to replace all of the axle gears in them. I run them with my Athearn locomotives.

I feel your pain. I got a package shipped like that to me a couple weeks ago. It was Tyco train set. Now I have to repair the loco and have missing steps on a couple cars. Could have been worse, but a little bubble wrap would have made a huge difference!

When we were old enough to ditch our O and S trains and move into the prototypically amazing detail of the HO world, a 1961 Athearn GP-7 in UP was my first gear driven locomotive, after a couple of Hi-F drive units. I felt like a real model railroader when I got that locomotive. Real gears! This video brought back some memories. PS My brother never got rid of his American Flyer, and to this day, still runs it in his basement, going on almost 70 years now! PPS I think your loco is a GP-7, too.

Hi Ron. I’m new to your channel. I’ve really been enjoying watching you save these old classics. Thanks for sharing 👍 David

Alternators have rotors, motors have armatures. Get your nomenclature correct. If you need old bulbs, I've started a collection of them as I changed them out for LED's. If I can find them, I'll be glad to send 'em to ya. Cheers from eastern TN

great to see you again. the original athearn GP9 is actually is a GP7, it mis-named by athearn.

Good job Ron! Unlike me... you stayed within budget. I generally take the Athearn blue box locos maybe a bit too far. I generally replace internal truck gears, axle gears, and wheel sets. Adding a Proto 2000 motor will quiet them down and smooth them out too. The sad thing is... that after all the upgrades, they perform very well... but for about the same cost I could have bought a used Kato/Atlas from the mid 90s. Just clean and add oil. However, after all the time and money...the upgraded blue box... becomes a very nice pig's ear.

You might consider a pair of locksmith tweezers, which are designed to grasp small springs and cylindrical objects without shooting them across the room.

Nice job, hand rails really look nice 👍

A very nice restoration job!

Awesome repair Ron! You make delicate work look easy. Great video!

Ron, I love the screwdriver into the spring idea that is something that I will now use for my repair jobs.. those damn springs go flying all the time here.. grrr.. Great Idea.. Thanks once again for a great video. Oh, and Happy New Year 2024.

Isn't it amazing that the older train is better than the modern one?

Fantastic job. Looks beautiful and runs great

Excellent!

All Athearns are the best IMHO. I haven’t had any experience with the rubberband drive or “HiF Drive”. Thanks for sharing.

Awesome video Ron

I loved every minute of this video and learned a lot. Beautiful end result and thank you sir!

Your railings look great.

that was awesome.......you did a really good job......and i learned something new

Excellent video of a GP9 refurb. Got yourself a new sub!

Congratulations Ron! 600 followers!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

This will be helpful! I have one from around that time too, different road name but I believe is the same engine and hasn't been run since the mid-60s.

I really like the paint match with that type of paint.Have to say thank you for sharing the color titles. Never had luck at eye balling color matches.Sad how careless some are with packaging fragile items .Some of these trains survived decades untill they got to a fool and bad packaging.Seen even some try to blame the shipper for them not packing them right. Bumbs ethically .That is being polite for G rating. Save your plastic grocery bags for shipping .They trap air and better cushioning then bubble wrap or anything else really.Takes a bunch ,but they are free.Of course there is a little more to packing then just that ,but it works well and can be reused over and over.Keeps them out of the landfill and blowing around outside.

6:04 I have blunt tip tweezers with a cylinder shaped void at the tip to surround a spring when I pick it. Lab (locksmith co) makes one or one could grind it in. thanks for the vid!

Came back to rewatch your GP9 video. Just picked one up that is maybe a year or two newer than yours, complete with metal truck covers. Mine had some damage to the back step deck and steps that I reglued with Tamiya extra thin and then Testors liquid glue as weld for additional support. Will clean up cracks with some Tamiya white putty and should be ready for painting as Northern Pacific. Thanks again for your videos!

Excellent job on the hand rails.

That looks like a really beautiful locomotive looks like you got it running really good I've got one just like that in my collection

I have one that works but needs some love!

It sure is nice that you can take something that old and turn it like that you do a good work

Love the Athearn locos! Got a bunch of them. I see you got some scenery work done in your town and you’re wearing a different shirt!

Can you imagine somebody working on the assembly line and athearn how many locomotives he could put out a day. Imagine being a Model Railroader and working at a company like that you would probably get up in the morning and could not wait to get to work so you could build trains

😊😊 super.😊😊.

excellent work! if athearn didn't exist, I'd have no diesels. blue box is still relevant as good running machine. note difference in scale to the new walthers, which has a thinner body, due to athearns use of large motors, they had to go wider than scale. Still, the UP geep looks fab.

You're a master restorer.. Working on one just like it. Where would I find worm gear cover? One is broken. Two piece as you know. I tried gluing together but doesn't hold. thnx Ben

TY

You can get those rubber motor mounts still but they make a new version now that is actually a screw in mount that fit these old rubber ones exactly

Hi Ron! First of all, I loved your German shepherds! I have a Belgian one, a Groenendael, smart and very, very funny. Second, you did a wonderful work on that GP7 (although Athearn wrongly labeled it GP7)! I was really impressed how its brass pieces - wheels and brush holders - were clean and shining. It’s almost unbelievable that they belong to an almost 60 years lady. And how about your railings? Superb define them to me. The old Jet 600 motor was another good surprise: smooth and silent (silent is not a word I use to define an Athearn motor, including the golden ones). I have one question to you, Jedi Master: how about the current consumption in 4 to 12 volts with and without load? Sorry for my long text… shepherds, a train shack, an Athearn GP7, your work: it was impossible not to be excited with them! Thanks for everything! Take care my friend! 😊

Excelente trabajo de restauración y muchas horas de trabajo minuciosos de los pasamanos ,que deficiente el sistema de embalaje que horrible dentro de una bolsa ,ningún cariño por esas locomotoras que pena ,gracias por subir este video muy interesante e ilustrativo

13:30 it looks like the pre made stanchions have a hole in them? thats a a great tip. its pretty hard to cross drill a rod and so small. good tip!

I had an Athearn F7 with rubber band drive.

Just discover your channel . Just subscribed nice video .

Nice work. Can’t believe that “bag-O-trains” packaging... a holes! Do you have 3D printer for making parts you can’t find?

​@classic model trains How do you shoot your overhead video? I like that perspective.

nice job I sub u

Sh## !! 😂😂😂 I can't stop laughing. I gotta watch this one again just to here it! The video is good as well!

Hy Ron. I realy enjoy your show. Let me ask you - what is the green stuff what you put in the sonic cleaner? I've just noticed, that the cleaning is absolut effective, is it availabel in germany?... greetings from germany - Rainer

Great work on the GP9. A question for you, I have a Tenshodo HO Brass 4884. I bought it last year but I am no rebuilder, it does need a little TLC. Do you have an interest and would you have a conversation about what you might charge to look at it and get me an estimate for put it back on a line?

I RV athearn was a Model Railroader who modeled in old scale I keep trying to say O scale at it won't do it now it does it. He made a lot of products for old scale because he modeled in O scale. Just like Bill and Bruce Walters. They started out selling stuff that they made for their own layout.

Do you have any repair videos on an Atlantic Coast Line gp-7?

Sir, what gauge wire did you use for the handrails? I need to make some as well for a tyco c-430. I have tyco stantions but no rails. Thanks again!

From what I've seen of how similar the frames are, could you possibly put a Genesis drive train into this old Blue Box?

How do I find Episode 1? I'd like to watch all your videos from the start.

I admit to having a hard time following the repairs. The dismantling part kinda lost me. I do love the shell on it. I have some rolling stock that that livery would work perfectly with. My bachmann loco has horn hooks and none of my knucke couplers fit it. Think ill give a lube job to one of the engines when i get home.

With the average size of an ho or old scale layout you cannot have a ridiculously long train. When people have a 5000 horsepower locomotive hauling a 12-car train it looks ridiculous but when you have an engine like igp 7 or 9 something with 1500 or 1750 horsepower it's more realistic that having a huge overpowering engine pulling a small train

Personally in all of my years of railfanning trains I have never seen locomotives it like the ones that are weathered for an HO scale layout not perfect paint but certainly not as horrible as they will paint a locomotive. 3 hours to do the handrails and then you take them off to paint them kudos to you you ought to call your video zombie trains we bring them back from the dead hahaha

instead of needle nose tongs....................stamp collecters flat nosed tongs ?

😏 TH&B yoh

I would NEVER used ACC, or any other glue on the axles! I have been repairing Atheran locos for over 30 years, if the gear slips, its split, new gears need to be pressed on wheels, and reguaged

That's some sad packing going on there.

Beautiful Dogs!