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Athearn Genesis F3, F7, and F9 Locomotives

Martin asks:

“Can someone explain the difference between the Athearn Genesis locomotive F3 / F7 / F9 models which all look similar?”

You can add your comments below.

4 Responses to Athearn Genesis F3, F7, and F9 Locomotives

  • Hervey Howe says:

    Martin,
    There were not a lot of visible differences between them. The F3 had the “Chicken Wire” grills on the side while F7’s and F9’s didn’t.
    F3’s had 3 portholes while the others had only 2. Most roads changed the middle porthole on their F3’s to a grill at some point.
    F7’s and F9’s were able to pull passenger trains as they were 4 feet longer and could provide space for water to generate steam.
    F9’s had grille in front of the first porthole the others didn’t.
    Most of the differences in real life were non-visible such as rated Horsepower and electrical.

  • Joel says:

    To add to Hervey’s comments. What he describes had Phase designations. All the above models are for very distinctive timelines after WWII as GM grew their “off-the-shelf” product line. These timelines do overlap so choose a timeline and that will determine which version, or versions, to model.

  • Frank B says:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_F-unit gives general information and links to the various model articles.

  • Martin McRae says:

    Thank you Hervey Joel and Frank. Very informative.

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