I ordered six of the recently released Athearn intermediate Airslides, three BN and three CNW. I wanted these cars since I remember them running on Conrail's Pittsburgh Line in the 80's. When I opened the parcel, I was very disappointed. One of the CNW cars was missing a jewel case lid and had broken piping. The two other CNW cars had an interesting issue. The trucks and couplers are attached to a piece of plastic that attaches to the bottom of the car. The two CNW cars had this piece of plastic disconnected from the car sitting in the bottom of the case. I tried to reattach it, but there was so much glue on the bottom of the car, it was impossible. Two of the three BN cars had a gap between the bottom of the end bracing and the coupler box. When I checked the coupler height, it hung down much lower (almost 1/2 the size of the coupler) than the MTL height gauge. Only one of the BN cars was in acceptable condition. I shipped them back to the retailer for a refund. I called Athearn, and they were very nice on the phone. They told me it was the first they heard of this, and wanted me to send them the cars to examine. Since I already mailed them to the on-line store, they said they would make a note of it. Has anyone else had this issue with the recent release? I have the Penn Central and Santa Fe cars from the first release and they have good fit and finish. Thanks.
Jeff
