Athearn N Scale Big Boy Draw Bar

[Teditor]

Our club, (Toowoomba Model Railway Club Inc. in Toowoomba, QLD, Australia) has an early run Athearn Big Boy with MRC Sound, we just sent it away to have ESU Loksound installed and it was found to have a broken draw bar.

Is it possible to obtain these anywhere or could a replacement be made easily.

[peteski]

If the model  is in its original box, it should have a detailed parts list diagram. Athearn has very good customer service staff, and also  spare parts are often available.  But since you are down-under the shipping costs will likely be on the high side.

https://www.athearn.com/ho-and-n-scale-train-parts/  Don't let the 3 available N scale parts fool you. Last I contacted their parts department they had plenty of parts for N scale available.

Seems that their website has "upgraded" to make it a "better" customer experience, I'm sure.    Just fill out the form at https://www.horizonhobby.com/contact/ to email them and they should reply promptly.  Or for more direct way I used to email parts@athearn.com or productsupport@horizonhobby.com  .

[robert3985]

Peter's advice is good.  In my experience way back when, when I got my first Athearn Big Boys, I wanted to shorten the drawbars for a prototypical distance between the cab and tender.  Since my minimum layout mainline radius is 24" this wouldn't be a problem.  In the process, I broke a drawbar, called Athearn and they sent me several replacement drawbars very promptly along with several other parts that I wanted to update my models to the way Big Boys appeared after 1947.  Additionally, they didn't charge me for the parts!  However, their parts department management has changed since those early days, so your experience may not be as pleasant as mine was...

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Teditor]

I contacted Athearns parts department and they responded very promptly and said they had the drawbars in stock for $3.00 US which is not a problem and high postage would be acceptable as I would get several - "BUT" - they won't post international so in effect Aussie Mate buy our product but don't expect support.

[peteski]

Maybe there are Athearn dealers in your part of the world who could get the part for you?

[spookshow]

I'd be happy to buy them and mail them to you if you'd like. Let me know.

-Mark

[jjb62556]

Me too.

[TechnicalATSF]

I contacted Athearns parts department and they responded very promptly and said they had the drawbars in stock for $3.00 US which is not a problem and high postage would be acceptable as I would get several - "BUT" - they won't post international so in effect Aussie Mate buy our product but don't expect support.

I've found a lot of US suppliers are scared stiff of shipping internationally. I try to remind them that for larger parcels, USPS has prepaid international boxes that cost a third of UPS and are just, if not more, reliable. I have has hundreds of USPS parcels arrive (Harley Dealer) and never has one gone missing. Also, the prepaid envelopes and even just a normal airmail envelope will suffice for thin stuff. In this hobby, margins are so tight that suppliers shouldn't avoid that vibrant Euro/Oceania scene.