Review | Athearn - EMD F59PHI

Today we have a model of a locomotive from my very own home state, North Carolina.

It's also a passenger locomotive, which typically wouldn't interest me too much, but I couldn't turn down a model of a local prototype, especially one I've had the pleasure of seeing and photographing several times.

So without further ado, let's check this one out!

EMD F59PHI History: These diesel-electric locomotives were built by Electro-Motive Division from 1994 to 2001, with 83 being built for various railroads. They were an update on the earlier F59PH, and were equipped with EMD's 12-710G3C-EC prime mover, which put out 3,200hp to power 2 two-axle trucks, a "B-B" arrangement. They were also equipped with a separate HEP (head end power) generator, which is essentially a generator running off the locomotive's fuel supply and supplying electrical power to the train.

Though a few units have been retired, most are still performing well, pulling commuters around for various railroads.

RNCX 1797 History: 1797 is one of two F59PHI units bought new by the NCDOT for the Piedmont service, and was built in December of 1998. There's not much else to say about 1797 specifically - since purchased in 1998, it's pulled commuters through central NC between Charlotte and Raleigh, with the various stops in between, rarely deviating from that task. The number and the name coincide with each other - as with all NCDOT locomotives, the number is the year the town/city the locomotive is named for was founded; in this case, Asheville, NC was founded in 1797.

The white star on the front represents that NC was one of the original 13 colonies.

It's my understanding that these, as well as the rest of the NCDOT fleet, will be supplemented/replaced by Siemens equipment at some point, something I'm not thrilled in the least by.

Box info.

To be perfectly honest, this paint scheme has never really impressed me.

Any time I see a locomotive with a lot of gray/silver area like this, it just looks like they couldn't figure out a better paint scheme and left it primer. There's several paint schemes like that.

Good: As you can tell by the ratings above, this one was great. The paint and lettering were spot on, which really gave me a look at how the prototype looked when new. The details overall were really nicely done, both in quantity and quality. Somewhat unusually for an Athearn model, the body was remarkably sturdy and solid. It was also very heavy, a whopping 1lb 5.2oz, which is actually heavier that the SD70ACe in the video! The sounds and lights all worked well and sounded good, respectively. The operational characteristics were spot on and top notch, with no issues whatsoever.

Bad: Only a couple little issues here. First, I noticed the lack of windshield wipers, which are clearly visible on the photo of the real 1797 above. Second, there's wires easily visible through the windshield. Both of these problems are cosmetic, but they're the kind of issue you can't unsee once you've seen them. Both issues seem like oversights in the design process - missing an obvious detail, and not keeping mechanical components properly concealed.

Overall: It's a really nice model - other than the couple stated issues, I found it to be a solid quality model, with great build quality and performance to match.

That wraps up this review - as always, thanks for looking!