Athearn Genesis HO scale Gunderson Auto-max auto carrier

Athearn’s articulated Auto-Max car is an impressive addition to the firm’s Genesis line of modern freight cars. This model stands a scale 20′-6″ tall, and it’s 141 feet long, making it one of the largest cars in railroading. An article with prototype plans was published in the December 1999 Model Railroader. Built by Gunderson starting in 1999, the prototype cars haul up to 22 sport utility vehicles on three decks. The upper decks hold eight vehicles each, while the bottom deck is divided into a pair of axle-level wells between the trucks that hold three vehicles in each end. The car’s upper decks can also be repositioned into a bi-level to haul a variety of taller vehicles.

This car’s extreme height exceeds the Association of American Railroads’ Plate H dimensions required to operate double-stack container cars. It’s a full five feet taller than the Plate B height required for unlimited interchange. This means prototype Auto-Max cars may travel only over routes that have appropriate clearances.

Like the prototype, Athearn’s model is made up of two nearly identical carbodies that ride on three 70-ton roller-bearing trucks with an articulated joint between them. A flexible diaphragm fills the opening in the middle.

Each body section has a molded styrene core that includes the floor and exterior side details. The rounded corrugated roof, ends, diaphragm, and small details like the air brake system, side ladders, and body bolster-coupler box assemblies are separate factory-applied parts.

A flat steel weight is attached to the floor of each section so the model has an overall weight of 16 ounces. This is heavier than the National Model Railroad Association’s recommendation of 11 ounces for this car, but the extra weight helps stabilize its ride.

The Auto-Max rides on three 70-ton roller-bearing trucks that have one-piece acetal plastic frames with blackened nickel-plated brass 33″ wheels. These wheels have .088″ treads, which is very close to the NMRA’s Recommended Practice width of .086″ for HO fine-scale wheels.

The wheels are mounted on stub axles held in gauge by an acetal plastic sleeve. Plastic roller-bearing caps are pressed into the metal axle ends so they rotate as the wheels turn. The metal axle ends step down in diameter to reduce friction so the car’s rolling quality is only slightly less than a car with needle-point bearings. The car comes with E-Z Mate magnetic knuckle couplers which are body mounted. Two drawbars are provided for the articulated joint. With the short drawbar the model will negotiate 26″- radius curves, but a minimum of 30″ is recommended. The longer drawbar will allow it to go down to about 22″ radius, but it doesn’t look good due to severe overhang in the middle. The Auto-Max model is neatly spray- painted with excellent printed lettering. The screened openings in the sides are printed on, but the effect is excellent.

Overall, this is one impressive new freight car that captures the prototype’s huge wall-like appearance as it’s rolling down the track.

HO Auto-Max car

Price: $49.98

Manufacturer:
Athearn Inc.
19010 Laurel Park Rd.
Compton, CA 90222
www.athearn.com

Description:
Ready-to-run plastic freight car

Road names:
(2 car numbers each)
Auto-Max (AOK), Auto-Max (CRLE), Burlington Northern Santa Fe, CP Rail-Soo, CSX, and Kansas City Southern