Richard Hendrickson tosses out the baby w/ the bathwater... :-)

There isn't a single Athearn freight car part that hasn't been
modeled much better by some other manufacturer, often several
other manufacturers.

I suspect you really intended that comment to refer specifically
to the old Blue Box kits and not to more recent Athearn models??
Or even to some amazingly improved older models (esp a few from
Model Die Casting)?

There are no Athearn cars left on my freight car roster except
for two or three that have been so extensively kit-bashed as to
bear little evidence of their origins.

Such as Athearn's recent 65 foot AAR mill gondola? Or that rather
nice SFRD 50 foot reefer? Of course, you would not have any of the
more "modern" Athearn freight cars like airslides or PS 2893's but
you might have Genesis F units... Post-1960 modelers have been
deluged with excellent models from Athearn, while pre-1950 modelers
have been largely ignored... Hmmm, since Athearn is nothing if not
a successful manufacturer, what does that tell you about sales
potential in that (pre-1950) freight car niche?

Tim O'Connor