The biggest of Athearn steam efforts, until contemporary times would bring Union Pacific's giant Challengers and Big Boys, the Pacific 4-6-2 Steam Engine was announced for release in 1958. Issues with the Pacific's drive design caused a delay to 1961 for its Athearn introduction. The 4-6-2 Pacific was planned to be part of the Lionel-HO line, but these difficulties in production kept it from joining that catalog. The ad on the left is from the spring of 1961 and the arrival of the final version of this model with geared drivers. You may click on the thumbnail of the ad to see a larger version. Even with the delays and revisions, the 4-6-2 Pacific was not long for the Athearn catalog.

Model Railroader reviews Athearn's 4-6-2 Pacific in the January 1963 edition of the magazine. The review states the Athearn Pacific model is based on the Boston & Maine class P-4b engines built by Lima in 1937 and follow a general USRA design. The review states the model ran a scale 85 mph and pulled 10 passenger cars. The 4-6-2 Pacific could navigate 18-inch radius curves.