I've enjoyed my IM's. I had a couple of SD40T-2. I tore them both apart to detail them. I liked how they ran. I especially like the glued together bodies. I see how it let them hit a higher level of road specific details (different noses, dynamics). I am looking forward to getting my hands on some of these units to detail out.
But Penn Central never had any SD40-2s. For me, these would have to be as good or better than the Kato SD40-2s. I have 36 in BN or undec and need to be painted BN. Hopefully IM isn't gluing everything together. Also be nice to have a new mech, vs the milled Atlas style frames.
The best way to speed match is to scale MPH! Should have added DCC makes it easy to run any locomotive with another one. Personally, I have many, many IM locomotives and have had very few issues, fewer issues than recent Kato releases.
And going by my SD45-2's, hand rails that look like they've been painted by dipping in a jar of paint then glued on by a near sighted guy who left his glasses at home that day, and don't get me started on their inexplicable method of gluing in window glass from the outside. Kato have their faults too, like the color blind guy who picks out the paint for anything with yellow on it. Still, if they fix up a few things they should give Kato a run for their money if they bring out a few more roadnames in multiple road numbers. Straight SD40's and SD45's might be nice as well, Kato haven't even touched a lot of the roadnames they could be done in and would be useful to those who model the 60's.
hmmm, just out of spite I may order the BN ones after can't have a pair of '93 ford explorers and an executive set to hold the fort. they'll fill in for the non existent C636's.
I'm curious to see which paint-schemes the UP, CSX, NS the ones would be. With Kato doing the CNW/UP, I don't really have any need for the UP one way or the another. But the other two plus ICE I would be interested in. As far as other IM models go, I am very happy with my F7.
I'm actually starting to think there's some sort of industry-wide conspiracy against N Scale SD38-2s.
There is always the Mark4Design shell. Or if you are resourceful, kitbash one, thinking Atlas GP38-2 long hoods with a Kato SD40-2.
True enough, but a diesel model with few real prototype examples. I found a Kato SD40-2 shell on EBay and plan to simply shave off the first of three fans. And, the EJE paint scheme for those is easy enough to do! Pickers of nit will probably tell me that its a foot too long or has some other minor detail flaw, but it will be good enough for me. Actually, one of the IHB's 2 SD38-s was a deturboed SD40-2 anyways, so I think I am safe. I may try the Mark IV shell if I want an EJE SD38-2 for my layout. Just looked it up. Overall length is the same, and the wheelbase is just 3" shorter than the 40-2. Not noticeable in N scale, so let me be the second to encourage IM to modify their shell at some future point and produce a knockoff model of the same tooling......
Unfortunately Mark IV's machine is broken so if you don't have the shells already, you may be waiting for awhile.
You are correct. But the particular model doesn't matter. The company does. Besides I have four Kato SD40-2's. Two of them are NW [early scheme] and two CP [snoots]. I also have some SD 80's and 90's [Kato] and some Kato GE units. So my world did not end in 1968.
I second this! I would even be happy with a SD38. Then I could paint up a Mc Cloud Ry. Although, you could try and go with Mark4design shells. He has a SD 38-2 that he offers. Ryan
I thought this would have been done ages ago. They have produced the sd40t which isn't far off from the vanilla sd40. But I would like to see more and more manufacturers switch to the 6 pin DCC decoder.
Why? It only supports 2 functions and it uses a half-wave signal to run the functions it does support (return to one side of the track rather than the blue wire). It's only real advantage is ease of installation (if the manufacturer is smart) and the ability to source European decoders with better motor control (Lenz etc.). Adrian
How many functions do you need? I would take a gander other than the ability to run ditch lights or a strobe on the top of the cab, theres not much else to run. Besides, I like the plug and play ease of use.
Sorry Mike, but this ain't the 80's anymore. The days of blindly buying everything regardless of quality have long gone. If Intermountain wants to sell their locomotives, they will need to stop ignoring and start addressing the issues their products have. You can call it nitpicking or whatever, but I call it trying to save their @$$. Because, well, I like many of their products and want them to continue to thrive. Nobody expects them to be perfect every time, but at some point you have to know that your customers are expressing their desires for you to get off your duff and make a few changes. I think if I were Intermountain, I would much rather hear critiques versus silence while I'm wondering why my products aren't selling. I'm a fan of Intermountain, don't get me wrong! But I think we have the right to express our opinions. For example, I think their covered hoppers and flat cars are out of this world! I wish they would do more freight cars. ...And, I wish they would put out a quality locomotive. If they can't handle the heat....well you know the rest.
IMHO.... I think the days of modelers demanding...and the manufactures making...locomotives with all the fine details may be at its peak. The GP60M is a good example. From what I read...all you have to do is LOOK at that locomotive wrong...and the little bitty fine details fall off !!! Thats NOT what modelers who run their trains want. We want reliable, nice looking locomotives that will stand the test of time. We dont want to put our Optivisors on and check every square inch of track daily for failling off pieces. Rivet counters and macro photographers want the max details. But its possible the manufactures are finding out that last group of modelers isnt buying the majority of their locomotives...the runners are. Its just my opinion...yours may...and probably does...vary...thnxs