Intermountain SD40-2

Steve Zink Oct 22, 2017

  1. Steve Zink

    Steve Zink TrainBoard Member

    309
    55
    24
    Well I received my 4 Intermountain B&O SD40-2's....

    Pretty disappointed...I get what Intermountain was trying to do, I well detailed loco, good looking, great sounding, with DCC......But they dropped the ball.....Out of the four, three run, two I'll have to remanufacture so the cabs fit well, the coupler height is erratic so I might have to reengineer the frames, ALL have the great details put on sloppy, and speaking of details where did they get the HO scale air horns????.....The paint is second to none, the sound sounds great, trucks and chassis are well engineered. Did I miss anything???? Oh yea I'm putting on MT couplers as the ones that come with them spread the locos out about five feet, two were glued in because the holes were stripped.....I've had them on order since 2014.....Last time I do that.....Now instead of four nice locos I can weather up a bit and run, I've spent around 800 bucks for four new projects to add to the already hundreds on my work bench.

    :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 22, 2017
    bstitches and JimJ like this.
  2. JimJ

    JimJ Staff Member

    1,574
    2,271
    51
    That really sucks. Can you return them?
     
  3. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Wow. :( :(
     
  4. bman

    bman TrainBoard Member

    489
    187
    22
    I have 5 of them now. 1 SOU and the 4 CR ones. And other than a couple of hand rails out of place(which was a quick fix), the details on mine are fine. As far as running, I did have to clean some excess lube out of a couple of trucks but that was all. Other than that they run well. I have heard from others who have had some issues with details and running quality. And still others with experiences like mine. Sounds like I got lucky. I wonder if it's like back in the 70's and buying a car. Don't buy one made on a Monday or a Friday?
     
  5. WFOJeff

    WFOJeff TrainBoard Member

    583
    260
    17
    My UP #2964 and GATX #7361 both had shell distortions causing horrible profile looks and coupler misalignment, the 2 new shell IMR sent fixed everything.

    They did run/sound great from the start.

    Now they still run great, sound great and look good while not losing any cars along the way.
     
  6. Steve Zink

    Steve Zink TrainBoard Member

    309
    55
    24
    Going to contact Intermountain tomorrow, cant get the cabs to sit on the frames straight......And the one non running loco won't accept commands from my Digitrax command station...The sad thing is that they are GREAT looking locos, the chassis are NICE, just wish their quality control was better.....
     
  7. scottryan

    scottryan TrainBoard Member

    37
    5
    11
    We are now into decade #2 of intermountain locos and we still see the same problems.
     
  8. Steve Zink

    Steve Zink TrainBoard Member

    309
    55
    24
    I've sent one back as I could "fix" the other three. Again they are all I ever wanted in many ways, I just think they are trying to do to much to soon...

    I'm REALLY looking forward to the SD38's..a Bicentennial EJ&E would be nice.....
     
  9. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

    9,814
    14,202
    147
    Bummer, the Milwaukee Road ones looked really good. o_O
     
  10. TrainboySD40

    TrainboySD40 TrainBoard Member

    257
    21
    22
    I'm having a number of issues with mine...I'm going to keep them, but I'm disappointed as well.

    -The tabs that connect the motor and speaker to the decoder are unreliable
    -The headlights on the nose of the CP version are as wonky as a pug's
    -One set of wheels is notably under gauge

    Plus the usual IM issues of very dim lights and annoyingly high ride height.

    The good? There's a lot of that too. The details are kick-ass, and when you look at it from the back, you don't see the light issues! They run very smoothly and sound exceptional.
     
  11. Steve Zink

    Steve Zink TrainBoard Member

    309
    55
    24
    Well I did get back the unit I sent to them for repair. They did a wonderful job as far as I can tell. I was informed that the cab was glued on the frame so it got rid of the warp. I do always take apart every loco I buy, (to weather add details, etc.) so I don't know yet how this will affect this. But it looks great right now. Again, can't complain about the mechanism or the sound....They tried to help so I'm grateful....Hope some of these issues are ironed out before the SD38's come out...
     
    WFOJeff likes this.
  12. WFOJeff

    WFOJeff TrainBoard Member

    583
    260
    17
    I too was happy after they sent me the replacement shells.
     
  13. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    22,014
    27,407
    253
    Reminds me of the quality control issues IM had with the first release of the SD40T-2s in 2004/2005...
     
  14. Hoghead2

    Hoghead2 TrainBoard Member

    370
    1,176
    26
    I had similar issues. Demanded a refund eventually, as it ran badly and the shell didn't fit. Sent it back, and it came back running better but the shell was still warped. Hell of a waste of what should have been a fine model.
     
  15. WFOJeff

    WFOJeff TrainBoard Member

    583
    260
    17
    I wonder if they hear the public and have done something to correct 2018 releases. I was lucky that my final results worked out with the new shells but puts me on edge looking forward to next releases...
     
    rpeck likes this.
  16. mu26aeh

    mu26aeh TrainBoard Member

    270
    170
    18
    I have 2 YN3 CSX units from the very first run that was released. I must have been very lucky because I don't have glue showing, I don't have loud, noisy units, I don't have crooked cabs or walkways etc.
     
  17. Traindork

    Traindork TrainBoard Member

    1,299
    393
    35
    I've bought two MKT and two MP engines. Very happy with both of them - no problems. I'm sure there are duds here and there, but from reading forums, it would seem the N scale world is coming to a crashing end.
     
    mu26aeh likes this.
  18. bman

    bman TrainBoard Member

    489
    187
    22
    I have to say I can't blame someone for being a bit vocal about getting a dud after waiting as long as a lot of us did for these locomotives to hit the shelves. I think my pre-order with my LHS was put in before my son went to college. He graduated last winter.
     
  19. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

    3,496
    4,798
    82
    Wow! That's putting it in perspective! :eek:
     
  20. DCESharkman

    DCESharkman TrainBoard Member

    4,396
    3,025
    87
    Chinese manufacturing strikes again!
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.

Share This Page