Kato quietly announced the September delivery of the Amtrak F40PH (Phase III). F40PH Release Also, new Superliners (Phase II) in two sets of 4. Superliner Release And a two pack of Amtrak passenger cars (ex-UP Phase I). Baggage Cars IMO: These are going to be GOOOOOOOooooooooD!!!!! [ May 01, 2005, 09:42 PM: Message edited by: Wig-Wag LLC ]
I think they are going to be good sellers.... I wonder what other EMD products they'll make for us? Maybe some updated GP38-2's or GP50's? Harold
I'm glad for these! I wonder if they thought the regional lines would generate volumes that are too small...
You never know about Kato.... they never delievered all of the versions of the SD40-2's they had "announced"... Sometimes, I really scratch my head and wonder with some of the road names and paint schemes they offer! Harold
At least they are doing undecorateds, unlike some other locomotive manufacturer. HINT! I will get two undecs just to try my hand at the GO scheme. Joe
Hmmmmm.... Guess I better do something to generate some hobby cash flow. Maybe I should sell.... something, ANYTHING!!!
The superliners are in phase II, if it matters to anyone. The phase III and IV have already been run.
I watched an F40PH go by on a freight train the other day, still in Amtrak stripes but relettered for a Mexican railroad, at Colton, CA. Tony Burzio San Diego, CA
This does seem to be one of those engines that just won't die. Either well designed/built or well maintained; or both. I supose that's why there has been such a clamor for these. Being KATOs we should get the same kind of life span out of the model version. I would have been happy if Life Like revamped theirs, but since KATO stepped up first I'm not going to complain. I'll bet this is going to increase the demand for passenger equipment!
Cool. I'll need at least one to replace my Kato Amtrak E8 which is a bit too old for the era. I agree with Harold. I was confident that when the snoot was released that Kato would release other SD40-2s versions. A standard nose mid-to-late production SD40-2 would be a huge seller. Oh well, I'll keep chopping snoot noses until then. ~Tim
For those of you wondering: The F40PH will have directional golden white LEDs, and not the typical white LEDs in current Kato releases.
No, 38-2 is 34', F40PH is 33'. As it will be designed for a cowl unit, the mechanism will be difficult to fit in a hood unit, even more so if Kato lies the motor flat..
