Not to be a downer but probably not... But if they do there could be so many discrepancies they might say: We wont try anything like this again...
Some think Fox Valley might do the ACes, and if they do they will probably be waaay better than if Kato does them.
Kato would almost certainly screw the colors up just like they did on the UP CoLA train. That yellow they used was hideous. I think FVM would be a better choice. I dont know the guys name that owns FVM but from what I can tell he is a perfectionist.
According to some, Kato doesn't do eastern roads. I've got my boxed set of NS Heritage locos ordered from FVM. I'd love to have a matching box with the SD70Aes!
Everybody loves to bash Kato for the issues they have with every release seems like. I would bet that since their current model is not close enough to avoid a crap storm of nit picking they will pass.
fvm perfectionist ? spare me. wrong railings and many more inperfections so get off kato bashing. I can bash fvm far more then kato.
Yeah the handrails are the 'narrow' version vs NS' 'wide' handrails and they won't have the rear ditchlights but who else has the high mount headlight in N or HO that's not brass? Kato? Lolno. Lets not forget this (from their facebook): "Tom Magazin Are you guys going to put the ditchlights on the back of the NS Heritage engines like they are in this photo?" *The photo is of the rear of the Sou Heritage unit* To which FVM replied: "Fox Valley Models The GEVO series was not designed for rear ditch lights. There will be other locos very soon that are though....." If that doesn't scream NS SD70ACes and NS/CN SD70M-2s then I don't know what does...
NOPE WRONG LONG HOOD AS WELL ON THE FVM'S . I HAVE 4 KATO GEVO'S THAT HAVE THE RIGHT HAND RAILS AND THE CAB HEADLIGHT AND IAM MAKING THE LONG HOOD RIGHT AND THEY RUN WAY BETTER THEN FVM'S
I have considered picking up some of the on sale C44-9Ws from Katos parts dept. (the ones with the wide handrails) to kitbash with their GEVOs for some 'close enough' locos but thats a ways off. And quite frankly trying to do a correct long hood for all road names would kill a mfger in the number of tools needed...
THE KATO AC4400 CSX HAND RAILS ARE MADE THE SAME WAY THE GEVO'S RAILING ARE MADE AND INTERCHANGE SO I HAVE THE WIDE RAILING . NO CUTTING NO FUSS. I HAVE 15 COMPLETE CSX AC4400 SHELLS I GOT A FEW YRS AGO
So is this part of the old SD40-2 rumor mill(with rear ditch lights?) or are we creating relativly new rumor and guessing that they will be doing a correct NS SD70___? I would believe FVM getting a relatively correct SD70 out in the heritage schemes at this point. With them all done and the hoopla having reached it's creshendo at Spencer over the 4th if Kato was going to announce , they would have. Since they didn't, I think FVM has jumped on the loose ball and is jamming an SD70 together as fast as they can. You won't hear much more than rumors because we all know what kind of manufacturing black hole China can be. Until they get a production model approved I don't think we will hear anything official. They have to know though if they screw it up in some major form they will never hear the end of it. I will say that If this is the case that FVM was surprised(along with a lot of other people) that Kato didn't jump in and just slap the schemes on what they already had tooled. Why not? Already been trashed over their lack of this ,that, or the other thing on the existing model. Just paint em right and 85% won't care. The others will either do their own model or complain and then buy em anyway. It's what I would have done. Frankly as long as the heritage units were in the serious rumor mill(i heard about them last summer, very senior NS folk were very casual with some specific comments) I cant believe that someone else hasn't jumped in by now. FVM had their new nose ready for one of the biggest issues with their existing units. Its all talk until it isn't....
Dumb question, because I don't follow the NS heritage units that closely: what are the major detail differences between the heritage ACe's and the Kato model? From a cursory glance, the differences I can spot are: - rear ditch lights (none on the model) - different antenna style on the cab roof - different vent layout on the inverter box behind the cab (but only one of the 3 panels is different) - a seam around the nose of the cab (an isolation seam?) Am I missing anything? Unless it's something obvious, this is about as good as it gets for proto-fidelity in N scale, so I would be surprised if Kato didn't push these out at some point. Remember that they changed their announcement policy a few months ago: they would only announce when products were being shipped from the factory. And if I were Matt at Fox Valley, I would be looking at other models to make besides an SD70ACe (but I'm not Matt and I have no idea what he's planning). -Gary
Oh yeah...forgot about that announcement change from Kato. Understandable, but here is where it bites. You got a hot commodity, an unsatisfied market, and you are leaving the door open to potential competitors. Who knows... Hey Scott...if there are no pictures...it didn't happen!
