Seems Intermountain snuck an ad in the next addition of N Scale Magazine saying they will be releasing an N Scale SD40-2, but did not provide details on when. Really surprised this did not come out at the Amherst show. First release includes Santa Fe, Burlington Northern, CSX, Iowa, Chicago and Eastern, Maine Central, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific. No mention of it on the website or on their Facebook page yet. Very strange... There is a picture of the ad on The Railwire forum: http://www.therailwire.net/forum/ind...?topic=31987.0 Cheers, Brian
Yup and it took less then 30 seconds after it was posted on another board for people to start tearing it apart. Sad.
Yep , seems like no one is happy these days. I love my IM's and my Fox Valleys. If you are crying you should not be buying. Simple as that. Mike PS , thanks Brian
I don't think they are tearing it apart as much as asking the hard question about Intermountain's past performances with N Scale engines. The SD45-2's had their issues with the glued shells. Tunnel motors had the same. I think most are hopeful that IM can pull this off with upgrades because they are going after Kato's market and are not afraid to throw out the oddball road names that Kato may or may not ever touch. I'd expect them to go with 4 numbers per road name out of the chute as well, which is a plus. The ad says all new tooling, so we'll see what that really means in a few months. I really hope they pull it off. Guess the link above isn't working any more... sorry about that. Cheers, Brian
Yep, no one is tearing them up yet, but others are making it sound that they are. I've had pretty decent luck with the few of my IM tunnels and 45-2's but hoping the new tooling will be similar in quality to their F units! Let' hope for some Non Dynamic versions as well!
My only question for now would be how they will run with the Kato units, especially the older ones. Personally, I have too much money already invested in those, and far too much effort in making them MP units, to be interested in something which wouldn't lash-up well. But on the other hand, it was a very successful unit for GM, so increased availability will benefit the modeler.
True. There is nothing wrong with recalling past performance, and asking hard questions. Those days when we would just buy anything tossed out there are gone. Especially with the large numbers of folks having much tighter budgets today, who rightly want their little spare money to count for the most faithful reproduction, and quality. If there is a reduced perception level of any company, it is incumbent upon only that company to change the consumer viewpoint, via their end product. Not the other way around.
I just wonder when they will actually be released and then how many years until the next release. Many of their F units, passenger cars, etc. are years behind the original schedule.
I have four SD45-2's and the only issue I have with them is that they're shell separates to easily form the frame. If IM will address this issue with these new SD40-2's I'll be a happy camper and get a few in they're CSX scheme.
All I can say is, "I hope they don't". It's pain slowing down Kato loco's to be able to run with everything else. Atlas, IM, and Fox Valley all run well together. Kato is the odd man out. Don't speed match them to Kato!
Yeah I just don't get why Kato won't change they're motors to slower speed ones like everybody else. Katos still drag race past any other locos doing the same speed.
Must be the "bullet train" mentality. Kato must think everything runs at the speed of sound... well some of their trains really need that speed, but nothing on the North American continent does.... What's really funny is none of my Kato HO units run that fast, just the N Scale stuff... Cheers, Brian
YEEEESSSSSS!!!!!!! I can't wait to see which NS version they do as they have over 10 styles of SD40-2 operating.
Intermountain is a seventh level manufacturer to this Pennsy fan. 1. Atlas 2. Kato 3. LifeLike [Walthers] 4. ER and Bachmann 5. Fox Valley 6. Athearn Don't have any Fox Valley or Athearn and I won't have any Intermountain either. But not for the same reasons.
Considering the Pensy ended in '68 and the SD40-2 wasn't introduced until '72, I don't think it would matter to you who makes them. Pennsy never owned any, so why chime in at all?
I've really never been impressed with anything they have made. Every one of their models has unsightly seems or glue interfaces where not exists on the prototype.
Some people will complain no matter what. The glass isn't half empty, it's abysmally devoid of all life and warmth. As for me, I have 18 IM tunnel motors, 7 of their F units, and 4 of the Cab Forwards. IM has been very, very good to this Southern Pacific modeller. Sometimes I've had to pull the tools and the oil out and do a little maintenance, or make a small adjustment, but it's nothing this ready-to-run guy can't handle. Heck, that's nothing compared to installing DCC decoders! I'll probably pick up a couple in Santa Fe and Union Pacific, especially if they do the lightning stripe SD40Ns.
Well I have Kato, Atlas, LifeLike, and Fox Valley, and comparing my Katos to my FVMs I would pick my FVM locos over them. I don't think it's very fair to place some makers lower on your list if you don't even own any and can't compare them yourself, don't you think? Even if you have compared them in the past, companies are constantly evolving and striving to make better and better products. Alex
