by DARR i was meaning my personal road, i didn't realize that was a real one. sorry for the confusion...
I think it is a great deal if you are looiking for kitbashing / painting test beds. I almost bought a couplf of them and a few of the others before I stopped myself. I have a feelling the offer is a loss leader to get folks to buy the other units. //Just my cynical side. Con Cor sale? Yes, picked up a couple of buildings, U50 in ATSF Blue / Yellow freight Gas turbine, ATSF Warbonne - Handsome Brute GN Cow Calf unit - Gonna look good on the GG
Well I couldn't resist, just ordered 5 more of these for myself. I can't believe their normal price on these is less than the crapolla GP38-2 and the (Oh please update this model) F40PH. The GP 20, IMHO, is a far superior LifeLike product. Maybe if they sel enough of these, maybe, just maybe, they'll redo the F40PH, but that's another rant completely.
We need a good F40PH in N scale. It would be easier to make than the typical GP, SD, U boat or Alco freight engine.
I got my GP-20 and a couple of cars... plus the SW-9 that they said was sold out but the shopping cart took my order and I paid for it and they shipped it!!!!
I used a spray bomb to paint mine. After it dried well, I flexed the rail to flake the paint off the rail but leaving it on the stantions.
i got to looking at one of my 20s, and noticed that when i tried to slide the engine up the rails, that the trucks had some "slop" forward and backward. my sd60s don't have this. does anyone else have this problem? does it cause a running problem??? thanks in advance!!!
beastman: No problem. Just a design technique. In fact, I have heard some comment that the fore and aft movement is prototypical. Some type of truck (floating truck bolster, whatever that is).
Got mine In today, Man that paint is too nice to patch (I was planning on turning it into a engine that my RR didn't send to the shops yet) Looks like its gonna stick with the UP colors. Anyone know when UP stopped using them?
cool, got mine on wednesday boy are they nice. but they do have a nasty growling/grinding noise. i hope they quite down with run time. think they'll ever be as quite as a LL mallet or MDC mogul or consol?
Thirdrail: I bought a 4-8-4 in a ATSF roadname and it's a great running loco after about four hours of break-in time. I'm going to order another one next week. It's a good value at half price. Stay cool and run steam.....
I'm going to use the GP -20's as cheaters. Dan Crowley's photo's of using the shell of a 50' boxcar and the frame of the GP-20 is a great idea. I'll remove the lightboard and install a decoder in it's place. It'll turn a steamer that can pull 20 cars into one that can pull 30+. I have plenty of spare 50' boxcars on hand. I can live with that....You can't go wrong for $17. I really like all these clearance sales. Stay cool and run steam...
Bob, i was thinking about the same thing!!! but what about the trucks? i'd rather not test my modeling/bashing skills just yet i guess i could just use "selective vision" and just ignore the discrepency
Well I got 5 more and tore right into them. Feels kinda funny pulling apart a brand new engine. Looks like I'm gonna do my own engine in festive holiday colors!
got my 3rd one today. now when my bottle of stripper shows up, i'll yank the paint off and get started on the D&A engines.......
Sam: I'm using the trucks that came with the LL GP 20. I picked up eight of the LL GP 20's. I have plenty of 50' boxcar shells. I'll run two or three in a consist with a steam loco. Stay cool and run steam......
I've noticed that about mine. It might get quieter with run time. I've only run mine for a couple minutes. Speaking of loud locos, how about bachmann spectrums? 8-40CWs for example. They're good runners / pullers, but sound like LL GP20s on steroids!
sam, That's interesting. I've got 20 of them from the Model Expo sale a few years ago. None of them make noise on my test track, which is unanchored Uni-Track on one side of my desk. But they all make a ton of noise on my real layout, which is foam board. Maybe these locos just transmit sound down through the tracks? While the frames are slimmer, they are very similiar in construction to the Alco FAs, FM C-Liners, and Erie-Builts. All of these are quiet on my test loop, but growlers on the layout.
