Hi friends My GS-4 came yesterday and here's my thoughts on the model. To give you an idea how nice this model looks is easy, just sit it next to a brass import of the same model and try to figure out which one is plastic. The painting and lettering is clean and sharp and for a complex scheme like this thats not easy. All the details that you would expect on a model like this is there plus a few that the brass version doesn't have. The front truck is incorrect but if you snip off the sideframes and truck will be right on and looks perfect. The model is also missing the two air pumps on the left side but this is also an easy fix using cast detail parts. I got two of these and one is smooth as glass and the other has something going on in the drive that I have not identified yet, this one may go back to CC for repair. The model that runs correct is a sweet running model with a clean smooth roll in both forward and reverse. It has directional lighting in both the locomotive and tender plus a DCC board that for the life of me I can't figure out how to wire. I do not want to use the plug-in-play decoder made by digitrax so figuring out the board scheme will take some time. The model has excellent pulling power and pulls 14 Kato cars up 19" curved grades with little effort, I believe it could pull more but thats all I have tested so far. My plans are to remove the stock PC board and weight from the tender and install a Soundtraxx system which should fit nicely, this will be done at a much later date. I guess that about covers it. Do not believe the negative comments posted to the N scale e-mails lists by people that have NOT seen this model in person, I know the GS-4 very well and trust me when I say that this model is as close to brass as you can get without paying the high cost. Also, like most any steam model, test a few before buying if you can, some do run better than others. Here's a photo showing the lead truck with the sideframes removed.
Bob, Thanks very much for you review, your model looks excellent. Maybe you could post a couple of more pics with the GS4 in action on your layout. I too have been reading the reviews on N list and some comments are totally biased and obviously untrue.
Bob Your Daylight looks fantastic-Thanks for showing the pilot truck fix. Nice to see a plastic model get a "better than brass" review from someone who has both. I can't believe all the negative chatter from some of those parties.
Ahhhhhh! My GS-4 arrived yesterday too! It runs beautifully! Smooth as silk! I sat and stared at it for about 30 minutes. The detail is fantastic! Thanks Daylight99 for posting the pics with the correct front truck.
Memo to self: GS stands for Golden State, not Galesburg & Savanna GS stands for Golden State, not Galesburg & Savanna GS stands for Golden State, not Galesburg & Savanna GS stands for Golden State, not Galesburg & Savanna It is an outstanding locomotive, well done Jim! Will look really good with the DesPlaines SP articulated diner and coach! Ron has the new core kit done and the kits are getting close to being ready. Charlie
Just got mine today as well. I'm in LOVE! Wow. Took these pics and I think if you didn't know this was an N-Scale Loc, you couldn't guess it. -Mike an admitted SLSF Freak and Espee Fan
thats a good looking engine there do you know if they never came east like philly would to run one on my layout rich
i added m/t couplers and modified front truck and then took it out for breakin-what a lemon--stalled--wobbled--and even at full throttle the headlight would shine but engine would not run even on clean track----it seems concor didnt test this unit before it left factory---ive seen other daylights run very smoothe but not mine----be sure to test run before you buy--it seems all is not perfect at concor
Mike- Tell us what you did to take the pictures of your Daylight! Camera, settings, etc... excellent photos, great depth of field! Charlie
Charlie - affraid I don't have any special skills with the photos but this is what I typically do when photographing my locos: Camera is an Olympus D-450Z using macro mode, I use a tri-pod so I can position the camera exactly where I want it (usually angled "low" relative to the model so you get the perspective of an n-scale person looking at the object), then I use the timer so I don't have my hands touching the camera when it's imaging...keeps shaking down which results in a crisper image. Lastly I use the flash for true color representation. About that coupler, luckily it isn't glued in there so an index finger & thumb quickly corrects that. Question for anyone who might know... number boards - I've seen more photos of these locos with them mounted in the center rather than forward. Where all GS-4's modified to move them forward (or back?) at a certain time or did certain ones get this treatment? I read about this a few years ago on the web, something about them repositioning them so they were easier to see from the station (or something to that effect) but I can't find that source anymore. Was thinking about moving mine back. -Mike [ 26 June 2002, 03:53: Message edited by: SLSF Freak ]
