Intermountain Announces SD40-2

Brian K Feb 5, 2014

  1. Primavw

    Primavw TrainBoard Member

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    Ok my wallet is gonna hurt when these are released.... I wonder what "etched metal details" these will have???
     
  2. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Fans? Grills?
     
  3. Ike the BN Freak

    Ike the BN Freak TrainBoard Member

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    True, however Katos when first released were $100, now $118. As for the ESU being a better decoder than TCS, that is a personal opinion. I also understand that the msrp and street price are different. As for a new chassis, who knows, it could use the same as the SD40-2W, which is just a milled SD45-2 frame.

    New tooling doesn't have to cost higher initially, its an SD40-2, pretty much every railroad since 1972 has them, so therefore they should have no issues recovering the cost of tooling over numerous runs.
     
  4. DCESharkman

    DCESharkman TrainBoard Member

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    Kato is now using NCE not TCS anymore. And the ESU decoders are much better than NCE decoders.

    Cost for developing all new tooling is more expensive now that it was only a few years ago. Material costs and labor costs are increasing. Also you have to figure that Kato is a essentially a vertical monopoly where they make there own tooling, while IM has to contract out both the tooling and the manufacturing. That all leads to higher costs over Kato's cost of manufacture. It always costs less and leads to larger margins the less a product is moved between companies. Just look at the cost of Altas locomotives lately, that is a better comparison than Kato. Both Atlas and IM are essentially the same manufacturing model. Atlas prices have been climbing too.

    And even Kato's pricing is creeping up as well. Add to that the none of Kato's tooling is made in today's dollars. Their new SD40-2 locomotives are still using the same tooling that was made 6 or 7 years ago. Add to that, none of their chassis are designed to support sound, so there was very little to change there. Not to mention all of the etched metal details IM will have that Kato does not have. It could be that these unseat Kato's hold on the top of the SD40-2 market.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 11, 2014
  5. jpwisc

    jpwisc TrainBoard Member

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    Wrong, the tooling does cost a lot initially. Someone has to pay money up front to make the tooling. You are correct that they will be able to recover that cost over multiple runs, but someone has to cut a big check to get the tooling made before the initial run can even go into production. This is where IM is putting skin in the game. They don't have pre-order money coming in yet on these so all the cost is out of their pockets.
     
  6. Rossford Yard

    Rossford Yard TrainBoard Member

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    Hopefully they save some money with some common parts from their existing SD lines........it would be smart, but I gather that sometimes, even small variations require all new tooling, since we are getting so detail and road specific.
     
  7. wcfn100

    wcfn100 TrainBoard Member

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    Intermountain cuts it's own tooling in house. And they use aluminum which is cheaper than traditional steel. They do contract out for manufacturing and assembly, but do so because it's cheaper than doing it here, so I don't get your point about that.


    Jason
     
  8. Ike the BN Freak

    Ike the BN Freak TrainBoard Member

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    Kato did the same thing when they initially released the SD40-2. No one is paying for pre-orders, and if you are...you need to find a new dealer. Atlas doesn't require pre-order money when something is announced.

    As for these "etched metal" details, we'll see...seems everyone forgot how when IM first did the SD40T-2s and all the details they were supposed to come with, and failed to deliver.
     
  9. Ike the BN Freak

    Ike the BN Freak TrainBoard Member

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    Probably the only parts that are currently would be the SD45-2 nose and cab. Maybe some of the Tunnel motor cabs or noses, but being most have the SP light package, and SP never owned 40-2s, those won't carry over. So seems pretty much everything will be all brand new tooling.
     
  10. sd80mac-ns

    sd80mac-ns TrainBoard Member

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    I agree... I was wondering the same thing about the ditchlights.
     
  11. DCESharkman

    DCESharkman TrainBoard Member

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    IM cutting their own tooling is news to me. I asked them once about it and they said they had a few shops that they dealt with for their tooling. They may tool some things, but tooling for a box car is simple enough compared to a locomotive shell.

    Given that IM does make the tooling, it is still a more costly proposition because an in-house factory is an easy way to control costs and increase margins then sending those profits to another company to manufacture and assemble. There are just many more chances for economy of scale operations. Subcontracting manufacturing out enables the manufacturer to profit from the economy of scale. That is how they back-load their margins.

    A vertical monopoly like Kato is always more profitable. It is simple economics.
     
  12. CHARGER

    CHARGER TrainBoard Member

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    Hey intermountain, January 2016 will be 25 years since the start of the Gulf War, would like to see a factory painted UP 3593 in Desert Camo!

    [​IMG]
     
  13. gcav17

    gcav17 TrainBoard Member

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    To bad I am all about steam. Those BN units are nice!

    Sent from my Commando
     
  14. N-builder

    N-builder TrainBoard Member

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    I just saw them on a popular online hobby shops website and they look very nice. I think Intermountain will do a great job with these locos, I'm hoping cause two CSX YN3's have my name on them. BTW they will be released in October.
     

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