Good news, this SD40-2! I'll have to save again some money....:thumbs_up: Joe, do we have a release date for the spare snowplows? I've a bunch of Geeps to fit with... Dom
hi robbman, yes, of course you are right, but if the truck centers come out close it could be worth consideration. looking at the mechanisms joe presented, i think there is some added length on the ends beyond the space for the gear towers. i was thinking out loud and haven't looked at the schematics for U30B, U33B, or U36B. truck centers would be the key dimension, and it seemed from the picture that i could be in the ball park. joe will have to tell us what the actual truck centers (or gear tower centers in this case) for the MTL SD mechansim measure. i'll be anxious to hear. i'm glad you're around to give us prototype specifics, Robbman. your insights are helpful. dave f.
Dave, you are so right. I read a lot of Mr Robbmans post. His insights on how to tell the difference between engine models is very educational. Also, my kitbashing is not ambitious as yours. I am thinking of swaping the SD40 sideframe into the SD70 with spartan cab, and I get my SD50. Yes, there is all kinds of possibilities.
Maybe not the U-boats or Dash-7s, but what about the B40-8? It's even longer. Not as long as an SD40-2, yes, but its truck wouldn't have to extend beyond the frame like the SD40-2's does.
joe! where are you? could you give us a measurement of the centers (from the center of one gear tower to the other)? Z scale feet would help me the most, but whatever you can offer will be welcome. thanks, dave
I've been looking forward to this release, but want the GP9 NH first. On that note This will be a dissapointment for kitbashing to make a FL9 if spare parts are not available. Sorry. i'm dissapointed for a specisl request from MTL for a special request for the Stiskas, largo FL, & no GP9 NH as forsaid for this month, or when? Michael Hilliard
Patience is hard isn't it Michael? You're not alone. I'll bet each one of us have our pet project, road name, etc. that we wished had come out long ago. I'm sure Joe will confirm the release date, but I think the NH comes out in October? Let's see what Joe says........"earth to Joe...come in Joe"
Rock Star reaches Zenith/Pinnacle of his career with new SD40-2 Congrads Mr. Joe D. for bringing my favorite loco to fruition in Z scale. I have admired and enjoyed running them in every scale except Z, now that no longer will be the case. Joe you are the most effective liason, spokesman that binds the consumer to the manufacturer, that modelrailroading has ever had, and it is reaping huge dividends for your company . Don't ever stop. That photo of the chassis and trucks ain't so good. The shadow (way too much) obscures the truck detail. Joe could you give us a better pic please?
Hmmmmm... presuming MT centered the trucks in the mechansism bolster on the 40-2 (which it appears they did), you'd need to offest the four-axle trucks inward about 1.4mm each (B40-8 centers are 4' 2" shorter than a 40-2)... and I'm almost sure you'd need to remove some of the metal on the front and rear of the mech to get a shell to work. What's neat is that if you made that 1.4mm offset four-axle truck... you could also put them in the GP35 frame, offset to the outsde this time, and have the right centers for the UxxBs (sans U18B) and early Bxx-7s... (which are 4' 2" longer than a GP35) This post copyright Robb Fisher @ RFDI
Yes, I'm using the same board design throughout the entire program. I wanted to have a system where you could swap boards and decoders so if you retired or sold something, you would save some money buying new Decoders. Joe
Finally I see someone finally figured out my madness! With a little planning you can save money in production and be more flexable and responsive to the market... good job Dave...!! Joe MTL
Opps Sorry Dave, Been working on the Railroad! ) Truck centers on the chassis is about 2.37" The other nice thing about this design is it will provided worm gears with longer shafts for those of us stretching GP Chassis. Cheers Joe MTL
CP is a must do of course.... The snow plows will not snap into the GP's, but they give you something to start with. You will need to modify the truck by removing the coupler and using a 905 on the frame or mounted to the snow plow to get it to work. I have planned a retro snow plow/pilot conversion for the GP's that will much like our Steam Pilots we make in N scale. Quick-easy swap. that's still in the works though. Joe MTl
thanks joe, one day we may have a model in Z of every class and style of locomotive ever made, but until then having some new modeling possibilities is most welcome and the new products help get us there. it took intermountain railway (n scale manufacturers) years to finally make a GE locomotive, but their new offering is a success, i do believe. a GE loco from MTL would be just as well recieved, i think. in another year or two you COULD pull one together, and as much as i (and others) still urgently desire SD9s, and SD45s, etc., the other half of the locomotive world is G.E. and MTL would get a ground swell of support (by way of new business) from the growing population of Z scale modelers. the fun just gets better and better. dave f. ... and thanks for the dimension. much appreciated!
Engineering for the poor man That's what I like to hear, engineering for the poor man, the sign of a great engineer. ;-) Randy
This is just plain smart, digitrax got the decoder finally and now you can just keep making locos to use the same decoder. This way as soon as the loco comes out there is a decoder already good to go. Kato and Atlas got this down for there stuff in N Scale and it makes it so nice. The loco looks like a scaled down version of the Kato SD40-2 in N Scale.
Offset trucks are a wonderful thing. For example, many modellers are dissatisfied with the quality of the (older run?) N scale Bachmann Spectrum C40-8 and C40-8W. Some have solved the problem by placing the shell on a Kato C30-7 chassis. A C40-8 has the same trucks as a C30-7, but a longer wheelbase. Fortunately, the C30-7 trucks are offset, so by flipping them around, the correct wheelbase can be achieved.
Hi Joe, a bit quiet in this tread, any news/pictures of the SD40 and most important: updated release dates for you new baby????
