Just received the following info (from a shop owner) that was contained in a dealer e-mail from KATO-- SD45 details here with drawings - http://www.katousa.com/PDF/N-SD45-June10.pdf F40PH announcement here - http://www.katousa.com/PDF/N-F40PH-AmtrakStep-June10.pdf
Beggars can't be choosers... Its been over 10 years since an SD45 from Kato was announced... I'm not sweating the lack of Mars lighting... Richmond Controls will probably have a Mars Light module cobbled-up soon after these are released. The Speed Lettering is not my fav scheme... but... what the heck... black paint and new decals will easily convert to my preferred 'flying Rio Grande' lettering. These are a certain buy regardless. I just hope Kato doesn't wait another eternity to release more of them in other roadnames and new roadnumbers.
Its all good. Just to see these venerable locomotives updated to accept drop in decoders is just fantastic. So maybe it bodes well that we will also see the C30-7, U30C, GP50 make a comeback too! Kato is getting trashed on the Altas forum about the roadnames, I hope not see that happen here. Business dictates releases not emotions.
Its about time! I hope they FLOOD the F40PH Market so I can have hopes of snaggin a couple at a decent price. Vince
Really? Figures.... As for me, I pooped when I seen the Kodachrome paint scheme offered when scrolling down. Gonna pick me up a ton of them. Might have to get me a decent amount of those Rio Grande one's too, just in case I change my modeling preference Mike
O.M.G. FINALLY. What's cool is that there were several SF kodachrome 45's still about in the mid 90's, not only that, they're release phase III F40's and coaches!? Nice, this 90's modeler is very pleased. Why would people be whining about this? At least they had the heart to actually re-release the 45, and if they sell well, then we could see more rd names/numbers. I was whining about their constant flood of present day boring poo.
They deserve it, look at the roadname choices for the last several years. They only support 10% of the n-scale community. You have to be blind to see it, and don't give me the BS that other roadnames don't sell.
I thought I had all the SD45s I needed until I seen that Kodachrome. Wow. After all these years, I did not expect it.
I love my Kato locos. They are very high quality and in my case they make up more than 90% of my fleet. I'm delighted to see the SD45 coming back, BUT... in addition to whatever bias they may have against eastern roads, they also seem to go out of their way to avoid offering the most common loco in a class when they could easily do so: e.g. SP had the largest fleet of SD45s, but no SP in this release. Similarly, they avoid the 3 most common locos on the rails today, when they could easily release them: * UP SD70M flared radiator with standard cab (they offer the rarer 70ACe-style cab, but they have the standard cab tooling with the flat radiator model) * BNSF C44-9W, 4000-series in H2 scheme (they finally released the 700- series in WB and H3...) * NS C40-9W (this is the same body as the C44, 'cept for a headlight variant, but the only recent Kato NS offering is the rarer SD70M) There are of order 1000 of each of these species on the rails today but instead they put out variants which number less than 100. And it's not like the variants they release are "flashy" like many of their other releases, so I am perplexed and frustrated by this strategy. But only because their locos are so good.
Hey Mike, You're not coming over to the "dark side" are you??wink: Talk about Murphy's Law > just as I spend best part of the last 6 months doing 4 x custom repaint / decal jobs on my Kato SD45's into D&RGW look what happens Then, they are released in two of the road numbers I've just done:mrolleyes: No way I'm gonna complain though > they're a great loco & I'll still be getting some more for my fleet Steve
And in the late eighties and the early ninties they flooded the market with East Coast roadnames, and they didn't sell as well. So, this Kato West Coast bias is mularkey. They make what sells. I fail to see how they only fulfill 10% of the market. I'd love to know where you got that number. Although I've got an idea. I'm just glad they're listening. An Amtrak step down coach and de skirted baggage car is awesome, along with the F40s. I missed them on the first go round.
I must respectfully disagree. Living and modeling west of the Mississippi, I'll bet that the roadnames they chose for this run will do very, very well here. They didn't do the SP units, but my guess is they'll get to them within a year. As it is, I intend to get the two Rio Grande SD45s, and maybe even one of the GN blue units, just because it looks so cool. There will be a 2nd run, and a 3rd, and on and on. Within a few years, we'll be whining that SD45's is all that Kato seems to be making.
Kato N-Scale SD-45 Engines They're specifically releasing schemes they didn't do back in the 90s. I guess they want their first release to be something that seems new, though it's not a locomotive that hasn't been done before.
Not so. NW2 in PRR - did not sell well PA/PB In NYC and PRR still on shelves at BLW and still as new/old stock at one of the shops around here. There are still EL PA sets at two shops in this area some 13-14 years later that still have not ever sold. The same can not be said about ATSF, SP, UP and DRGW. GG1 and the Broadway Limited had less than stellar sales. As did the RDC's. So there is no need to bash them because ATSF, SP, UP and GN outsell NYC, PRR, B&O, C&O etc. If they can not sellout a standard production run, it is not worth the time, manpower, materials to run it. Maybe Atlas makes smaller runs than Kato does, and they can be more adaptable to less released roadnames. It would not be good business sense to make a production run you know will not sellout in enough time to not lose the investment to invenory charge off's for long term storage. That would be enough to leave the US market completely, and that does no one any good. It would not surprise me if the NW-2 is now doomed because of the lackluster sales of PRR and Milwuakke Road units. In the end it is about sound business decisions, and not emotional ones.
