You may have got yours. Mine is not here yet. How do they run? Reviews anyone. We're all dieing to hear.
They run great and the detail is nice also.Last night I got out my unitrack and tried a few tests.They will track through the 9 3/4 curves well light unit and in a consist.But when I tried a "s" curve they derailed with the 9 3/4 turns.That is as far as I have gotten, hopefully tonight I can try to see if they pull as much as kato says they will.
I got a Conrail SD80 last night. Its typical Kato - smooth running and quiet. I don't know about pulling power yet. It sure does feel heavier than all of my other engines. Detail wise, it looks good. Some things I noticed: Detail painting wise, its still not quite up to what Atlas has released lately. Most noticeable is the ends of the handrails are still not painted correctly. On the prototype pictures I've seen the walkways are grey/black. On the model they are the same blue as the body. The stairs are blue on the model and look black on all the prototype pictures I've seen. None of this is a big deal in anyway - its easy enough to modify. Just pointing out the difference between the latest Atlas release and Kato release. The engine is supposed to use a new Digitrax Decoder that isn't out yet. Digitrax says "soon". One of our club's members got 2 UPs last night. He noticed that the lightboard looks very similar to the RSC-2 lightboard. So, he took the decoder from an RSC-2 , DN148K, and put it in the engine. It took a slight mod to the board, he had to file the side edges a bit at one end. Took him all of 5 minutes to install. The engines ran great afterword.
Hello Mark, a warm welcome to Trainboard Thanks for the review, they sound like a great new model addition. Luckily, I run BNSF, so do not have to dish out the dough for some
Come on Alan, BNSF is looking to purchase some SD90-43AC's soon. Here one is seen leading the Z-WSPNBY9 near the end of 2MT at Trull CA. The ATSF 209 East is flagged in behind another Eastbound waiting for the hotshot to go by. The conductor will be sure to roll this one by as there is some top brass riding on the rear!
Got two of the 4 I ordered today. One Conrail and one UP. These locos are Awesome!!!!!!! The detail on the model is amazing. I have added a few details my self and a little weathering and WOW, this loco is ready for my coal or my oil can train. The Conrail one hasn't been handled as much as my UP version as I want to get the UP done first. Both paint jobs are excellent! Very crisp lettering and very nice pad printing all around. The drive on these is also very nice, as expected, and like Kato said, I think these will pull as much as two (or 1 and a half) Kato SD40-2's pull. I will have some pictures up soon.
I recieved one of the two that I ordered today, I love it. I ordered un-dec's so I can paint mine CSX.
So what is everybody paying for these new Kato's? I hadn't even planned on getting any as they are not in my era but I was in the shop today and the price was right. They were right there in the display case, 4 different UP #'s, each 79.99. No SD80's though.
Brian, Great shot they certainly look great. Would you or Craig be able to take a picture with an SD90 side by side with an SD60 I'm interested to see the difference in length Thanks
I haven't received mine yet. So, I can't compare the Kato units. How do they compare to the OMI units?
75 bucks each! I live in Canada and thought mine would be a steal at 125$!!!My hobby shop is gonna hold on to one for me till i get the funds.There pretty cool about stuff like that.
At first I was wondering why these cost so much for you but I think we all forgot the exchange rate. A paperback in the US costs 5.99 and has a 6.99 price on it for Canada. I'm relieved to have figured out that mine will only cost 79.99 US dollars not $125
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dangerboy: 75 bucks each! I live in Canada and thought mine would be a steal at 125$!!!My hobby shop is gonna hold on to one for me till i get the funds.There pretty cool about stuff like that. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Let's see now $75 US at an exchange rate of about $1.55 to the dollar equals $116.25. The $125 still is not too bad of a deal once you take into account customs fees and taxes.
ya to tell the truth i read somewhere(maybe here)that the suggested retail would be 100 bucks U.S. i had visions of these things costing closer to 200 bucks Canadian(don't tell the hobby shop,but i may have paid that for at least one!)So when they told me they'd cost between 120-125 dollars i was quite relieved!
Went and picked up my SD90 this afternoon. Wow! Those engines are big. I also picked up an Atlas GP35 (ATSF ) at the same time. The size difference is impressive to say the least. As for price, mine came from National Hobby Supply in Marietta GA for $69.95. They had all paint schemes and numbers in stock.
