Sd45-2'

[ljudice]

The worst visual problem on these IM locos IMHO is the area at the top of the cab. It's obviously two pieces glued together and it never looks exactly right.

The DRGW units always look better than SP's because the black masks some of these fit and finish issue...

Lou

[Allentown Hump]

The worst visual problem on these IM locos IMHO is the area at the top of the cab. It's obviously two pieces glued together and it never looks exactly right.

Lou

I would imagine that those slots are for the sun shades...

[Robbman]

Message deleted

[ljudice]

Re: roof, sunshades,

Yes - the slots are for the sunshades, but many of the tunnel motors have a very sloppilly applied cab roof...

[wm3798]

It almost sounds like they oughta offer the shell as a kit...  Let us do the final assembly...

Oh wait, nobody does THAT anymore!

Lee

[amato1969]

Actually, that's exactly what I do with IM boxcars.  This way I can weight them properly, fix the ride height (disciple!), and paint/letter them accurately...

  Frank

[nscalesteve]

Although the SD45-2 & SD40-2 Share the same frame Intermountain's Frame & Trucks won't work for a SD40-2 (with the shorter hood). However there's so many SD40-2 rumors floating around who knows...

I really hope you are right and they wont do any SD40-2 but take a look at the SD45-2 drive on this picture...


(picture stolen from this thread:  http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=90488&page=3&highlight=detroit )

and compare the dimensions with the Kato SD40-2 drive...



...the IM drive looks SD40-2 ready to me !   

[Ryan87]

I really hope you are right and they wont do any SD40-2 but take a look at the SD45-2 drive on this picture...

Oh No...

I have heard rumors but Oh no. Oh god no!

On a Positive note. I got my Soo Line F7's today probably one of the best factory paint jobs I've seen!
Which makes this piece of ***** all the more perplexing...

[daniel_leavitt2000]

The first run of SD40T-2 sucked
The second run of SD40T-2 came out pretty good... My Rio Grande came out very nice but the shell is too loose on the chassis.
The SD45-2 came out better... better fit and finish on the chassis, but still suffers from the outside mounted windows ans a few shell flaws. The yellow paint on the ends of the SF and CSX was too thick, but I have seen this on some Kato units (NW2) and lets not forget the peeling Oakway SD50.
If IMRC does make an SD40-2 we can be sure of a few things:
1. they will do multiple phases
2. they will do many, many roadnames
3. if the engines have cosmetic issues, they will provide replacment shells
4. undec "kits" will be available from IMRC as they do for all their other engines
5. after introduction, their price point will be about $65-70
6. they DO have the finest handrails in the industry... no small detail considering how big the porches will be.

For these reasons, I think IMRC doing SD40-2s would be a very good thing. The SD45-2s I saw looked really good in person, ran well. I was impressed but pissed they added the EL fueltank to the SF engines.

[Allentown Hump]

...and lets not forget the peeling Oakway SD50.

Dude, how long ago was that now?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

A year prior to the tunnel motor release.

[CVSNE]

I really hope you are right and they wont do any SD40-2 but take a look at the SD45-2 drive on this picture...

Oh No...

I have heard rumors but Oh no. Oh god no!

On a Positive note. I got my Soo Line F7's today probably one of the best factory paint jobs I've seen!
Which makes this piece of s*** all the more perplexing...

I could venture a guess at to what the issues with the paint on the handrails are but it would only be a guess so I'll leave it alone.

I'm frankly more perplexed by the way the paint has apparently "etched" the plastic on that sample.

The fuel tank is a pretty simple fix - someone either in Colorado or China got the fuel tank/roadnames mixed up and no one knew enough about the real engines to catch the issue before they shipped.

I always had a 40-2 in the back of my mind while we were developing the entire Tunnel Motor series, but never did anything more than consider it as a possibility.

Glad to see these are finally out the door.

Marty

[Allentown Hump]

A year prior to the tunnel motor release.

Err... that was an issue from the very first run of the SD-60 from almost 10 years ago now! I remember having to contact Atlas for the replacement shells for those. Did I miss a release of the Tunnel Motors from '98?

[Mark5]

For the record, Kato's paint often sucks. Not sure what this has to do with anything though.

I love some of IM's stuff, but am cautious on some of their other stuff. In terms of locos they are a notch below Kato in my book, with Kato being a notch below Atlas (Atlas has the best paint and finish for the most part).

Interesting reflection of this board's demographics that the SD45-2 thread has become epic in the Atlas forum vein while hardly anyone here cares about the problems with the WalthersLL 0-8-0 or the new Bachmann USRA Heavy which has the wrong USRA tender. (This is not a diss just an observation).

If IM is the rumored one to be making the SD40-2 let's hope they do it well, as Kato has all but wasted their window of opportunity on this model.

[Ryan87]

Kato has all but wasted their window of opportunity on this model.

Couldn't agree more.