First taste of MTL SW1500

[CBQ Fan]

Just curious, is anyone actually upset that the hood is supposedly 6 scale inches too wide? I doubt that my eye could even register a discrepancy of .0375 inches (approximately 1/27th of an inch).

I can see worrying about incorrect trucks and/or headlights not shining properly... but that one? Really?

Cheers,
-Mark

With the distance most people view their trains from I would have to agree.  How about some photos with the mixed units showing a glaring difference.  Funny thing is how many people actually routinely view the prototypes from the same perspective as their models.

[ljudice]

I could live with the hood width and the trucks....

Hopefully the Conrail units will be correctly decorated, although there is plenty of room for similar mistakes there as well.

My issue is that SW1500's look like they are on tippy-toes - they sit way higher than other switchers.

It's their MOST distinguishing spotting feature to me, and MTL blew it - entirely to save $$$ and use an
existing mechanism.

If Kato or Exactrail did this,  egads, the fury would be heard everywhere.

Oh and I will probably get one anyway.

Unless the shade of blue is way off..... 

However, it means nothing in the overall scheme of things.  95% of customers at our LHS will pick up a nice little black locomotive to match their train, and could not care less about the distance between the frame and the trucks.

[wcfn100]

Color might make a difference too.

So far we have undecorated (grey) and black.  Get this painted in a bright red then let's see how noticeable it is.

I will probably get one when either the hood handrail version comes out or if/when the flexi-coil trucks come to be.  As for the roller bearings, I think we're looking at a pretty easy modification, file flat add RB caps (is there more?).  Maybe someone will make a casting.

Jason

[JanesCustomTrain]

My issue is that SW1500's look like they are on tippy-toes - they sit way higher than other switchers.

It's their MOST distinguishing spotting feature to me, and MTL blew it - entirely to save $$$ and use an
existing mechanism.

But it can be done, there is even a drive out there which would have the tippy-toes height. http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=70392  Well done Daniel.

Jane

[sdodge]

My issue is that SW1500's look like they are on tippy-toes - they sit way higher than other switchers.

It's their MOST distinguishing spotting feature to me, and MTL blew it - entirely to save $$$ and use an existing mechanism.

My issue also. I probably will not buy one now but wait for the Flexicoil version to see if there is any improvement in this area. Who would have thought we would complain about a loco sitting too low!!

[johnh35]

Just curious, is anyone actually upset that the hood is supposedly 6 scale inches too wide? I doubt that my eye could even register a discrepancy of .0375 inches (approximately 1/27th of an inch).

I can see worrying about incorrect trucks and/or headlights not shining properly... but that one? Really?

Cheers,
-Mark

To put it in perspective place the Con Cor MP15 next to the Atlas MP15. Yep, it's very noticeable

[Kisatchie]

My issue is that SW1500's look like they are on tippy-toes - they sit way higher than other switchers.

It's their MOST distinguishing spotting feature to me, and MTL blew it - entirely to save $$$ and use an
existing mechanism.

Looking at this photo of the loco, I don't see where it's sitting too high:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Norfolk-Southern-SW1500-2202-Micro-Trains-MTL-986-00-021-N-Scale-New-Release-/310988027909?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item486854b805#ht_605wt_0

Just click on the image for a larger view.



Hmm... all the chairs in my
treehouse are too high...

[JanesCustomTrain]

Looking at this photo of the loco, I don't see where it's sitting too high

Hey Dee Rayle tell your boss the problem is the model sits too low.

Jane

[Mark5]

Just curious, is anyone actually upset that the hood is supposedly 6 scale inches too wide? I doubt that my eye could even register a discrepancy of .0375 inches (approximately 1/27th of an inch).

I don't have any stake in this model, but I really think this is a matter of the "eye of the beholder".

I've had people tell me repeatedly what I can and can't see (rail height, flange size, hood width, color, etc), and I've concluded that some people either can't perceive it or don't care, while others to varying degrees can perceive the size differences and it matters (again, to varying degrees).

This hobby is full of compromises, some people compromise more than others. There is room in the hobby for all of us!

Mark

[John]

But it can be done, there is even a drive out there which would have the tippy-toes height. http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=70392  Well done Daniel.

Jane

but should you have to 

[JanesCustomTrain]

but should you have to 

John, definitely not, no. I am just saying there is already a mechanism out there which is tippy-toes high and more accurate than the LL one. And if using the LL mechanism, instead of engineering a new one, has saved MTL some $$$, I am just wondering why not chose the right one ?

Jane

[Kisatchie]

Hey Dee Rayle tell your boss the problem is the model sits too low.

Jane

Oh... you know, I've been reading some things wrong lately. Oops, just sneezed out another chunk of brains.



Hmm... and it only gets
worse...

[tom mann]

Guys, let's slow the criticism until someone can post photos of the production model (not the MTL-provided one).  Joe was on here a month back and showed us photos  of a version with the corrected ride height.  I bet that the photo MTL used was just an old, pre-preproduction model.

Edit:  This is Joe's later photo showing the corrected ride height:

[spookshow]

Guys, let's slow the criticism

LOL, good luck with all that. Last time I checked, this was Railwire ->

Cheers,
-Mark 

[Scott Lupia]

On a positive note, you just can't put a price on this kind of advertisement. 19 pages of chatter and going.

Scott Lupia