Intermountain SD40-2 delays

[wcfn100]

I have a half dozen from their earliest runs, and haven't found any since.  Are they still in production?

No idea.  I pick them up a swap meets sometimes when they show up and the price is right.


Jason

[daniel_leavitt2000]

The DI cars are dead and buried much like their containers and woodchip cars.

[davefoxx]

The DI cars are dead and buried much like their containers and woodchip cars.

I was going to ask what's going on with Deluxe Innovations, because I've been eagerly awaiting the early (1980s-era) containers decorated for Sea-Land.  But, I went to DI's website, and regrettably discovered this:

February Update: After a long struggle, we lost our lease and have moved the warehouse to a smaller commercial facility.  Effective immediately our mailing address is P. O. Box 141, Midland Park, NJ 07432.  Operations are suspended as we complete this move and get things organized.  Shipping of the first batch of Fix-Kits was interrupted during this time, we will continue getting them out as soon as we can.  Thank you in advance for your patience.

DFF

[asarge]

it's been quite awhile since they had ANY N scale releases's. I have a feeling they announced the SD40-2's long before any tooling was prepared just to stake a claim. They did that with the HO Paducah-builts. To date, those have been vaporware longer than the N scale SD40-2's

[Ed Kapuscinski]

it's been quite awhile since they had ANY N scale releases's. I have a feeling they announced the SD40-2's long before any tooling was prepared just to stake a claim. They did that with the HO Paducah-builts. To date, those have been vaporware longer than the N scale SD40-2's

I wouldn't be surprised.

And given the other players, it seriously pisses me off.

[asarge]

And given the other players, it seriously pisses me off.

I'll second third and fourth that.

[drgw0579]

Once  I had successfully added DCC sound to an N scale locomotive, I decided "I will never buy another locomotive that doesn't have sound".  The effect was so dramatic, but the effort was so high that I will wait for manufacturers to build them.  Two years ago, I thought everybody would be on the bandwagon.  The Atlas S2 is amazing. But how come nothing else like it has yet to be announced? I expected all future announcements by every manufacturer to provide a sound option.

Unfortunately, something happened that made it a lot more difficult to manufacture these things.  I don't know whether it was something like the Germans and Chinese had to communicate with each other in English.  Maybe it was the effort to gain 1/2 mm.  The SD40-2 seems to be the last new model announced by anyone in N scale.   IM probably took so much heat from their dealers that they decided to concentrate on getting it out before they did any more locomotives in N scale.  Seems so simple to us, but if it was so easy, why is nobody else trying?

Bill Kepner

[oakcreekco]

it's been quite awhile since they had ANY N scale releases's. I have a feeling they announced the SD40-2's long before any tooling was prepared just to stake a claim. They did that with the HO Paducah-builts. To date, those have been vaporware longer than the N scale SD40-2's

Being an optimist, I think that it's "business as usual."

My expectations from them are not high, so I don't get disappointed when the releases are what they are. I only say this from past experiences, and hoping that things would change.

Not bashing them, not defending them, as the ball is in their court again.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I wouldn't be surprised.

And given the other players, it seriously pisses me off.

I saw the pre-production units in Springfield and was impressed. They are in their 3rd retooling and don't have that split walkway like the Kato units have. The detail in the shell is right up there with Atlas and FVM, but not avant-garde jigsaw puzzle like new Kato units. Fit and finish was impressive, with no give when pulling on the pilots, no gaps anywhere and a very secure lug connection to the frame.

The frame was in its second tooling (4th if you count it as an extension of the SD45-2 and SD40-2). This was a pre sound  unit but the frame was professionally cast and milled. I would rate it above Atlas in that regard. New frame were tooled, but not yet available for the show. This new frame will be the basis of all future SD units.

I am confident that these will be great engines - as long as someone can come up with a proper Flexcoil side frame.

[Philip H]

The fact they have had pre-production samples available suggests they will be released.  But as with so many IM things there is a lot of up and down history that suggests a cautious approach.  Would that they were streeted as planned.

[drgw0579]

Someone who saw this post forwarded me this from IM:

We have had our samples for 8 months waiting on the decoder; plain and simple.  The decoder is what is holding up ALL N Scale locomotives from us, not demand, not reservation numbers, nothing else, only the decoder.  Everything is in place so that when the decoder is finished, the locomotives go into full scale production.  ESU is not going to rush the decoder just because people want it NOW, they are doing it so that it will be available to all manufacturers to use in a multitude of projects, just like their HO version, and want it to be as good in quality as all of their other projects.  We agree.  Having said that, we simply cannot move them any faster, the decoder is their product, not ours.  Our hands are tied until we get a decoder to use.  We are very anxious for the SD40-2's to go into production and have everything in place but it simply will not happen until there is a decoder to use.

[Dave V]

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who would prefer to install their own decoder anyway.  The defensive tone in that response suggests they're catching flak from multiple sides in this.  On the bright side they're nowhere near the BLI M1 delay record...a record that is still growing today!   

[drgw0579]

Well I know that in the past I have replaced OEMed decoders and installed my own because the original decoder didn't have the functionality of what was generally available.  That's really not the case with the factory installed ESU decoders from the factory, you will get the same functionality as available in the Select decoder.  Plus on sound installs, you have to engineer the speaker enclosure.  So I really don't think many people would buy a non-sound, then try to add it separately (Those who have done that with the S2, would you do that again?)   About the only reason I can think why you'd do this is if the sound version wasn't available.

Why not release the SD40-2 without sound now?  I believe I heard that they want to have all the boards interchangable and can't do that until the sound decoder is finalized. It may also be that since you can buy Kato now, the majority of the reservations they have are for sound units.  But that is purely my speculation.

Bill Kepner

[mu26aeh]

Someone who saw this post forwarded me this from IM:

We have had our samples for 8 months waiting on the decoder; plain and simple.  The decoder is what is holding up ALL N Scale locomotives from us, not demand, not reservation numbers, nothing else, only the decoder.  Everything is in place so that when the decoder is finished, the locomotives go into full scale production.  ESU is not going to rush the decoder just because people want it NOW, they are doing it so that it will be available to all manufacturers to use in a multitude of projects, just like their HO version, and want it to be as good in quality as all of their other projects.  We agree.  Having said that, we simply cannot move them any faster, the decoder is their product, not ours.  Our hands are tied until we get a decoder to use.  We are very anxious for the SD40-2's to go into production and have everything in place but it simply will not happen until there is a decoder to use.

They need to release this information to the hoards of us that have been waiting for the model to be released.  When I ask my LHS, they have no information on it.  It might be a good idea to let the buying public know what is going on.

Also, I hope this means that the Algoma Central FP9 units could possibly still be produced since they mentioned it is the decoder holding up all locomotives, not demand or reservation numbers.

[wcfn100]

They need to release this information to the hoards of us that have been waiting for the model to be released.

I've been telling you all this since I stated this thread a year and a half ago.

Jason