N scale Siemens SC-44 Charger????

[Ed Kapuscinski]

One thing that continues to amuse me about Amtrak equipment. It seems that they are making no real attempt to match up profiles.

I mean, they have a tradition of that (ie, F40s and Amfleets), but it surprises me that they didn't give it all a bit more effort.

I mean, even the power packs and the cars on the new Avelias don't match!
See the "bump" on the side of the first car as compared with the locomotive.

[peteski]

One thing that continues to amuse me about Amtrak equipment. It seems that they are making no real attempt to match up profiles.

I mean, they have a tradition of that (ie, F40s and Amfleets), but it surprises me that they didn't give it all a bit more effort.

I mean, even the power packs and the cars on the new Avelias don't match!
See the "bump" on the side of the first car as compared with the locomotive.

Now that locomotive is fugly!  Some sort of angry-bird and a fish-like looking tihing. I don't think it will ever grow on me. And the mismatch just makes things worse.     I'll take the Charger over that any day.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Now that locomotive is fugly!  Some sort of angry-bird and a fish-like looking tihing. I don't think it will ever grow on me. And the mismatch just makes things worse.     I'll take the Charger over that any day.

I think it looks like a snake head.

[peteski]

I think it looks like a snake head. 

Yes, that too. It is a loco of many faces. None of them very attractive   The rounded roof doesn't do much for it either.

[ski]

Saw the pre-order price online for the Charger at $269.  Not near the MSRP of $429 but still kinda painful. For that price, I hope Bachmann can add some of the lighting features of their HO one.

[eric220]

I mean, even the power packs and the cars on the new Avelias don't match!
See the "bump" on the side of the first car as compared with the locomotive.

If I had the energy to spend on it, that would make me really angry. Seriously? A custom set with a fugly bump on the nose that tapers back to a flat locomotive side just to mismatch with a similar bump on the coach? How on earth did that get through heaven knows how many review panels with a verdict of, “Yeah, that’s a good idea!”

Hard fail.

[MK]

Trainworld has a pre-order price of $265.  I *think* free shipping too since its over $99.

[greenwizard88]

Trainworld doesn't do free shipping AFAIK. For each $100 you spend, shipping costs increase :\

[MK]

Oh right!  It's only when they have their special sales a few times throughout the year.

[simsuper80]

Was there any ETA on these other then 2022?

[MK]

Trainworld's website says March 31, 2022.

[sirenwerks]

Saw the pre-order price online for the Charger at $269.  Not near the MSRP of $429 but still kinda painful. For that price, I hope Bachmann can add some of the lighting features of their HO one.

At that price point I won't be picking a WSDOT model.  Not that an accurate train for it exists yet, since WSDOT and Amtrak are still trying to figure out things. But ridership is dropping now that the Talgos are gone, as the Horizon cars are nowhere comparable in comfort.

[eja]

 Looks like a beluga whale to me.

Also, I don't think  Amtrak cares, nor should they, about how it looks. Leave that to the modelers. They should be more interested in matters like total life cycle cost, performance and operational availability.

[R L Smith]

Looks like a beluga whale to me.

Also, I don't think  Amtrak cares, nor should they, about how it looks. Leave that to the modelers. They should be more interested in matters like total life cycle cost, performance and operational availability.

I respectfully disagree. While those three items are important to the bottom line and critical to long-term success, the Voice Of The Customer is also critical to the bottom line and long-term success. If a customer's first impression of the train is "Ewww", then it will be difficult for them to have an overall positive experience, which is something Amtrak desperately needs. Surely the design engineers could have come up with something much more attractive and still met life cycle cost, performance and reliability goals...

YMMV

[peteski]

I respectfully disagree. While those three items are important to the bottom line and critical to long-term success, the Voice Of The Customer is also critical to the bottom line and long-term success. If a customer's first impression of the train is "Ewww", then it will be difficult for them to have an overall positive experience, which is something Amtrak desperately needs. Surely the design engineers could have come up with something much more attractive and still met life cycle cost, performance and reliability goals...

YMMV

Exactly!