AZL November 2020 New Items Part 1

[ztrack]

AMERICAN Z LINE
November 2020 New Releases Part 1

ALCO RS3 -  Milwaukee Rd



The MILW prototype details include: Phase III Body, corner stacked number boards, ALCO AAR trucks, single headlight, two single airhorns, crosswise smokestack and 1400 gallon fuel tank.

63307-1 Milwaukee Road RS3 465
63307-2 Milwaukee Road RS3 466
63307-3 Milwaukee Road RS3 470

These popular locomotives feature a 7.5mm coreless motor, dual flywheels, traction tires, built in pilot, directional controller LEDs, body mount couplers. The coupler box is screwed in placed.

EMD GP38-2s – BN – 2020 Rebuild



The first run GP38-2s are back! The shells are from the first run of GP38-2s. The chassis is the 2020 version. We have rebuilt these locos and are excited to be able to offer them again. Supplies are limited!

62502-1R BN GP38-2 2081
62502-2R BN GP38-2 2109
62502-3R BN GP38-2 2290 Don Bouchard
62502-4R BN GP38-2 2312

The AZL EMD GP38-2s feature coreless motor, dual flywheels, traction tires, standard PCB board, DCC ready, directional controlled LEDs, and AutoLatch TM couplers.

See the American Z Line site for more information on these and other AZL products.

http://www.azldirect.com

Rob Kluz
Ztrack Distribution

[tom mann]

Wow, a Milwaukee Rd RS in Z scale. These are amazing times!

[Sokramiketes]

Did I miss something about the initial run of BN GP-40's?  Was there a structural deficiency in those early chassis?

[Rivet Miscounter]

Did I miss something about the initial run of BN GP-40's?  Was there a structural deficiency in those early chassis?

Some second (?) run GP38-2's prior to 2016(ish) had frames that suffered from "zinc pest".  AZL finally acknowledged this and began swapping the frames a few years ago...but pulling from the same pool of frames.   

Fast forward to May of this year, AZL made a "trade-up" offer to upgrade the ENTIRE mech--frame, motor, trucks, fuel tank....everything but the shell--with brand new mechs from their new run of GP38-2's for a fee of $40.  You had to send in the old mech though so you had to add the cost of shipping to that deal.  They did have matched trucks and fuel tanks for roads that weren't plain black. (ATSF trucks, UP, SP, et al)  That last feature isn't trivial IMHO, and I give kudos to AZL for doing that.   More info: https://azlforum.com/thread/1626/2020-gp38-chassis-exchange-program .

I did the paid upgrade, as 3 of my 5 had crumbled, and a 4th crumbled as I was removing the shell to send in.   AZL insists that the issue isn't so widespread as my numbers suggest, but I was willing to spend the money to not have to take a chance on getting another from the old pool of frames. Then a potentially vicious cycle of having to get another possibly bad one sent and reassemble, reinstall decoders, etc.  An added side benefit is that the new frames *seem* to have a better fit with the decoders, although I can't state that unequivocally as fact...seems that way to me though.

As an aside, another path is to simply buy a post-2016 version for a hair over hundred bucks assuming the trucks and fuel tank match up.  Benefit there is you'll also likely get an add-on pilot/plow, and can probably sell the shell and get pretty close to the $45 (with shipping) figure.

And to answer your question about BN, I think they had some leftover shells from that run and just put them on the new mechs outright.

[Sokramiketes]

I'll have to pull my BN's out of the display case and take a look.  Thanks for the heads up!

[Rivet Miscounter]

I'll have to pull my BN's out of the display case and take a look.  Thanks for the heads up!

You're welcome.    Don't take too sternly of a look at them though, they might break.   

(hey, I paid my $160...I can make jokes....)