4 All-New Locomotives; Live Feed From the Railroad Hobby Show

[ednadolski]

I realize that making them true scale is pretty much impossible in N scale, but slightly out of scale woudl still look ok, if installed correctly and without thick paint buildup. That somethign that only a fastidious modeler can accomplish without time constraints of a production line.

At present perhaps, tho they are getting better at these things all the time.  Still, it won't help much to have scale grabs, if other parts (handrails, air hoses, cut levers, etc.) still have to be oversized for other practical reasons, such as durability.  Consider O scale:  in principle it should be easier and more practical to make scale sized parts, but anyone trying to pick up an O-scale diesel by its scale-sized handrails will likely do some damage, and probably will accuse the mfr. of making a 'flimsy' product.

(Imagine a 160x, giant 0-5-0 coming out of the sky and trying to pick up a prototype diesel by the handrails (or pretty much any other part of it).  Doesn't seem there would be too much left, other than a lot of scrap metal  )

Question:  what about the 'Operator' level of these models?  Do they have pre-drilled holes for the grabs, or cast-on grabs, other...?

Ed

[peteski]

At present perhaps, tho they are getting better at these things all the time.  Still, it won't help much to have scale grabs, if other parts (handrails, air hoses, cut levers, etc.) still have to be oversized for other practical reasons, such as durability.  Consider O scale:  in principle it should be easier and more practical to make scale sized parts, but anyone trying to pick up an O-scale diesel by its scale-sized handrails will likely do some damage, and probably will accuse the mfr. of making a 'flimsy' product.

(Imagine a 160x, giant 0-5-0 coming out of the sky and trying to pick up a prototype diesel by the handrails (or pretty much any other part of it).  Doesn't seem there would be too much left, other than a lot of scrap metal  )

Question:  what about the 'Operator' level of these models?  Do they have pre-drilled holes for the grabs, or cast-on grabs, other...?

Ed

That's the problem with N scale models being handled:  If they were made as static display models they could easily have scale-thickness grabs.  But more and more manufacturers super-detail their models, making them quite breakable.

As for the Operator version, I believe that they decided to model cast-on grabs and steps (which was my favorite choice).  I think the Springfield show thread has some photos of both models.

[GaryHinshaw]

They are cast on:

https://www.scaletrains.com/collections/operator-n-scale-ge-dash-9-44cw/products/operator-n-scale-ge-dash-9-44cw-bnsf-heritage-i

I will probably end up buying a few Rivet Counter Dash-9s, but to be honest, I have so many Kato Dash-9s already, I just don't need any more.  I'm pretty happy with my T4s though.

[wazzou]

Not that I model modern day, but if I did, the numberboards alone on the ST would push me toward disposal of my KATO's.

[ednadolski]

They are cast on:

Disappointing.  I was hoping they would at least be like the FVMs, with the dimples to aid drilling.  For someone like myself, the choice then is either to pay more for factory-installed parts that I would have to pull off (hopefully w/o damaging the paint too much, while still leaving oversized holes), or go back to shaving off the cast-on parts (along with stripping & repainting the model as well).   

Nevertheless I don't really have cause to complain anyways, considering that my future as an N-scale modeler looks to be more or less non-existent, so it seems pretty unlikely that I will be buying any of these models.

Ed

[sundowner]

So ST posted on Facebook at pic from NS showing the 4 -9 AC44C6M and they also said its on there to do list. So an ST AC44 could be next after the -9

[GhengisKong]

Still pulling for a tunnel motor from them.

[James Costello]

So ST posted on Facebook at pic from NS showing the 4 -9 AC44C6M and they also said its on there to do list. So an ST AC44 could be next after the -9

I expect the AC44s to be the logical next development for ST following on from the C44s.

Finally having correct SP versions of the AC4400CW would be simultaneously awesome and terrifying.

I'm wondering what the over-under is on Kato tooling and releasing the correct SP version in between now and then is....   

[Englewood]

Finally having correct SP versions of the AC4400CW would be simultaneously awesome and terrifying.

This. I think it's just a matter of time, and not a lot of time, either. When FVM came out with the GP60s in SP and SSW, I felt the same way. But I got past the financial bump, and am glad I bought them.

[James Costello]

From today's ST newsletter:

We’ve received numerous inquiries about the DASH-9s including:

Additional Railroads and Versions
In the future, we plan to offer the following Rivet Counter™ series DASH-9s in both HO and N Scale with prototypically accurate details.

• Norfolk Southern “Spartan Cab” C40-9
• Unique Canadian “pork chop”/tear drop window and 4-window cabs
• CNW, SP, UP with yellow sill stripe, NS “as delivered”, and more
• BNSF AC44C4M and NS AC44C6M rebuilds

We will likely offer additional railroads and paint schemes in the Operator™ brand as well.  All Operator DASH 9-44CW locomotives will continue to share a common nose/cab, long hood, and walkway to maintain a lower selling price.

BNSF Microsoft Train Simulator (MTS)
Offering BNSF road number 4723 with MTS simulator logo will likely require licensing so this road number is not in our short-term plans.

CSX DASH-9s
The CSX DASH-9s are essentially a DASH-9 in a DASH-8 carbody.  We currently do not have the tooling to offer an accurate CSX model.

AC4400CW
As several savvy modelers have noted, the DASH-9 and AC4400CW share a-lot of commonality.  After shipping a few production runs of DASH-9s, we’ll likely offer the AC4400CW.

[Englewood]

Sounds like I have time to save up for a half dozen Southern Pacific AC4400CWs with sound and DCC!

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Fair warning. I am not "thrilled" by the C39-8 sound. It feels flat to me. Worse than my own Loksound projects or the SD40-2. I have heard the same about the T4, though I have not had a chance to use one myself. You might be better off just buying the  DCC ready model and forgoing sound in these.

That's a big info dump... So they pretty much announced three new -9 variants (spartan cab and two sufferer AC rebuild projects) AND the  AC44 series. That's actually a lot of models.

[Smike]

Fair warning. I am not "thrilled" by the C39-8 sound. It feels flat to me. Worse than my own Loksound projects or the SD40-2. I have heard the same about the T4, though I have not had a chance to use one myself. You might be better off just buying the  DCC ready model and forgoing sound in these.

That's my experience with the T4's. I have yet to replace the speaker (with one that has a solid enclosure) Upgrading the sound file is an option too, but honestly without a Loksound programmer shipping it off to someone is more effort then I care for at the moment.  I hope ST recognizes this short coming and improves the sound to at least the quality of other factory installs. 

As for the Dash 9 additional info, this is going to cost the typical NS modeler a lot of $$. (Its welcome thou  )

[ljudice]

From their FB feed:

ScaleTrains.com : if the DASH-9 sells well in N scale, we plan to offer the AC44C6M in N as well as HO. Shane


(these are the ac4400cw-ish rebuilds of NS spartan cab C40-9's...)

[Rossford Yard]

Fair warning. I am not "thrilled" by the C39-8 sound. It feels flat to me. Worse than my own Loksound projects or the SD40-2.

Funny, I feel about the opposite on my C39-8 and SD-40 units (my SD40-2 is an IM) Very happy with my ex Conrail patch job C39-8 "rolling mud hen" switching my little industrial layout.  It is all I can do to NOT order the NS patch job, which may be even uglier.  Unfortunately for Scale Trains, I can't justify modern power switching my little layout, although a Dash 9 would work.  I have seen a few of those in switching service and they date to what, 1994?  My layout is set in 1999 to 2005 (no Swoosh BNSF logos, thank you), so probably too early.

What I really need is for IM to actually do those GP 10's!