Arnold/Hornby EMD SW-1

[randgust]

I'm sitting here astounded that Kato didn't do it, because I've had a pretty good run of converting NW-2's to SW1's and figured it was only a matter of time until somebody head-slapped themselves and said 'hey, we could be doing that'.... and I also figured that Bachmann would jump in there as well when I saw the NW2 released, Kato or No Kato, using the same rationale as the 44-tonner and the 70-tonner, and do an SW1.

But Hornby?   OK, well that's a surprise.   And both hood types - notched and tapered... nice touch.

What will make or break this one is how much weight you can get in it; a traction tire is a fatal exercise here as you have to have 8x8 pickup.   If you're willing to load up the cab, you'll be just fine.  Unlike a U-boat, there isn't a whole lot of space in excess to play in and sacrifice weight.  My converted SW1's on the Kato chassis work well enough that there shouldn't be any head-banging on this one unless they bollox it up somehow loosing weight to DCC boards, full cab interiors, LED electronics, maybe room for a speaker.... gee, why does it run so poorly?

[spookshow]

Looks like two different hoods. The B&M unit has the early stepped hood. The others show the later slanted hood. Interesting.

If this is indeed the model that Charlie was hinting at when we corresponded it will have variations that have never been done in any scale.

Cheers,
-Mark

[up1950s]

I didn't notice that notch either , now I need one of each for sure .

[thomasjmdavis]

Looks like most paint schemes offered would have been pretty late in the service life of the locomotive (Amtrak?- ok, I suppose some SW-1s were newer than some of the F units Amtrak ended up with).  Any idea if these will be expanded to include more 40s-50s schemes and/or undecorated?  I would expect PRR to be more popular than PC for a locomotive produced 20-30 years before the merger.  Likewise CB&Q v BN.

But then, there is probably a reason no model manufacturer has hired me as a marketing consultant.

[railnerd]

this is awesome.  a B&M unit is in my future.

[jnevis]

I will be giggling the whole time I take the PC off and decal it
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=169364

[garethashenden]

I will be giggling the whole time I take the PC off and decal it
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=169364

You need the notched hood. B&M is your only option in this run.

[learmoia]

Wow.... Cool!  the possibilities are almost limitless with this.. Class 1, Class 2, Shortlines, Mergers, and Tons of Industries...

~Ian

[Mark5]

We should all email Hornby with some advice on electrical pickup.

Mark

[up1950s]

This better not have springs instead of worms .

[spookshow]

Charlie Vlk has confirmed it - SW1 is next. But take any information on the AAT website with a grain of salt. They are known for jumping the gun on these sorts of things in order to get out there ahead of everyone else on the pre-orders (and often handing out rumor-induced incorrect info in the process). But as far as the model itself goes, yes, they are correct - SW1.

Cheers,
-Mark

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I love that somewhat odd, but real, schemes are being done.

[Joetrain59]

Maybe they'll even produce steam loco's.Starting with Pennsy K-4!
 Joe D

[nkalanaga]

They could do the BN's #77/70.  It had not only a very long life, but a strange one.  Built for the GN in 1941 as #5301(?), renumbered #77 in 1944.  Became BN #77, sold to the Walla Walla Valley as #77, eventually sold to the SLSF as their #10, reacquired in the BN/SLSF merger, renumbered BN #70, assigned a BNSF number, but sold to an industrial operator.  That's as far as my information goes, so I don't know where it is today.  I'll bet BNSF hopes it hasn't come back again!

And, yes, I hope the electrical system is improved over the U25C. 

[jdcolombo]

So I wonder - will the mechanism be like the old Arnold S-2?

While there are certainly weaknesses (the springs on the motor vs. a real worm gear; the plastic gears that cracked and caused "limping," etc.), the S-2 was heavy for a switcher, owing in part to the metal shell, but also to the fact that it was basically just a slab of frame material.  The pickup did use wipers on one side, while the other side had power going through the entire frame.   But it ran great (and in fact, still runs great, two of them on my layout, with Lenz silver mini decoders in the fuel tank area and NWSL wheelsets for Code 55 track).  Given the "old school" design of the U25, I'm wondering if they will dust off the S-2 mechanism, make decoder installation a bit easier, and that's that . . .

The SW-1 is certainly needed and was used by everyone (literally - I think nearly anything that could be called a "railroad" had one at one time or another).   But if they were going to do a switcher . . . the FM H10/H12-44's . . . sigh . . .

John C.