anyone know of rumors or new kits or anything regarding a SDP45 yet? the threads ive seen here are older ones. im hoping that a year or two will have brought new things!
With only 52 built I can't see anyone major manufacture making these. Maybe FVM but I know it would sell big.
"NSR has an article on building a stand-in from a Del Prado FP45 and Atlas SD50/60." Now that would be an unusual approach... are you sure it was for an SDP45? Sounds more like for an SDP40F... a completely different creature.
NSR had an article to build an SDP40F...as Jerry said, different animal. Someone on the Atlas forums was doing one using a Kato C44-9W frame and modified SD45 shell
i guess ill just have to continue dreaming on. im not good enough to kitbash anthing in nscale. its too fine and detail orientated.
I'd like to get a pair of the ex-EL SDP45s that were rebuilt by MK for SP as SD40M-2. Maybe we'd have a better chance asking Mark4Design to see what it would take. http://www.mark4design.com/html/n__sd_hoods.html
Many years ago when it seemed manufacturers were more likely to produce the odder prototypes Athearn did an SDP40 in HO. There are still a lot of diesels to be done in N scale.
let the petition begin! wansnt there another manufacturer who did custom hoods too? i remember some sort of B unit
"There were only 14 FP45's built I can't see anyone making them. Oh wait." The SDP45 wasn't painted "Santa Fe." Painted in Espee, GN BSB, BN, EL, CR... MKCX, WC... nah... no interest there...
Well you're also forgetting that at least one SP SD40M-2 (in an SDP45 body) made it to UP colors as the 2771 (and possibly another numbers). I never realized that the WC had one, but found pics of it: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=572640 http://www.yardoffice.com/RR/WCSD45/PhotosPaint/029811.jpg
From the other thread: http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?61969-SDP45-kitbash ...it looks like the Intermountain SD45T-2 mechanism would be very close. IM has done the very road-specific CN SD40W-2 so why not an SDP45? As Jerry listed and Transitionalman added, there are SP, GN, BN, EL, CR, MKCX, WC and UP. Seems like a perfect fit for IM since they try to do as many veriations of a model as possible. How about we get the research further along and deliver it to them?
I'm not sure how accurate this Wiki page is but it's a good start. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_SDP45 These units are now over 45 years since first release so it should be appealing for modellers in multiple eras. Here are some sources with very good photos: http://www.locophotos.com/Search.php?SearchModel=EMD+SDP45&Search=Search http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/modelthumbs.aspx?NumCols=4&View=1&mid=180&Page=14 Some example photos: BN 9859 CR 6680 EL 3638 (red, white, blue) EL 3641 Here's an interesting page with paint schemes and other details. http://myweb.msoe.edu/~westr/SDP40-45.htm A post on trainorders.com by auther BN_FAN: (http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,1603168) " GN big sky blue BN patched GN big sky blue BN green/black NRL patched BN green/black (#6592) EL gray/maroon/yellow EL bicentennial (#3638) CR patched EL gray/maroon/yellow CR patched EL bicentennial (#6669) CR NW patched CR SP SP Kodachrome SP speed lettering (SD40M-2 rebuilt ex-EL units) UP patched ex-SP speed lettering (?) UP UP lightning stripe HLCX blue/red VMV patched ex-Conrail MKCX patched ex-Conrail MKCX blue with white stripe WC patched ex MKCX blue with white stripe WC maroon/yellow (repaint of above unit) AARX patched ex WC "
Some more photos: GN 332 MKCX 9515 (haven't found a good photo yet) SP Kodachrome 3207 (original SPs) SP 3209 (original SPs) SP 8692 (ex-EL rebuild to SD40M-2 by MK)
UP 2771 WC 6634 HLCX 6515 And found one of the MKCX Most reference photos from http://www.rrpicturearchives.net with photographer noted in the caption of each.
what beastly machines. what i want to know is how many different operators (in different schemes) does there need to be for a model manufacturer to deem it profitable to produce? how do we even put in a petition?
I don't think it is directly tied to the number of different scheme (but it doesn't hurt). Take the GP60M and GP60B to be produced by FVM...just need to have a popular enough railroad to be profitable on the total number of units sold. Since the SDP45 has some of the big/popular roads (SP, UP, Conrail, BN, GN), I actually think it's a possibility. If a case can be made to a manufacturer to do a new body for an existing chassis, I think it has a decent shot. Since IM seems to have that, I really think they are the best bet since they like to complete a series (FT, F3, F7, FP7, F9 for example). They already have the SD40T-2, SD45T-2, SD45-2, SD40W-2...SDP45 sounds like a logical future model to me! Where is the next trainshow where IM will have a booth? It's always good to make a case in person.