I have aspirations for a DD35/DD35A and would cut off my left you-know-what for some WORKING DD trucks.
If the entire fleet of Southern Pacific locomotives had been painted in that scheme I would have been a die-hard SP fan all my life. For them to choose plain grey with a small amount of red on the nose and tail of their hood units is sad. l preferred the basic black with orange lettering of D&RGW instead.
Bachmann isn't much of a milestone! There is a demand for DD40s that actually work, which is why they fetch such a high price on Ebay. Join the club. I want to build the DD35 demonstrator set, but the DD35s could be unpowered (leaving the work to a pair of Atlas GP35s). But a DD35A set would be a different matter. Cheers David
I'll third (fourth?) the DD35. Some GP35 parts, lots of styrene, and a decent DD40 mechanism are all I ask for
Did I hear FEF-3? Aw, man! The Challengers have killed my wallet for some time now.. And they ar planning on a UP Northern?!? Dangit, now I need #844 like a hole in the head, but I sure would love to own one!
I would second that the 70 ACE should be a great seller. Does it have the same wheel base as the 70 MAC? Also, more road names for the SD 40-2, since it WAS the prime loco of the 70-80-90's and many roads had entire fleets.
Very few would even know of the Ajin/Overland model and even fewer would able to afford it! Cheers David
I treated myself to two of the Overland models so I could do a Fast Forty Sandwich and at $625 each, some fellas just might think they were a little expensive. I recall sensing a little pain anyway.
I would third it, especially since UP came out with those "Heritage" schemes for the various SD70ACes they came out with.
Well if Athearn were to do all of that, I'll just have to find out their address so I know where to mail the second mortgage to! The latest Kato SD40-2's were definitely my last Kato 6-axle purchases, unless they go back to what worked well. Over 80% of my loco fleet is (old) Kato, but their latest design changes wiped out their advantage IMHO. I bought an Athearn SD70M to run with the Kato SD70Ms I have and it works good enough to run mid-lashup. So I'd buy more than one Athearn SD40-2. The glasswork on the SD70M looks clunky and it has no working ditch lights, but the way I look at it, for SD40-s's the old Katos didn't have working ditch lights either. So, bottom line, I'd definitely add a few SD40-2's. I'm also with those who want a decent non-brass DD40, and I think Athearn will score a hit if they go with it. On a general note, I like that Athearn is not afraid to go head-to-head with other manufacturers to bring us models we need - I only hope the SD40-2 will be one of those. Think we can interest them in a Dash 8-40C, since Atlas refuses to listen?
Athearn Trains 1550 Glenn Curtiss St. Carson, CA 90746 Seriously who here owns their SD70M? How do they run? I was contemplating getting one in SP paint at a train show this weekend, they were blowing them out at $69 each (brand new even) but I didn't pick one up. I own an Athearn F59PHI and it sounds like a pencil sharpener compared to the smooth Atlases and even smoother Katos I have.
I have one of the older 3 poler's, and it runs great. I imagine the 5 is even better. I have read alot of whining on other forums about the 3 pole, but I see no problem with it. I say yeah, go ahead and get one. Thom
I've been wanting a properly made DD40AX for quite some time now. I am hoping that Atheatrn does this model justice. GNFA you can see them on Eday every now and then. verse
Hey, did you happen to go to the train show in Bakersfield this past weekend? That's where I saw the $69 Athearn SD70M. I was a vendor there.