ok on intermountains site it shows the release date of the SD-40-2s this month, ive been waiting for these for almost 2 years,the original release date was nov 2014, im hoping we will have these this month, but not getting my hopes up, i remember waiting close to 2 years for the SD-45-2s , could these be on my layout by the end of the month?
I emailed them a few months back, and this was the response I got: That was in January, mind you. There's hearsay that they'll be out in May or June, but considering their track record...well, you know! I still have the money tucked away for some, and it's not going anywhere. I'm just hoping it will be before April 2017
from intermoutaim..........This has been a great discussion on the topic of our SD40-2's as well as sound versus non-sound offerings. I'd like to address and clarify some things and really do appreciate the feedback, both positive and not-so-positive, that this thread has provided. First off let me say I did not intend to sound testy or defensive in my response yesterday. I've learned in speaking with hundreds and hundreds of people at shows and on the phone that a poorly-worded or vague response can often times lead to more questions than it answers. The intent was to clearly define the hold up in this project. In no way was I attempting to blame ESU for our delays, we are in total agreement with them taking their time to get it right and put out the best product possible. Matt is one of my favorite people in the industry and in addition to his expertise in the area of decoders and controls, he is one of the finest people I've had the pleasure of dealing with. We've shared many a laugh over a good meal the last few years. We support their efforts in every way possible but are just plain anxious to see this product delivered. Sound versus non-sound is a very personal choice, which is why we are offering locomotives with DC only, DCC only, or DCC with sound. We know lots of people do not like sound but we also have dealers who will order nothing that doesn't have it. We've also had dealers return their entire HO inventory of locomotives for conversion to sound because "non-sound doesn't sell." It was mentioned we should deliver the DC only locomotives now and not wait. The decision was made to offer one chassis, as Jason mentioned. It was our opinion that if we shipped DC only locomotives that had no provision for adding a decoder or speaker at a future date we would be doing the purchaser an injustice in case they decided to convert to DCC. I believe it could possibly affect their ability to sell the locomotive if they so choose. By having only one chassis we minimize costs as well as provide a locomotive that can be upgraded later without having to remove metal, etc. The chassis final design cannot be determined until the decoder was developed and tested so the DC units have been held up. While we are not at the same level as Jason at Rapido or Shane at Scale Trains in terms of spreading the word via Social Media or the forums, we are trying to improve. We do have communication with almost every active dealer via phone calls or e-mail every month. As another poster noted, a majority of dealers are aware of the delays and the cause. I would also encourage people with questions to send us an e-mail or call our 800 number and ask, we'll be happy to fill you in on everything that is happening. We announced another run of SD40-2's a couple months back, HO Scale only. We have no intention of announcing additional N Scale locomotives until we start shipping what has already been promised. The same can be said for our HO Scale GP10. Speaking of which... One poster mentioned the GP10 project. Briefly, all the plastic has been run except for detail sprue #2. We are doing that right now so everything should be loaded into a container and sent to the factory in the next week or so. We are hoping for the return shipment around June. The entire project has been a challenging one, basically we started over about 16 months ago when it was determined the original design would not work from a tooling perspective. We hope the delay is worth it but none of us here are happy with how long it has taken. We have done all the tooling and plastic injection here so have full control over design and quality issues. BREAKING NEWS: I am very sorry to report that we just learned five minutes ago that the SD40-2 board design needs to be changed. We received communication from ESU in Germany that they are now anticipating a June delivery date for the next sample. The factory, who produces for several manufacturers, believes the board size must be reworked. They are happy with the functions and capability, just want a different size. The delay continues. You all here on Railwire are the first to hear the unfortunate news.
Over a "toy" train huh? Man I'd hate to see what kills you... Probably a spork or something silly... I will just sit here and play with some Katos instead, at least their dates aren't that bad...
It doesn't help that I've got a major case of SD40-2 envy. Bowser's Canadian prototype HO SD40-2s were a hit straight out of the park, across the street, and into the ice cream vendor in the next block. You American prototypers wouldn't understand, Canadians are the polite and silent minority and we need our nose lights!
I myself am hoping for long delays. Not only many road names I'd like in the same batch, but also four road numbers all at once? Its too much. The way that limited runs are now, and the years we have to wait to get any reruns, there is no way to be able to get what I want. Besides, the paint will likely not match between runs of the same item anyways. I asked them to release only one road number a year (with a smile on my face of course) at trainfest. I really was not kidding. I am hoping for long delays and slow shipping.
you're right, there are no real canadian sd40-2 in n-scale out there. but if intermountains sd40-2 are the same crap as their sd40-2w then i'd rather have an incorrect shell on a perfect kato drive. other than that, relocating cab lights to the nose is no big thing..
