I thought I'd most a more indepth review of Aristocraft's EMD GP-40 model now that all 4 of my units have had several hours of run time and a friend's layout to work on. I'm breaking this down into several catagories; Exterior/Interior Visuals, Construction, Plug-n-Play, Sound, and Anything Negative. First off let's examine the subjects in the spotlight. RLD Hobbies and Aristocraft teamed up for a 4 Road Number Burlington Northern Custom Run. The paint is very crisp as is the lettering. It's easy to read some of the smaller details. All the handrails came pre-installed. Compared to the USA Trains GP-30, where my friend had to install his parts, this is actually a good thing. The walkway platform over the coupler actually moves, leading me to believe Aristocraft is paying attention to what USA Trains has been doing over the last several years. Sometimes, however, the front grab irons can come loose if the boxes are bounced around in shipping. It happened to me and was easily fixable with some super glue. Sadly the walkways are not painted black, but I have no intention of changing this. MU Cables for the units exist on the front and rears of the units. One thing USA Trains does that Aristocraft doesn't is the nose lights. The nose lights turn red when the unit reverses, but do not turn green or white when the go forward. But the number boards are lit and so are the head lamps. The only thing missing from this unit lighting wise would be the lack of Ditch Lights, like the SD-45's have. But that is easily correctable. Smoke on the unit is variable. I used some Crest smoke like the manual says but it didn't perform well. I used the smoke my local hobby shop makes and it worked fantastic. The unit smokes like a real pro. Even if the smoke unit is overloaded, it works better because of the wick system. It's just slower to start, but can handle a lot of fluid. One area of disappointment is the grill covers on the rear exhaust vents. I thought they were brass, they are actually cheap plastic. One of the tiny holes they go into, well one of the plastic tabs came out and I spent a good 2 hours trying to get it to go in. But underneath all of that is a set of etched metal brass grills. Nice to see them keep the details up. Another concern is sometimes a model train company does a road name in an unprototypical fashion. Yes my FA/FB are Freelanced but I left it with them. A Good example is the RLD Hobbies Rock Island Custom Run EMD GP-40's. They never had dynamic braking. So what to do? Well that's where Aristocraft covered all bases. The top Exhaust Fan/Dynamic Brake Cover actually covers the switch panel. The switch panel is nicely designed with the standard Light-ON/OFF, Smoke-ON/OFF, and Motor-ON/OFF. But they've added something new.... Track/Battery. Literally you now can select track or battery power, making installation of batteries a bit more easier. More on that later. Since Burlington Northern used dynamic brakes, I chose to keep those covers on the units. Also to note, during my search of details... The lack of MU Cables down below is one aspect of the prototypical details I miss, but Ozark Miniatures makes these parts and installing them and painting them yourself isn't a big deal. I was also concerned about the horns placement as they normally should be at the rear near the first and second exhaust fans. However further Burlington Northern Prototype research shows that the horns in the front are acceptable where they are. Also the lack of an actual A/C Roof Mounted unit makes detailing my units less of a financial hassle. Down to the trucks. These trucks are the new ball bearing trucks. 1/2 an amp per truck for a total of 1 amp per unit. The details to the bloomberg trucks are amazing, like the real deal, and all the way down to the pipe running between the brake cylinders. Even the fuel tanks are highly detailed, with the exception of a couple fuel gauges that I have to paint red to match the prototype. But even the proper plumbing of the air cylinder is there. Sadly the weight is a bit on the lighter side. More weight can be added under the fuel tank and there's a guide online showing how to do it. The details don't stop outside, however. Inside they've added an engineer figure On the RIGHT SIDE of the Cab. Finally placement of an engineer on the engineer stand. Which like USA Trains, now features actual control levers and gauges. Nice work Aristocraft. Finally getting the message about detailing. It's well designed from the inside, but not just the cab, let's move inside the wiring. My biggest complaint on the U25B's is the insanity of taking the shell off the frame. My FA's work by taking 6 screws out of the bottom, taking the step ladders off and carefully prying the shell off. Same deal with the GP-40's. 6 Screws, pull apart. Inside you will find the new DCC Plug-n-Play board. It has a dummy 12 pin connector in place. When inserting any DCC or Train Engineer Revolution Receiver, you basically will plug it right in. I did this by recycling my friends receivers. They were programmed to run off his settings and performed beautifully. They slipped a bit on their own but with 4 units, I had 200 cars being hauled without an issue. We were going to do some sound testing but I felt that doing so would spin off a review of the QSI Quantum Aristo sound system which I will be testing later this year, hopefully. Overall this model has a few flaws, but are easily made up for by Aristocraft's attention to detail and proper engineering of the units. RLD Hobbies also has their Rock Island and 2 different Illinois Central Custom Runs instock still. So if your a Rock Island, Burlington Northern, Illinois Central or maybe one of the commercially available road name fans, I'm recommending this unit. Like the USA Trains EMD GP-30, it's a very strong puller and would look great on any layout. I compare the GP-30 to the GP-40 because of the similarity of engineering and work that went into both models from two different companies. Perhaps Aristocraft has found a way to stay competitive by actually researching a model before producing it. The only thing my units are missing is a fuel tender spliced between them. And an orange strobe.... But anyways. I give Aristocraft 4.5/5 Stars for their work on this unit. A little more attention to detail and more weight in the fuel tank would have given them a perfect score, but I'm happy with their work and with the choice of a custom run. :thumbs_up:
I have both DRGW GP40's and am quite happy with them. Run very well, as long as I clean track first! Usually too long between runs though. Both are equipped with QSI PnP sound, Airwire control and KD couplers. I did manage to mangle one handrail though, and actually broke it! And still have NOT been able to get replacement parts. Aristo does NOT have said repair parts available. Have also had problems with major sound distortion and/or failure. But, that was due to overheating. Once cooled down, everything worked properly again. I do have information on how to install a couple of small, 1" fans inside body shell, to keep things cool. I have NOT done this yet, but it is a future project I want to do. Individual that sent me the information made same mods, and ran locomotives in 105* Arizona heat for several hours with NO trouble! Overall, I'm happy with my units, as they look/run great. Just gotta finish front yard project, IF it stops raining so i can do some work! Or pull/kill weeds in back, so I can actually see that track!
I'm glad to see other manufacturers being reviewed. Like I said I may be a USA Trains fan, but I don't want the G scale section to become a USA Trains only place. So I do welcome all other reviews and manufacturer of trains, even those who may not be USA Trains fans at all. Eveyone has a right to thier own opinion as long as it is respectful. With that said, in my own opinion the Aristo GP-40 is the best loco the Aristo has come out with to date including the new bullet proof Mubachi 550 ball bearing type motors. As DragonFyreGT said, they have seen the competition and matched it making more details than they ever have in the past. Keith, I would like to see that 1" fan install project done, that would make a great update to those who do run outside on hot days. It has been 100 degrees here on a average for the last week due to a heat wave.
If I can relocate the MLS article, I'll post it! Might be on other computer too, so I'll check there next. Will post something once I find it!
Came across cooling fan installation thread I mentioned previously. On how to install a couple of small 1" cooling fans inside the Aristo GP40. Have not done this yet, but I am thinking about it. Page 2 has installation photos. http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/afv/topic/aff/35/aft/36947/afpg/1/Default.aspx Parts should be available through Radio Shack, or other electronic outlets.
I don't know if I mentioned this or not but the new GP40's which the Custom Run Burlington Northern's are the first of the second wave of, represent something that these new trucks have. You see the Custom Run Rock Island units were part of the very first wave of GP40's. They had breakdown issues and overheating problems in the trucks. The Burlington Northern Units represented Wave 2 of the GP40's and changed how the trucks were manufactured from that point on. They have fans on the trucks now. It actually helps cool the trucks down and prevents them from burning out. This way they wear out from natural run time. I was informed this by my local hobby guys and opened up my GP40's and low and behold, Fans. Aristocraft is going to start using these fans now. I think it's a smart move. After all it's not cheap to replace the burnt out trucks.
