There appear to be actual photographs of the CN SD40-2W in the various paint schemes on IMRC's website. They seem complete and ready to go. Overall, they have captured the no-nonsense bulldog look of the prototype. There seem to be separate grab irons on the rear of the hood and nice roof detail with snowshields and a rear brakestand on the porch. The side cab window looks small, an observation that was also made when the SD45T-2 was released. None of the paint schemes shows black gaskets around the front windows, and only the "website logo" paint scheme would be correct for that. All the others have very conspicuous black gaskets. The ladder steps are done correctly, and there may be ditchlights at the front but it's hard to tell and whether they work is not known-not advertised anyway. Well, at least the signature Canadian nose headlight, bell on cab front is there. They certainly appear to be using Atlas 3 axle trucks, and the lack of an undersill detail piece a la Kato and FVM gives them a high-riding look. These may not be the final iteration released, and although I think the cab side windows are too small, it's actually hard to be sure because the model lacks sunshades and the associated black metal mounting strip, as well as wind deflectors and rearview mirrors which tend to frame the window, making it seem larger. I would hope the dimensions are correct. Anybody else have some observations? I've pre-ordered couple of them, no more until they can be judged in more detail. Richard.
You mean like this one were the undersill is part of the fuel tank. http://www.katousa.com/images/925125.jpg
Well, I shall certainly be keen to hear your comments once you have them in hand. I'm particularly keen to hear how they run. Cheers, Kev
Well guys, having taken a trip to InterMountain last weekend and seeing these personally I can tell you that they are AWESOME!!! They let me play with a few of them and then we hooked all three road numbers up in a consist and ran them through the paces. The 3 loco consist ran beautifully and at a creep they ran at a scale 4mph and at top end they hit a scale 126mph on a straight and a scale 101mph on a curve while pulling a dozen cars. And for you Kev, a short video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJjQDDU9LyY I'm not a pro, nor do I have the best camera, but I like it :tb-biggrin:
Did you get a chance to pick them up? Do they feel any heavier than the tunnel motors? Do they have working ditch lights? Thanks for the video! dave t
Thanks for that video! It looks like no working ditchlights-but I can fix that with SMT LEDs. They definitely need something under the sills to remove that "high" look--a length of Code 55 or 70 rail seems to work for Atlas diesels. Don't see the black rubber gaskets on the front windows--that can be fixed so long as the windows are not glued in--I hope they've evolved past that stage. Seem to run very well as a trio, bit of a buzz, but I'll bet that can be remedied too. Lots of detail, lots of proto CN features, very nice! In my books, no engine is RTR, but it looks like a good start. I look forward to my pair. They will probably get the Digitrax SDN144K1E sound decoder with speaker in the tank, and working ditchlights added, plus looks like they need sunshades, arm rests, finished cab and crew, rear view mirrors, wind deflectors, and whatever else I can add. Lots of fun, like I say, it ain't RTR--yet. Richard.
I did get a chance to pick them up, and they didn't really feel that much heavier than anything else. I'm also notoriously poor at judging things like that. The engines are very detailed and one of the things that impressed me the most was that all the grab-ons were actual detail parts and not just molded on like Kato or Atlas.
The cab side windows do look small, maybe it's just an optical illusion caused by the black frames. Hope all you Canadian's buy these to encourage them to make standard SD40-2's in other roadnames.:tb-wink:
Those look good. I guess I'll be getting at least one to run as a run through unit on western trains. I really like the extra detail too, IM along with FVM are really stepping it up and I like it! :thumbs_up:
Surface mount LEDs, these are called micro or nano LEDs, usually measure .03 x.06", and come in various colours including sunny white and golden white with 6" leads attached from Richmond Controls, among others. Installing them is not particularly easy or fun. You have to drill a fake ditch light housing with a hole large enough to fit the LED into the back, run the leads into the porch floor and back into the engine, them hard wire it, along with a resistor of 680 ohm minimum, into one of the extra function pads on your decoder. Some Digitrax and TCS decoders come with resistors on the DCC board, making added ones unnecessary. If there is room, you can add Soundtraxx micro connectors so you can disconnect the LEDs from the DCC board when removing the shell completely. I glue them into the housing with RC 567 Canopy Cement which dries clear but not hard, paint the back with Outlaw Black RC lacquer paint. If you want porch mounted ditch lights and there are no light tubes from the headlight, that's the only solution. If you can live with pilot face ditch lights, fiber optics can be used from the headlight and could be easier. You can file or chip off the corners of the LED (carefully) to make it rounder and easier to fit into the drilled hole. Richmond Controls sells Sunrise ditch light housings in case the molded in ones are too small or you wreck them. Here's an Athearn SD70i with added ditch lights using the Sunrise housings. I hadn't filled in the front of the housing yet with more clear Canopy cement so you can see the yellow, squarish LED inside the housing.
I have one North America map on order, some weathering and detailing looks like it will help a lot, but like the SD60's these are gonna need a bunch of work to kill that dead air underneath, not too big a deal. I think these should weather up nicely and I'm looking forward to the package arriving!
3 units arrived today. Here's what I like: - They nailed the overall look. - Shell detailing & construction. IM's previous fall-apart-shell issues seem to have been resolved. - Factory-applied detailing (CN cab bell, grab irons, wipers, horn air pipe, etc.). Some of the grabs could use a little touch-up paint, but overall IM did a great job here! - Paint. Evenly applied, colours look appropriate. - Mechanism. Very smooth, reliable. Here's what I don't like: - WIRES to surface-mount LEDs makes DCC replacement non-straightforward. The rear light probably won't be an issue, but the front low-mount headlight is on a separate pc board, connected by wires. Seems like light pipes are the de-facto standard, not sure why IM didn't use them. - Unlit ditch lights. I know these are a pain for manufacturers, but IMO it's time to push this issue. Kato has it figured out, time for Atlas, IM, and everyone else to catch up. Things I'm not sure about: - Distance between truck centers is shorter than the 1st run of Kato SD40-2's. Without measuring, it's tough to determine which is incorrect, but the IM frame looks slightly compressed. - Cab windows look a little small, almost porthole-ish. - The use of glue to hold frame/body/cab pieces together. Not a big deal to me, but someone who wants to strip & repaint may have a tough time. Overall, a strong offering from IM. Great looking, great running units, and it's nice to see some Canadian-specific prototypes. On a grading scale, I would give it a strong B+, with the DCC conversion complexity being its biggest weakness. Photos coming soon.
Thanks for the information and photos- very informative and interesting. The details are fantastic, its as if they took Atlas's recent work on the dash-8's with the grabs on the nose and went a step farther with the grabs, wipers, and bell. Too bad about the ditch lights, even Atlas added them on the dash-8's (and alternating at that). The DCC issue if gonna be interesting, hopefully easier than it looks right now.... The window does look odd, but than again, so does the cab, but to some degree its odd looking on the prototype also. I think cab shades and weathering will help that issue A LOT. Can't wait to get mine! that last photo looks VERY nice. my best, Jan
No simulated tread on the walkway, why does IM keeps doing this when just about every other manufacture put them on.
