Well, I have been fortunate enough to get some more web space, so.... more photos! Here is a shot of the yard at Rocky Mount, N.C. The shot was taken very early in the morning, so I apologize for the graininess: Harold
I think Rocky Mount is a great railroading town.... It basically has a double track mainline running through the heart of town. I think I posted this in a prior post, but as I was photographing the train shown, a Northbound came out of the yard as well. The yard is less than a half mile from the large, restored station in town, and usually has lots of activity that can be viewed from public places. Definately a great place to catch some train action! Harold
Harold, GREAT WORK! If anymore keep 'em comming! Any of you guys know where a SD-50 HO scale body shell could be had? Reason is I want to model 2 a CSX and a Chessie unit! I'll suppliment an Athearn frame to do the power.... I'm kinda getting fond of the older version of the SD-50 and SD-60....
Nice pics! Ref the SD50 I don't believe anyone has yet done this in HO, it would make sense for P2K to do it some time in the future as it would just be a tweak to their SD60. In terms of modelling the P2K SD60 could be a good start, I'm told there are some differences in hood doors and fan bases, but that's about it (excepting road specific stuff like chessie "mailslots") Dependant on how correct the person wants the loco to be, just painting one of the SD60's could get you there, the loco will be the same size & shape. Just a thought. Here's a CSX SD50 and a couple of lease loco's heading west through Point of Rock MD, September 2000. Enjoy!
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Martyn Read: Nice pics! Ref the SD50 I don't believe anyone has yet done this in HO, it would make sense for P2K to do it some time in the future as it would just be a tweak to their SD60. In terms of modelling the P2K SD60 could be a good start, I'm told there are some differences in hood doors and fan bases, but that's about it (excepting road specific stuff like chessie "mailslots") Dependant on how correct the person wants the loco to be, just painting one of the SD60's could get you there, the loco will be the same size & shape. Here's a CSX SD50 and a couple of lease loco's heading west through Point of Rock MD, September 2000. Enjoy!<hr></blockquote> Martyn, Thanks for posting the great photo! Us "N scalers" got a break from Atlas, in that we had both SD50's AND SD60's. There are enough differences, although to the untrained eye, they could be missed. Paul (from Atlas) refused to compromise by painting SD60's as 50's (Talk about high standards! ) I have not done HO in over 10 years, but I remember there was a company the made shells to fit various existing chassis (Rail Power Products?) Or maybe Cannon & Co. ? Maybe you can get the correct shell, or maybe LL, like Atlas will release the correct shell (not out of the question, since they have already paid for the tooling for the frame, etc.) I think I have several CSX SD50 photos, but probably no SD60 photos, as they were captive in West Virginia for a long time. Harold
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Alan: Excellent shots as always, Harold. The morning sun certainly gives a new "slant" on the pics. <hr></blockquote> I guess you could tell if I was lying, since I said it was a Southbound train and morning light... Harold
I believe Rail Power Products may have the SD-50 body. To fit to a Athearn frame... I'm not real sure I'm going to look into it though! I'm getting fond of the SD-50 actually.... And the SD-60I/W... anyway the SD-60 with the wide comfort nose. I believe thats the SD-60I I can't remember off the top of my head at the moment. But of course CSX paint!
RPP unfortunately did an SD60 shell, not an SD50, so now we have two of those & no SD50. I have a feeling that it may be because Athearn mentioned doing on ages & ages ago and so everyone else avoided it. I guess at some point in time P2K will get round to building one, but I'm not holding my breath for it to be soon as there's still plenty of visually similar SD60's heavily discounted on shelves. I wouldn't be surprised to hear them announce the SD60M/I series though. Which would be nice, I'd be able to get a BN widecab one to go with my existing oakway All the best
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Martyn Read: RPP unfortunately did an SD60 shell, not an SD50, so now we have two of those & no SD50. I have a feeling that it may be because Athearn mentioned doing on ages & ages ago and so everyone else avoided it. I wouldn't be surprised to hear them announce the SD60M/I series though.<hr></blockquote> I don't believe Athearn ever actually talked about an SD50, unless it was long before the SD70 announcement. When word first came out about the SD70, it was in the form of a statement at the bottom of a product list that said "SD70/SD60 comming soon!" but they've never announced anything about the SD60 since that flyer. What I've heard is that the SD70 series has proved to be a lot of work, and they've delayed the SD60 indefinitely until the SD70 series is complete and in regular production. As far as the unofficial rumors go, I've heard that the SD50/60 will be done, but as part of their regular line, not the Genesis series. That would be pretty disappointing, because I would love to have both models produced at the same level of quality as the great SD70 models. But I'd still be happy to have Athearn produce them. I'm not very happy with the P2K SD60s that I bought - the truck sideframes stick out too far, the drive is gear differently from most other diesels, the nose/brake wheel are not quite the right size and look funny, etc... I'm just disappointed that it didn't turn out as nice as their 1st and 2nd generation diesel models. I think they probably should have stuck with earlier diesels and left the modern stuff for Athearn/Atlas. I could get over most of those details, but I just don't like limited production models because I feel like I have to buy a bunch all at once or I won't get what I need/want. It didn't turn out that way with the SD60, since there seem to be plenty left around, but I buy undecs, so you never know if they'll be available later. I have heard, however, that they will definitely be releasing SD60M/I models - don't know about the SD50 though. Steve Orth, who I've met out here in Colorado, did a great article on building a D&RGW SD50 from the Railpower SD60 shell. It's not an easy task though, because the radiator doors are different, so he cut and spliced Cannon & Co doors to build the correct ones, which aren't available. He then rebuilt the whole long hood with these doors to make an accurate SD50. Another minor difference is the height of the dynamic brake grills - the ones just behind the cab. They are higher up on later SD50/SD60s. There was a good article by Scott Chatfield in the October 2000 Railmodel Journal outlining the detail differences. Have a great weekend everybody!
Here's an early SD50 to show the lower dynamic grill: CSX 8523 Now compare with a later production unit - you can see that the grill is several inches higher compared to the inertial filter grill to its rear: CSX 8641 And finally an SD60, also showing the higher dynamic brake grill: CSX 8707 Not a major difference, but this is the small kind of details that I find fascinating when looking at diesels that initially look almost identical.
Thanks for the pics, that grille height was one difference that I hadn't noticed. As for the P2K SD60, I agree the trucks are pretty awful, and there doesn't seem to be an easy fix for them either, which is dissapointing. If anyone has heard any suggestions on fixing it, please say so. I had not noticed a problem with the noses though? Is it a "proportions" problem? We've worked around the not mu-ing problem in that because they pull exceptionally well, we're tending to run them in combinations with Athearn dummies, for example my Oakway runs with a BN SD40-2 on coal train duties, and the gearing ensures it can easily handle the dummy plus 25 hoppers & a caboose, which I'm not sure any other loco's I have would manage without effort. My guess is that Athearn will have quietly dropped these models due to the proto one, a shame in a way as the Athearn wouldn't have suffered from the fat trucks for starters! All the best
I to wish Athearn would have made the SD-50/60's. In their basic line for the price and all. The P2K is way to slow for me to run consists and way to high in price to buy a few to run in a consist. Its sad with the things of the P2k actually of the truck frames and slow gearing. Overall would be a great loco! And for the Athearn loco's and motors and such can be "upgraded" and so on as we modeler railroaders tend to do! So.. No problem their. And factory CSX or custom CSX, or Chessie, doesn't matter I like the body of them and all so.. I'd do the work to get the results if nessicery....
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Martyn Read: I had not noticed a problem with the noses though? Is it a "proportions" problem?<hr></blockquote> It's a combination of two small problems which to my eye add up to an unsightly nose. The prototype short hood is 88" long, but the model came out to 86", I think (maybe 84"?), Not too noticeable by itself, but the brakewheel is oversized, so it makes the short hood look even smaller. I haven't tried it, but several people have said that replacing the P2K brakewheel with a correctly-sized Cannon & Co wheel makes quite a difference.
