today i aquired the Athearn Ready to roll SD45T-2, my particular model is painted in Southern Pacific Speed Lettering, the painting and lettering was very clean and crisp and with a magnifying glass you can even read the warning labels.
the rear radiator intake is see through which is a nice added touch, the roof detail is very good, and cab sunshades come installed and the windows come open. the pilot details is rather sparce, with no M.U hoses or the like.
running wise, it is just a little on the noisy side, however this should quietten down after a few days, (i will report back in a few days.) it pulled all my freight cars (40) with ease, no slipping… when running it ran smoothly with no jerking, and didn’t jerk when the throttle was turned up or down. there is not any hint of the famed RTR grinding motor.
overall this is a good locomotive for its price, and with a few pilot details, it will look a million dollars [8D], i would recommend this locomotive to any one who wants a famed Tunnel motor, at a Good Price.
I’ve noticed the SD45T2’s 6 wheel trucks can be a bit tight on curves and the truck may jump the track once in a while. I’ve found the secret to excellent trackability on curves is to remove the center wheelset on each truck and grind about 1/32 of an inch off the ends of the wheelset axle on both sides and reinstall it into the truck.
This gives the middle wheelset a lot more side to side play and will make the loco take curves better.
Other than this, the loco has excellent detail (other than the pilot area, which is very plain on the model), and it’s a decent performer. It doesn’t run quite as well as a Kato or an Atlas, but it’s still pretty good. They do exhibit some of the characteristic Athearn “growl” … [swg]
You may not have to grind anything on the wheelsets… I run my unit on 22" curves and it has never derailed. I did notice on my recent purchase of the SD-40, that the wheelsets were not in line with each other, which resulted in derailments on curves, and I simply moved the wheels over on the axle, then re-alligned them with the NMRA wheel guage. It may have been the center wheelset, and it also may have been the leading or trailing wheelest… Depending on the axle allignment in regards to the gear location, just flipping the axle over may do the trick.
hmm, well i have 22" radius curves, so i’ll see how it goes, if it does jump the rail i will send out the MOW crew and set up a scene [:D], and then grind the wheelsets.
Good review. I will note that the famed grinding motor generally does not start grinding until a month or so. So just because it’s not grinding now, that doesn’t mean it won’t have the problem.
I’m not sure it is’s just 4400s because I’ve heard of it on GP38-2s and possibly a few others. Hopefully yours won’t grind but you’re not in the clear yet. Give it a month or 2 and if it doesn’t grind, you’re definitly in the clear.
I had an Athearn SD60 that was constantly jumping off on corners, this was on 30 inch radius track. I pulled the mechanism apart and had a good look, saw nothing obvious and on reassembly it hasn’t missed a beat since. I think something just wasn’t sitting right.
