[8D]A while back one of our forum members suggested that I find out from Kaslo Shops if they were still considering producing this locomotive. Mr. Whitmore, of Kaslo, and I have exchanged several e-mails. Very courteous gentleman. Here’s one of his responses:
Antonio - Thanks very much for the e-mail and the insight. I definitley respect your opinion on what variant we should be producing but at this point in time - it’s too late to switch horses so to speak. We are very close to finishing the SDP40F variant with the ‘Pointy’ nose. Now having said that - our next model is the the SDF40-2 which will have the flat nose as Santa Fe had them. So based on that - we could look at producing the flat nosed SDP40F in the next year or so. We’ll see how we do on these first releases. Thanks
As CMarchand has pointed out before, it’s great that for early era Amtrak modelers the “locomotive time period gap” between the E-units and the F40PH will finally be filled in! I have many fond memories of photographing and riding behind these giants (as well as cab visits and even one short cab ride). The SCL engineer that I befriended back then and I visited recently told me “I liked them. Those engines had power and could really pull a train!”
IIRC these engines liked to run on the right-of-way rather than the track, spent a lot of time on the ballast due to derailment issues and eventually got pulled from service. I think that’s why Amtrak leased Missabe SD-9’s for some trains in the early seventies.
Yep the big brutes did get involved in some suspicious derailments. If the tracks were not up to class 1 standards the loco would somehow find a way to come off the rails. The sloshing of steam generator water in the back didn’t help stabilize them either. I recall reading they were the most tested locos of all time, and nothing really could be found wrong with them. The title of most tested might go to other locos nowadays, Acela perhaps?
Seems the SDP40F’s liked the high speed well maintained AT&SF mainline the best. Fitting that several ended their careers in freight service on the same line.
I am an Amtrak modeler, at least to the extent that I experienced it and it runs/ran across the Sierra Nevada’s and the Rocky Mountains.
My interest is to accurately model the Amtrak California Zephyr between 1983 and the early 1990’s. Other than getting some good heritage baggage cars and the upcoming Intermountain bi-level step up dorm-coach, I have thankfully assembled a pretty prototypical consists!
I road behind the SDP40F’s in 1975 and 1976 on the San Francisco Zephyr so I would love to see those in HO. It looks like the shell alone will cost as much as a full RTR loco. The question is, what chassis is best to use with it?
[:D]I have so many fond memories of these giants, watching them in Tampa during the 70s as they hauled the Champion, Silver Star, Floridian, and later the Silver Meteor. I took quite a number of photos of them at Tampa Union Station as well as cruising on the mainline. I got to ride behind them and even received a cab ride. On the Florida trains, the SDPs were on the head end until 1981, when the F40s completely replaced them. (Except for the Auto Train, which was hauled by six axle GE P30CHs). These are memories that always make me smile.
There have been various articles on the web and in magazines. The common denominator with most of them are that the majority of the derailments occurred with a similar scenario. Two units coupled back to back followed by a lightweight baggage car. The derailments almost always occured on curves with a certain radius. This caused BN and SF to temporarily ban the units from their rails. It was noted that when the units were coupled together “elephant style” facing forward the problem did not occur on the curves.
The primary “suspect” was the combination of the hollow bolster trucks and the water sloshing in the tank. Later, the attention was turned to the lightweight baggage car coupled to the 2nd unit, but no one factor could be pinpointed.
Ironically, Santa Fe re-equipped the 18 units it acquired from Amtrak with the standard trucks. The units racked up 1,000,000+ miles in reliable service.
But it should be noted that overall, they did a good job on Amtrak. My engineer friend, who retired in 1986, told me recently that he liked the SDP40fs ability to take off fast with long trains. He was not as fond of the F40s. The combo of the horns and the high rpms for HEP damaged his hearing.
Of course the side frames on the SD50 didn’t exist during SDP40F operations. What about the Athearn SD50 drive? Are there any drives with the correct trucks which would fit or is this going to be a major parts swapping chore.
It stands to reason that if they are making a shell, there must be some reasonble chassis available.
Use the SD40-2 sideframes on the SD50 trucks and frame. You will have to come up with the parts to finish this loco shell kit. I already have a couple salted away.
[8D]A while back one of our forum members suggested that I find out from Kaslo Shops if they were still considering producing this locomotive. Mr. Whitmore, of Kaslo, and I have exchanged several e-mails. Very courteous gentleman. Here’s one of his responses:
Antonio - Thanks very much for the e-mail and the insight. I definitley respect your opinion on what variant we should be producing but at this point in time - it’s too late to switch horses so to speak. We are very close to finishing the SDP40F variant with the ‘Pointy’ nose. Now having said that - our next model is the the SDF40-2 which will have the flat nose as Santa Fe had them. So based on that - we could look at producing the flat nosed SDP40F in the next year or so. We’ll see how we do on these first releases. Thanks
As CMarchand has pointed out before, it’s great that for early era Amtrak modelers the “locomotive time period gap” between the E-units and the F40PH will finally be filled in! I have many fond memories of photographing and riding behind these giants (as well as cab visits
Thanks for the heads up NewYorkCentralFan. Doesnt’ look like it’s going to be vaporware if the dies/molds have already been created. That’s a lot of money for a small manufacturer to invest.
It is a nice looking shell and I wouldn’t mind owning one if another version were not going to be available…
However, the shell from Kaslo is going to be painted and have have add-on “See Thru” radiator, dynamic brake, and radiator grills. Hopefully the photo will be posted in the near future.
I’m looking forward to seeing the photos. I’ll check with Mr. Whitmore in a week regarding the status. He’s been prompt and courteous in answering e-mail inquiries.
He was confused because Athearn painted the FP45 for the Amtrak engine - when I was a teenager I thought they were one and the same because they look so similar. I wanted one because I road behind it as a teenager.
Well, if there are two makers of the shell now, we can figure out which is best and buy it. One is bound to be better than the other. The one shown in the link for sale now looked a little crude but its hard to tell in the photo.
Glad to hear the Kaslo Shops fits the Athearn SD50 frame. I have 3 SD50’s and they run pretty smoothly.