Fellow model railroaders. I have been looking for one of these and cannot find one. Has anyone seen them in any LHS’s you’ve been to? Does anyone have an unassembled one they want to sell?
Kato doesn’t make the Conrail SD80 anymore, so it’s unlikely you’ll find one in a hobby shop. They do appear on eBay occasionally, but because they’re a little rare, they usually go for around or even over retail.
Try train shows and the use locomotive market…
Good luck in your quest.
Just a note on the SD 80s, a friend of mine has 2 and they derail quite a bit for some reason. We have a few hundred locos between the 15 of us there and I have 3 SD70s and a -9 from Kato as well as other Katos on the layout. nothing derails like these do. I was going after that SD90 kato makes in the CEFX until I saw how poorly the SD 80s ran. Maybe I’ll give it another look-into, but…
Ah the search for the SD80MAC, many a Conrail fan has been down that road. I’ve been looking on and off for a pair myself for a couple years, but then again I refuse to pay more than $100 for each so I’ll probably be looking for a while, or until I get over it and pay the asking price. Kato’s Conrail engines have been in very high demand, I’ve got a pair of the SD70MACs already, and the CP SD90MACs and both run very very well, however they are long engines and require very gentle curves. The SD70MACs look great with my intermodal equipment, however the SD80MAC and SD90MACs were used more in unit coal trains and other heavy haul (Conrail used them a lot in scrap trains in Pennsy).
While the SD80MAC is classic and iconic of Conrail’s closing years, SD50s were also used on similar assignments, and the P2K model is much easier to find. Also, Atlas finally brought out a prototypical Dash-8 for Conrail, and Athearn BB SD40-2s can very easily be made to look more Conrail by doing some easy modifications to the truck sideframes.
Cheers!
~METRO
Oh, how I would love to own one SD80MAC. There is one out there. http://www.collectibles-articles.com/antique/Kato-HO-Scale-SD80MAC-Conrail-NIB-OOP-4105_290518801834.html is the link. But, unless you’re willing to pay $200 for it, good luck.
B30
Conrail all the way!
You might be able to build one using the frame, etc from ALine/PPW and modifying or getting a shell. I spoke with the Kato guys directly at the WGH show in Atlanta and basically pleaded with them to get back into the HO business in a big way. Their quality is missed. Also when doing your kind of search, I get the MRR mag and call various shops listed in the back. I have always found what I’ve been looking for–it may have taken 25 phone calls, but I found it. Richard