I just found out that Athearn and Bachmann have announced new Santa Fe zebra stripe painted locos. Both will be available with or without sound. It is a relatively rare paint scheme to find on the market, especially when compared to the later yellow and blue scheme. So I bet these will be appreciated by Santa Fe modelers.
Athearn has announced four road numbers for Santa Fe zebra striped locos in their new Genesis line of GP7s. The road numbers are; 2855, 2869, 2879, and 2881. All appear to be dynamic brake equipped. Locos 2879 and 2881 are labeled as dual service. So this must mean they come equipped with a steam generator for passenger use. Knowing Athearn, the different details on the prototypes will match on the models. They typically do a very good job when it comes to Santa Fe.
They come with or without sound. The sound is Soundtraxx Tsunami, so top of the line sound [:D]
It was difficult installing sound in my Proto 2000 GP7. And it is not Tsunami quality either. So it is nice to see factory equipped sound in a quality Santa Fe zebra stripe GP7, or even a sound ready unit if you go with the locos without Tsunami boards.
I’m definitely looking forward to the new GP7s.
Bachmann has announced an all new HO scale Alco S4. A little but of a surprise to me, but a well needed loco…especially one with factory installed sound as an option.
For Santa Fe fans, Bachmann has (two?) road numbers; 1526 and 1528. Some websites mention #1526 is the non-sound version