hopefully indeed
sorry i hadnt posted this sooner, but i have news.
at trainfest last month, i paid a visit to the Athearn booth and got to view and even hold the new SD45 in my hands. it’s NOTHING like the original at all. it looks great.
i also spoke with an Athearn rep on future paint schemes. he claims that this spring, Athearn will be announcing another wave of paint schemes for this model. i specifically asked if we would ever see one in WC paint. He says he’s pretty sure the next wave will have a WC unit. He’s also aware of just how many roads had the SD45 and how many paint schemes they could use. I believe a lot will be released. perhaps more well-known roads in wave 2, like WC, UP, CNW (probably not the 900s though), SLSF, BN, GN (maybe the 400 even?), and ATSF
i’m hoping we’ll eventually get them in NP, MILW, PRR, EMDX, and PC
I’m patiently waiting for a D&H unit from either Athearn or Proto.
Gordon
it’s always possible. dont rule anything out
Sweet. Now I have to same up some more money, again.
Train Orders has photos of them from the Oklahoma City Train Show. Don’t look bad at all.
Bob
I’ve got all three of the RTR Rio Grande SD45 numbers on order. I’ve only seen what’s available online, but I expect these to be as sweet as the recent SD40T-2s.
I’m also expecting a much better rendering of the Rio Grande lettering from Athearn, which will make my two P2K SD45s obsolete. The other thing is that the gear ratio is so odd on the P2Ks, they won’t run well with much of anything except each other. It would sure be nice if Walthers came out with a regearing kit for them, otherwise they’ll be going up for auction.
They are pretty nice models, others than the color and speed issues. I could weather out the color difference enough to make myself happy, but the speed difference is going to be an issue. That’s a shame, as it would be nice to have more 45s to run with the 40T-2s.
I’m very pleased that Athearn is offering the small herald Rio Grande in the first run and like Mike, I have ordered all three numbers.
Due to the color of orange (darker more reddish orange) that P2K painted and the gearing issues I passed by the P2K SD45’s completely and didn’t buy any. I’m glad I did because the Athearns should have a much nicer shade or orange AND the correct low nose light which is a pain to redo on loco’s without it.
I do have 3 of the nice KATO SD45’s which are large herald paint. They did a nice shade of orange on them.
I have an undecorated SD45 high-hood on order right now. I was told by two people that Athearn may not make undecorated units in the second run (is this true, that they don’t do undecorated units in subsequent runs?). I also may do a custom scheme to it, though whatever I paint it as, I will model it after Guilford SD45 ST681. When I get it, I will give a quick performance review.
I’m hoping for some in MRL. I’m sick of painting P2K’s. Okay I’ve only done 2 so far.
Athearn has been doing real good with MRL and their new engines. They have brought out the SD40, GP35, and the Genesis SD45-2 all in MRL. So I’m hoping real bad that they do the same with the F45 and SD45.
I’m holding my breath because right after Athearn brought out the SD45-2 I ran out an bought an undecorated to paint MRL and sure enough they brought their own MRL unit out. I don’t want history with me to repeat.
oh that’s a nice model. i wonder if the mars lights will work
I LOVE that Guilfod patch job, Nice.
I pre-ordered 4 of them , all N&W.