People from the NMRA convention have been posting all day that Athearn has preproductions samples of there new RTR SD45T-2’s!! yay!!
You are correct sir. Now your world is indeed perfect. Way to go Athearn!!!. Depending on the roads I’ll commit at least to a couple. Hope the SP’s have all the light packages that the prototypes had. So here we go again. Watch EBAY and I’ll bet you you’ll see a slew of brass ones for sale. Can’t wait till they produce the Cotton Belt Bi-Centennial.
The Big Blow
I like tunnel motors in the Rio Grande scheme! Are they included?
Ahhh - The zeal of youth!!!
Take a few deep breaths UP9899. That’s a cool engine - I’ll be very eager to purchase one myself when they are realesed to the public.
Cool! Too bad they don’t make an NYS&W SD40T-2 and R&N SD50’s and SD40-2’s… [:(]
Here’s a link to a pretty detailed post:
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,757325
This is going to cost me, …and big time!!!
There is still some debating though if it will be their RTR line at the higher end (like the SD50’s) or if it will be Genesis. Harry and Ryan kinda call it RTR (but so is Genesis) but not quite exactly. No matter, I’m thrilled!!! This is really going to cost me!!!
…my layout has California tunnels,
Greg
Hey guys,
This may be trivial but I just made a “very innnnteresting” discovery.
I checked my American Diesel Locomotive book (out of print) which shows locomotive specs and details. Turns out that:
The prototype EMD SD45T-2 is 70 feet 8 inches long.
The prototype EMD FP45 is 70 feet 8 inches long!
I’m only guessing but it looks like Athearn got smart and is using and maybe modifying the old FP45 chassis for this tunnel motor! If this is the case you’d have to salute them as this would cut down on their tooling investment costs.
Geez! I wi***hat they would just go ahead and upgrade the FP45!
Just an observation. Still looking forward to the Tunnel Motor.
You are correct sir!!
I tried a SDP45 on that frame WAY back when. FP45 frame had no provision for a narrow hood, not even a Athearn Fat hood. The SD45/SDP40 was a real kludge of a model but it served well back in the day.
D&RGW owned no SD45T-2s but an SP unit in a D&RGW lashup would not be out of place.
New frame please…
YES!!!
i’ll take a dozen or so…now i just have to figure out how to pay for them. anyone want to buy one of my kidneys?
TivoPrince,
Good points, guy!
My 2 cents basically is that because tooling & dies are “obscenely expensive” Athearn is very likely using the FP45 frame, since it is the correct length, and “modifying” it so this new Tunnel Motor’s body, motor, etc, would fit well. [;)]
I’m guessing from a business standpoint that this "lower investment cost"was a factor in Athearn deciding to take the chance and develop the SD45T-2 in addition to the market demand for this unit, which while popular, may not be very high in the overall HO market.
Think about it: How many railroads had this model? How many modelers model the roads that had this unit? Compare that to the SD75, GP38-2, F7, and SD40-2. [:p]
Still, I am very glad that this model is being produced. Looking forward to seeing one at my LHS! [:)][:D][8D][8)]
If I were a wagering man, my ducats would be on a revisedSD40T-2/newSD45T-2/revised FP45/new SDP45 completely new frame (Genesis class) by Athearn.
Since the original SD40T-2 frame contained some compromises for model curves, I would expect those same or similar for this model. If a current frame were to be used my cash is on the SD40T-2 frame as a currently tooled and available item…
Tivo,
I really hope so!! Would love to see an updated Tunnel Motor in the Rio Grande scheme!
GN didn’t own any, so I’m not buying any.
(Unless model railroad doomsday comes and then I will be scrambling for spare parts.)
James
Has anyone made some photos of the preproduction samples?
Ol’ Tracktime has some posted over on Trainorders.com. I expect Harry will have more photos of the show up on the web real soon.
Cain’t understand why everyone is so excited about a Tunnel Motor. There were only 247 of the big ones built and only for two railroads. And Athearn is going to launch this line with a COTTON BELT locomotive! Go figure.
And some made it to UP and some others got rebuilt into SD40-3’s for the DM&IR and B&LE.
While the prototypes may share the same wheelbase the truck mountings for the Athearn Flexicoil trucks used on the FP45 and the HTC trucks used on the SD40-2 are totally different. I doubt the FP45 frame was usable in the new model.
MyMemoirs Video, the guys who are doing the video series on my SP Siskiyou Line layout, had one of the their field cameras there, so we went over to the Athearn booth and shot some video footage of the SD45T-2 prototype on display.
I’ll let you know when this gets posted. Should be available in a day or two.