Im hoping one of the manufacturers read these forums and my pick would be a SDP40 HO Scale Burlington Northern #1976. This would complete my set of the Atlas U30C and the Athearn SD40-2 in Bicentennial paint for the Burlington Northern.
I must commend all the manufacturers on all the fine Bicentennial locomotives that has come out.
I also have an Athearn Cotton Belt on order that will come in hopefully this summer.
What are your favorites? Which ones still need to come out on the market? I made my voice heard and hopefully we will see a SDP40 come out soon.
I wouldn’t be going and getting my hopes too high on anybody producing a SDP40. Very few were produced. If memory serves me correctly, only 2 roads purchased them - Great Northern and a railway in Mexico. Because of both the low production volume and the low number of roads that purchased them it is highly unlikely that a plastic version would be produced. The costs are too great with too narrow an appeal to justify the investment. Brass versions do come available from time to time and a new brass model has been announced. Save up your pennies!
True. The only original owners were NdeM and GN, for a whopping total of 20. From there they went on to BN, MRL, BNSF, FXE, TFM, KCS, KCSM, MNTX, and GCFX. Granted Athearn made SDP40s in the BB line, but they were widebody.
In all probability, it’s best to kitbash it. But I’m not quite sure if I should go with the narrowing the hoods on the BB SDP, or using an Kato SD40 and atlas SDP35 as a base.
Oh, I don’t know, some fairly rare locos have been made in recent years. The list of owners for the SDP40 are GN, NDeM, BN, BNSF (mainly just a paintout), TFM, KCS and KCSM (new TFM colors) plus a couple other paint outs. Not to mention the 1976 which would add yet another paint job to the mix.
I would want a complete set of the Pittsburg & Shawmut Bicentennials that includes the names each was given with renumbering. Most were SW9’s but they had one or two others…GP’s I think.
Here’s a link to a cut of dirty beasts at work and the seldom seen caboose in tow.
aloco - those are crude models, both mechanical and detail wise, compared to today’s new models. Today’s market and modelers are demanding a higher standard and fidelity to the prototype. That higher level of detail requires a higher level of investment up front.
As pointed out, these already the old Athearn wide body SDP40 if someone really doesn’t mind about integrity to accuracy with the wide body.
I have an idea for a modern-day Bicentennial that I plan to do in HO scale with an undecorated Athern F-45 I got from a train show a while back. It’s not really Bicentennial, but it reflects who I am: a die-hard patriot who loves his country. It is a really elaborate scheme, however, and I doubt that any manufacturers will make my scheme for retail.
Maybe they won’t but I see no reason why you couldn’t share the idea? Then again, UP’s United Way and Desert Storm schemes must have been two hoots to try and do. You might have to mask with Frisket Film, print your design on it and cut away as you go, and maybe find some decal stars. At least have one for you, and if a small HO company wants to at least sell a body shell of yours, who knows.
Here’s tow I did of an HO&N oddity, it’s a 2-6-4+2-8-4 Duplex Cab Forward with a water saddle on top (doesn’t show real well on 2D I’m afraid) I did one in a Bicenntenial scheme, and one up in the AFt scheme that both the 4449 and 610 wore.
(All elements utilizes for the above two came from paintshop.railfan.net from many various sorurces. Permission was sought, but most contact is out of date)
She was actually painted and christened in the early 70s. Even toured the country, including the western states and spent some time on Santa Fe’s rails.
Add to that, she also hauled one of America’s best known perishable runs, The Tropicana Juice Train from Florida to the northern markets.
IMHO, even collectors who don’t model the SCL would likely snag several units if produced in Athearn’s Genesis line, Walthers P2K or Atlas.
That’s one part of the equation I got down (although I may use blank or used over-head film projector transparancies (at least that’s what my teachers say they are) insted of the Frisket Film) The next part: the designs I would like to use are on a T-shirt my mother got me about 1 week ago. So far, all attempts to scan it into my computer and remove the background color using Paint on my computer has failed (it recolored the area pixel-by-pixel) , not to mention a testprint with the only part of the design that can only be done via decal came out badly faded ( almost brownish-gray (could be my printer). If anyone can help me with those hurdles I would appreaciate it, because I would like to get this project rolling soon (no pressure though, I have no deadlines)
