Model Railroading > More NTS Detroit pics

Hi Everyone,

Here's a sneak peak at some new HO scale goodies from the show:

-Athearn SD60M's & SD60I's
-Southern SD40-2

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Athearn tunnel motors

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-Athearn FP45's
-Athearn MP15AC - this looked to be the SP version with all the appropriate details
-Maxi's - looked really nice! Lots of etched metal parts

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-Other Athearn products
-BLMA signal bridge
-new CPL's from NJ International. These looked awesome!

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K8CNW Wrote:
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> -new CPL's from NJ International. These looked
> awesome!

Except the colors are in the wrong positions....

toledopatch: Wrong? How so?

K8CNW: Did NJ Int'l say when their CPLs would hit store shelves? Be neat to add a few to a module I wanna build.

Pic: MX Tower, Cumberland, MD Dec '06. Sorry it's fuzzy ... t'was my first outing with the 30D. Aspects: Stop and Restricting.

* JB *

toledopatch Wrote:
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> K8CNW Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > -new CPL's from NJ International. These looked
> > awesome!
>
> Except the colors are in the wrong positions....

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take a closer look - the red lights form a vertical row, not horizontal as in your pic. The green lights form a horizontal row instead of vertical. The lunars are correct, which indicates that it's not just a case of the signal head rotated 90 degrees...

Oooops!

-R

Rick Selby
Redmond, WA
Pacific Northwest RPM

I find the picture of the FP45 interesting. What's with the "nub" between the fuel tank and the rear ladder? Maybe these samples aren't fully Genesised yet.

markgillings Wrote:
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> I find the picture of the FP45 interesting.
> What's with the "nub" between the fuel tank and
> the rear ladder? Maybe these samples aren't fully
> Genesised yet.

If it's the same nub I'm thinking of, I think it's a water fill location. It seems to appear only on the FP45 sample, which would make sense.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=103957&nseq=32
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=193425&nseq=2
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=70722&nseq=47

However, some of the Santa Fe's units seem to have lost it, or maybe they never had it in the first place.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=96278&nseq=37
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=75043&nseq=40
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=59941&nseq=57

It doesn't look like any of the Milwaukee units had this feature. It is definitely correct for at least some of the Santa Fe units as-delivered though.

Could someone please take some pics of Bachmann's HO-scale Berkshire; Sharks; and E60CP Electrics?

Thanks!

They never had red lunar lights and there`s no service platform on it. More junk. Also a CPL with a number plate on it would never display restricting using white lights in vertical position. More junk. Where do they get their info from?

twl

toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> K8CNW Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > -new CPL's from NJ International. These looked
> > awesome!
>
> Except the colors are in the wrong positions....

looks like Athearn corrected the fat sidesill on the SD60M`s and I`s. Thank god.

twl

K8CNW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Everyone,
>
> Here's a sneak peak at some new HO scale goodies
> from the show:
>
> -Athearn SD60M's & SD60I's
> -Southern SD40-2

Even if you rotated the head 90 degrees, then the yellow and white lights would be bass ackwards. Junk

twl

RAS Wrote:
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> take a closer look - the red lights form a
> vertical row, not horizontal as in your pic. The
> green lights form a horizontal row instead of
> vertical. The lunars are correct, which indicates
> that it's not just a case of the signal head
> rotated 90 degrees...
>
> Oooops!
>
> -R

Wonder if Athearn will make the 4 EMD "BN" SD60MAC's?
Nathan Z.

Extremely doubtful since these were chock full of unique details including a longer frame than the SD50/60 series. Stranger things have happened though, but I still think the chances are slim to none.

Grande-Fan Wrote:
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> Wonder if Athearn will make the 4 EMD "BN"
> SD60MAC's?
> Nathan Z.

mikey Wrote:
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> If it's the same nub I'm thinking of, I think it's
> a water fill location. It seems to appear only on
> the FP45 sample, which would make sense.

Ahh, yes. I didn't go back far enough in time with the pictures I was looking at. I thought it looked awfully similar to the old shell mounting lug on the original models.

Grande-Fan Wrote:
> -----------------------------------------------
> > Wonder if Athearn will make the 4 EMD "BN"
> > SD60MAC's?

_BNFAN Wrote:
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> Extremely doubtful since these were chock full of
> unique details including a longer frame than the
> SD50/60 series. Stranger things have happened
> though, but I still think the chances are slim to
> none.

The SD60MAC and the SD70MAC share the same frame, so that "problem" is solved. I suspect the costs of developing a new cast-metal frame are substantially less than the molds for the shells. The SD60MAC is one of those very rare prototypes, so I would have to agree that Athearn would be unlikely to produce one. However, if they make the 3-window cab, someone could take that, a SD70MAC, and some time and come up with a very nice SD60MAC. And the good news is that Microscale already makes the decals!

Well, I waited long enough this time, at work the other day I milled a Tmotor frame for a SD60M shell but didn't get the whole loco done. Unlike the SD70MACs where I started cutting up a SD70M two weeks before the Kato announcemnt.

keysubdiv Wrote:
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> They never had red lunar lights and there`s no
> service platform on it. More junk. Also a CPL with
> a number plate on it would never display
> restricting using white lights in vertical
> position. More junk. Where do they get their info
> from?

You're right about that red lamp, though calling it a "lunar light" is incorrect. "Lunar" refers to the bluish-white color used on certain signals to display a Restricting aspect or sometimes as a come-on signal, not the position of the lamp. The lamps in that top-center position on B&O signals are actually plain white, not lunar white; others are either white or yellow. I've most commonly heard those perimeter lights on B&O signals referred to as pilot lights or satellite lights, though I don't know if either term is officially used by the railroad.

In response to all the concerns about the CPL's, I talked with one of the guys from NJ International today. He mentioned that the signals were pre-production & many of the details were not be completely accurate. They should be available some time this fall & possibly include a kit to add lunar lights in different locations. That addition wouldn't be available until the "standard" signals were well underway.

-Brian-