Model Railroading > First samples of new Amtrak/Metra/CSX etc. F40s

Hi all,

The factory shipped these today - they should arrive next week.

These are the first injection samples of our new later phase Amtrak (and other) F40s. These are the ones y'all have been asking for for the last five years. :-D 

Rivets have not yet been added, and the factory has installed an... interesting... cab door window. 

I'm also digging the hot pink strobes.... These F40s are clearly stylish. 

Here's the web page: https://rapidotrains.com/products/ho-scale/diesel-locomotives/ho-scale-later-phase-f40ph

Best regards,

Jason
 

---

Nice!

Only question is why does the MBTA one have strobes and AC? The prototype had neither. 

ST214 Wrote:
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> Nice!
>
> Only question is why does the MBTA one have
> strobes and AC? The prototype had neither. 

It would seem that the picture Jason posted is probably not the MBTA version.  The drawings on the link show the MBTA offerings have neither strobes nor A/C but do have ghetto grilles.

Bruce

ST214 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice!
>
> Only question is why does the MBTA one have
> strobes and AC? The prototype had neither. 

For the same reason the windows are wrong and the strobes are pink. The factory just assembled them to show us the tooling samples. They didn't actually follow specific prototypes. I am sure the CSX fuel tank is under that Metra sample too! :-D 

When we get the first injection samples, it's our job to make sure each one has the correct details before we take publicity photographs. It's always a risk that these snapshots from the factory will be full of mismatched parts.

When we ask the factory to do a decorated or production sample, then they make sure to get the details right. But that is a much later step, after the models have been corrected and have rivets and other eroded details.

-Jason
 

"These are the first injection samples of our new later phase Amtrak (and other) F40s. These are the ones y'all have been asking for for the last five years. :-D"

Yes, that would be me asking for late phase f40ph's Amtrak phase 3 paint!

Long suffering!

Cheers, Jim

Posted from Android

I am more  intrestred as to what motor will be used in these    Regards Dennis



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/20 21:21 by tiltone.

Gotcha! I just noticed some differences and got scared they were going to be produced that way. Us MBTA people have been waiting FOREVER for correct MBTA units!

Any chance in the future of doing the earliar MBTA units, the 1000-1012? 


rapidotrains Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ST214 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Nice!
> >
> > Only question is why does the MBTA one have
> > strobes and AC? The prototype had neither. 
>
> For the same reason the windows are wrong and the
> strobes are pink. The factory just assembled them
> to show us the tooling samples. They didn't
> actually follow specific prototypes. I am sure the
> CSX fuel tank is under that Metra sample too!
> :-D 
>
> When we get the first injection samples, it's our
> job to make sure each one has the correct details
> before we take publicity photographs. It's always
> a risk that these snapshots from the factory will
> be full of mismatched parts.
>
> When we ask the factory to do a decorated or
> production sample, then they make sure to get the
> details right. But that is a much later step,
> after the models have been corrected and have
> rivets and other eroded details.
>
> -Jason
>  

Jason,

That window is correct for the phase of F40, the door opening isn't correct.

-Tom

rapidotrains Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rivets have not yet been added, and the factory
> has installed an... interesting... cab door
> window. 
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jason
 

So I just spoke to Bill.

While the square corners are indeed correct for some of these units after the step rebuild, he had instructed the factory to use the rounded corners on this version as it was more common. It appears they didn't.

These are the kinds of things we find in first test samples. Tom, please feel free to email Bill directly with any other observations. While we are more open than most manufacturers, we're not keen to do ALL our R&D on public forums... :-D 

-Jason


tmurray Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jason,
>
> That window is correct for the phase of F40, the
> door opening isn't correct.
>
> -Tom
>
> rapidotrains Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Rivets have not yet been added, and the factory
> > has installed an... interesting... cab door
> > window. 
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Jason
>  

tiltone Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am more  intrestred as to what motor will be
> used in these    Regards Dennis

Very, very good ones. They will be guaranteed to survive any abuse inflicted upon them by the V5 decoders. If we're lucky, the V6s will be out before these start production.

-Jason
 

rapidotrains Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tiltone Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I am more  intrestred as to what motor will be
> > used in these    Regards Dennis
>
> Very, very good ones. They will be guaranteed to
> survive any abuse inflicted upon them by the V5
> decoders. If we're lucky, the V6s will be out
> before these start production.
>
> -Jason
>  

Jason, on the V6s make sure it's not a Ford 4 litre V6
Cheers
Charlie
MP52.7 on the BNSF Topeka Sub

Posted from Android