More or less inadvertently or unofficially. A good friend of mine has a few of the new GP38-2's and we were talking a bit about them. He was looking over the parts list and on this sheet is parts listed for the GP39-2. Hmmmm, could this be a look into a future offering? I think so.
I will be getting some of the phase II for my Kennecott builds.
I think the Atlas products are very nice once once you cut the frame down and fix the fuel tank HAHAHAA. I have yet to do it, I have a few few Atlas that need that.
I did see Athearn posted on their Facebook page that they were going to introduce a whole new model loco at a Canadian train show next month. They said the model was for " the canadian railroad modelers" (Not exactly what they said, just paraphrasing). We shall see.
Ben Fordos Merrill, MI
Owner/Operator of the Saginaw Valley Central
I am sure they will. I am willing to wager that soon they will be announcing some new 6 axle locomotives. Remember, they "say" that the SD40 molds broke. I bet they are gearing up a new genesis SD40 and they will throw in the SD38 and SD39 to boot. I don't have any inside information, but with the way they are approaching their releases, those three locomotives make sense.
I have only one nit pick with the new genesis stuff. The hand rails are just to thin. They do not stand up well and are usually wavy looking. There are times when scale is not good. The best handrails ever I think are on the improved Blue Box SD40-2. Slightly oversized, but stand up GREAT! They look good.
The molds for the RTR SD40-2 broke? maybe that's why the BN ones have taken so long to bring to market.
I acutally would perfer a Genesis SD40-2. The genesis stuff doesn't seem to sell out as fast as the RTR ones. I would need a bunch of them though, so the wallet would be hurting...
As for the handrails, why not metal ones?
Vincent C.
It's always either a lack of available parts, a lack of funds, or a lack of time.
What I think the ultimate handrail would be is this. I have seen this done in the model ship category. The propellers were brass etchings. Before the mold was shot for the caps, the etching was placed in the mold and then injection molded so the propeller became an integral part of the injection molded propeller cap.
So I think make the handrails from bent wire. Of course the wire has to be bent perfectly meaning all bends need to be just right. It can be done. I have taken tours of wire bending facilities and they are VERY precise. Then lay this wire in a mold and shoot the handrail stanchions from ABS plastic.
Brian I love this idea and for the cost of models today I dont see why it couldn't be done this way.
Tony did his Conrail SD50 like that. He took the Athearn handrails, cut the railing part off and drilled the stanchions out and then he bent new railings from brass wire and threaded the stanchions on. His handrails look awesome but I don't think I have the want to do that much work.
I do the Smokey Valley stanchions and brass wire now and even that can get old especially when you see 20 more engines need the same thing done.
When I get to my SD45-2, I will be doing what Tony did. I have done this with some Kato models a long time ago. I purchased off Ebay about 30 Athearn blue box SD40-2 hand rail sets. I bought them so I can cut the stanchions off and drill them out for wire. I will make a drilling tool so I only need to slip the stanchion in till it hits a stop and then bring the drill down through a guide to center drill the stanchions.
Those Athearn scale hand rail sets are terrible looking. Especially on the 45-2. The longer runs just do not stand up well.
For my next project, I will have to make new end rail hand rails. The QNS&L had a different bend on theirs. Guess it is a Canadian thing.
I am interested in seeing that. I like the way the stanchions look. How hard is it going to be to build a jig to do the drilling? I just worry about getting rash one the same so there are no different angles to the handrail ronde it is completely assembled.
I just came up with what I think is a great idea on how to do this and possibly make it available to modelers. I'll work on it over time, maybe within a few months I can get a prototype made.
I have only one nit pick with the new genesis stuff. The hand rails are just to thin. They do not stand up well and are usually wavy looking. There are times when scale is not good. The best handrails ever I think are on the improved Blue Box SD40-2. Slightly oversized, but stand up GREAT! They look good.
Don't blame Athearn (or rather, Athearn's Chinese manufacturer) for making scale parts. Blame them for picking plastic. Brass handrails have always been much more robust than delrin or any other "engineered plastic" that's been used (are there any plastics that aren't "engineered?").
Didn't Precision Scale Company take over the PFM/PIA parts line, including the coveted PIA stantion set? They've been around for over 20 years (well, on and off, and mostly off), and have yet to be improved upon.
None of the handrails offered today are worth it. They are to thick and require to much cleanup. I am no longer going to "be thankful just because they offer it". I choose to call it what it is. CRAP! I will choose to buy the much better looking Athearn Blue Box handrails and cut them up or use them as is.
The only person I have seen use the brass hand rails properly is Chris Zygmunt. He takes a lot of time to clean and thin them up.