|
|
Post by navarch1 on Feb 14, 2014 19:47:38 GMT -8
I have a pair of undec CR/NS sd70's awaiting a coat of lovely Penn Central black. :-) LOL....I beat ya...my two PC's (stripped CR units originally....) are already painted...just not decaled yet :)The P2K 3-window SD60M is painted and decaled though....just not assembled yet..... Some day I'll finish the Spartan cab SD70's but not for a while.....got to focus now on track work starting in May...so the world will see yours long before they see mine. Bob |
|
|
|
Post by navarch1 on Feb 14, 2014 19:50:22 GMT -8
All this talk of SD70's has got me all nostalgic. My layout was supposed to be a modern era Rock island, then I attended a Naperville RPM meet and 2004 became 1974 in short order. Ah...what might have been...if only the Rock Island lived... Here Metra F40PH #181 approaches the diamonds at Joliet, meeting a slow rolling extra #5012 east dragging Schneider National trailers at the crossing...  Bouncing on the diamonds...  The crew on #5012 have shut off the headlights as the two trains pass...  Actually, the Athearn SD70 and SD70M were the end of an era. They were the last locomotive delivered by Athearn that had absolutely no provision for sound whatsoever. The locomotives were quite serviceable and could be made into some fairly nice pieces. The reason so many were sitting around was the no-sound factor. Now, Athearn will finally address this. The F40 is another matter. Mine has a Loksound 3.5 in it and I positively hate it. It constantly restarts itself and the prime mover and horn sounds are obnoxious. Someday, when I have nothing else to do, maybe she will get a Tsunami V3.0 or whatever the best sound out there might be. This still begs the question for all you Kato Metra F40 and now TrueLine Trains Metra MP36SS owners: What are you going to haul with these lovely engines? No one makes a Metra Budd car or, worse, a Metra MK/Amerail/Sumitomo bilevel car. Very nice......very nice. What are you doing for modern freight rolling stock? Bob |
|
|
|
Post by rockisland652 on Feb 14, 2014 22:30:36 GMT -8
All this talk of SD70's has got me all nostalgic. My layout was supposed to be a modern era Rock island, then I attended a Naperville RPM meet and 2004 became 1974 in short order. Ah...what might have been...if only the Rock Island lived... Here Metra F40PH #181 approaches the diamonds at Joliet, meeting a slow rolling extra #5012 east dragging Schneider National trailers at the crossing... Bouncing on the diamonds... The crew on #5012 have shut off the headlights as the two trains pass... Actually, the Athearn SD70 and SD70M were the end of an era. They were the last locomotive delivered by Athearn that had absolutely no provision for sound whatsoever. The locomotives were quite serviceable and could be made into some fairly nice pieces. The reason so many were sitting around was the no-sound factor. Now, Athearn will finally address this. The F40 is another matter. Mine has a Loksound 3.5 in it and I positively hate it. It constantly restarts itself and the prime mover and horn sounds are obnoxious. Someday, when I have nothing else to do, maybe she will get a Tsunami V3.0 or whatever the best sound out there might be. This still begs the question for all you Kato Metra F40 and now TrueLine Trains Metra MP36SS owners: What are you going to haul with these lovely engines? No one makes a Metra Budd car or, worse, a Metra MK/Amerail/Sumitomo bilevel car. Very nice......very nice. What are you doing for modern freight rolling stock? Bob Well...actually...I have been selling it off, as the layout era changed from modern to 1974, when I was bitten by the prototype modeling thing. In the photo, I used Athearn spine cars and Schneider National trailers. There is nothing appropriate for the F40 to pull, so you will notice that the train is conveniently cropped out of every picture. |
|
|
|
Post by curtmc on Feb 15, 2014 5:59:09 GMT -8
Hopefully soon that will change, and I hope at the time I'll be able to find the Kato F40 and the TLT MP36...
Great railroad for a commuter line and nice schemes.
|
|
|
|
Post by Spikre on Feb 15, 2014 6:00:26 GMT -8
 Curt, as usual when someone disagrees with You,You ATTACK !! yes it is Griffin,,,,,BIG DEAL !! He would come into the LHS and Talk to our local N&W expert about how lousey CSX was,and still is. recall that the CSX Main Office that isn't actually used much is in Richmond. and what does it matter where Acca Yard is exactly ? Richmond owned a good chunk of RF&P Stock,as did N&W. until He was transferred by CSX to Jacksonville saw Mr Griffin on and off for several years. less after the Transfer but He still showed up at the LHS now and then. CSX is on record by the local employees as a crummy Company to work for, but many have too many years in to leave. Spikre 
|
|
|
|
Post by atsfan on Feb 15, 2014 6:05:51 GMT -8
CSX is on record by the local employees as a crummy Company to work for, but many have too many years in to leave. Spikre I have never heard a CSX employee say orherwise. |
|
|
|
Post by markfj on Feb 15, 2014 6:38:46 GMT -8
Just to provide an update on price/availability; eBay currently lists a CR unit “used” for $79.99 with 0 bids and an undecorated NIB for $85.00 with 1 bid. About a week ago, a CR unit NIB went for about $115 (not including s/h), so I would say the purchase prices mentioned above were a good deal. These are nice locomotives, but it has been a while since I saw one in or around my hometown of Reading, PA. Actually, seeing “any” standard cab unit is getting to be a rare event. Really nice model photos posted above! Thanks for sharing those pics.  Mark |
|
|
|
Post by curtmc on Feb 15, 2014 6:57:09 GMT -8
Incorrect again. It wasn't Richmond that owned the huge chunk of stock, but was within the holdings of another government body located in that region...
PS. The Richmond Holding Company - the name you may be confusing - which RF&P started in 1957, and the Richmond Land Corp (another subsidiary started in 1901) were internal parts of RF&P - and not related to the City of Richmond. The largest non-railroad chunk of stock was VRS (Virginia Employee Retirement System) and that is the only party CSX had to negotiate with to get majority control and consolidate the RF&P Railroad into the CSX system. Initially CSX tried to get all of the RF&P (including land assets) but later settled for just the railroad portion. The key land properties that RF&P maintained (including the land around Potomac Yard) became under full control of VRS and was later sold off for development.
|
|
|
|
Post by curtmc on Feb 15, 2014 7:03:17 GMT -8
The Athearn conventional cab NS and CR SD70s sold pretty well. BTW, saw a NS train last week with SD70 2557 leading, and have seen a few SD60s leading in past month.
|
|
|
|
Post by drolsen on Feb 15, 2014 7:11:57 GMT -8
Is there actually anything incorrect on the original SD70M models, or is this upgraded tooling addressing the lack of provisions for sound and separate details? I don't recall hearing about detail issues with the basic SD70M bodies, but then again, it's been a long time since they were first released.
Dave
|
|
|
|
Post by Spikre on Feb 15, 2014 7:23:40 GMT -8
 lots of SD40-2s still run on the R&D line here. now and then pure 3 unit lash ups recently.  Virginia Retirement ownd RF&P stock also,but they were more agreeable to the price CSX was willing to pay. Richmond tried to get more,but didn't. Spikre 
|
|
|
|
Post by Donnell Wells on Feb 15, 2014 10:29:43 GMT -8
Let's keep this thread on topic. If you guys want to talk about who owned what stock, and who showed up in what hobby shop, start a new thread in the crew lounge. Thanks.
Donnell
|
|
|
|
Post by curtmc on Feb 15, 2014 12:45:49 GMT -8
The latter. The upgrade also allows for changes to be made in order to offer the later SD70M (incl. flared and phase 2 cab), SD70 (with ICE), and SD75I variants.
Whereas the costs involved with just adding sound or just doing other variants might not have been enough to economically justify those specific updates, the combination led to a larger project being deemed economically feasible based on being able to offer both new models and sound upgraded versions of the prior models.
|
|
