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Post by keystonefarm on Oct 13, 2014 20:49:04 GMT -8
When the unit pulls away watch the exposed bearing caps on the axles !!!Looking forward to mine on wednesday. ---- Ken
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Post by catt on Oct 14, 2014 2:19:16 GMT -8
To be honest the only thing stopping me from buying one is,I simply can not afford one.I kept looking at the handrails and they just don't look that bad to me.
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Post by thebessemerkid on Oct 14, 2014 11:51:25 GMT -8
Good video. Decided to take the plunge and order a pair of Pennsy's. Sound is nice and the handrails seem pretty unobtrusive in Brunswick Green (or DGLE, etc). Figure knocking down the yellow handrails and lightly weathering the trucks may do the trick. A pair of these is still cheaper than brass, with sound to boot. Looks like MBK (170/230) and FDT (220) are showing stock: factorydirecttrains.com/rivarossigeneralelectricu25c.aspx
www.modeltrainstuff.com/HO-Scale-s/2.htmFigure Hornby can use the support after they got beat up on the handrails. We can criticize without driving mfg out of the hobby. |
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Post by edwardsutorik on Oct 14, 2014 11:57:34 GMT -8
I'll judge the handrails when I see a CB&Q version.
Ed
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Post by thebessemerkid on Oct 14, 2014 12:54:47 GMT -8
Well the NP's at MBK sold out quick. Couple others too.
Have noticed something recently with MBK. New items are sometimes listed starting with a handful in stock (3 @ in the case of U25C and C636). They sell out quick, then a couple days later, more appear.
No slam on MBK, but wondering if shops are hedging their bets with only ordering a few new items, or just holding back numbers of in-stock inventory to add a little sense of urgency to fence-sitters.
Ah life in the pre-order era...
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Post by theengineshed on Oct 14, 2014 13:16:36 GMT -8
Have noticed something recently with MBK. New items are sometimes listed starting with a handful in stock (3 @ in the case of U25C and C636). They sell out quick, then a couple days later, more appear. MBK has two stock systems, the warehouse and the store. It is possible that they may pull some of the store stock back to the warehouse if that side sells faster. I do know they have sold out on the website, but visit the store and they have the item... And Crikes! They have already sold out the noise maker equipped road I was interested in.... |
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Post by thebessemerkid on Oct 14, 2014 13:21:31 GMT -8
Makes sense. Thank you for the clarification. FDT still has the noisemakers, $10 cheaper too. Full sticker on Fleabay. Nice loco, but not $300 nice. MBK = MB Klein ModelTrainStuff.com FDT = Factory Direct Trains factorydirecttrains.com Feel free to add others  Hornby dealer list: don't know if it is train specific, but worth a look: www.hornbyamerica.com/dealers |
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Post by redbaron on Oct 14, 2014 14:24:25 GMT -8
Have road names for a second release been announced yet?
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Post by theengineshed on Oct 14, 2014 14:50:18 GMT -8
Have road names for a second release been announced yet? If the second run is Phase IIIb, there's L&N, BN, and PC/Conrail left to do. Arnold just did three of these roads in N so Hornby has the artwork... |
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Post by thebessemerkid on Oct 14, 2014 16:33:30 GMT -8
They're selling like hotcakes! It's a U-boat mania!!!  (Haven't had this much excitement since the great Athearn mystery loco saga of '13  |
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Post by keystonefarm on Oct 15, 2014 9:56:27 GMT -8
My PRR U-25c arrived here about 2 hours ago. Opened up package no loose parts or anything bent or broken. Nice Dark Green loco enamel color lettering and numbers look correct. The handrails are flat and not round but in the dark green it's hard to see the difference and they look nice and sturdy for handling and operations on my rr. The seperate air tanks behind the screening is a nice touch as are the exposed moving bearing caps. Trucks have that big shoes little kid look to them like the real ones did. Visually a winner in my book.
I ran the engine on my NCE Power cab test/programming track. First at address 3 with no sound. Loco is dead quiet no sound at all from the mechanism. Nice starting speed and acceleration. Hit F8 and the prime mover start sequence starts. Very nicely done. Has a great early GE chug/bark. One of the better DCC sound decoder instruction sheets with the loco. Reprogrammed to long address Set horns to Leslie S3L's. They give you all the defaults for the most common cv's which I appreciate. Makes it much easier to adjust if you know where you are starting.
In my book these are a winner. There will be additional ones joining my late PRR/early PC diesel fleet. --- Ken
PS I wonder if we will ever see the KBM version ?
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Post by bigblow69 on Oct 16, 2014 12:38:43 GMT -8
My PRR U-25c arrived here about 2 hours ago. Opened up package no loose parts or anything bent or broken. Nice Dark Green loco enamel color lettering and numbers look correct. The handrails are flat and not round but in the dark green it's hard to see the difference and they look nice and sturdy for handling and operations on my rr. The seperate air tanks behind the screening is a nice touch as are the exposed moving bearing caps. Trucks have that big shoes little kid look to them like the real ones did. Visually a winner in my book. I ran the engine on my NCE Power cab test/programming track. First at address 3 with no sound. Loco is dead quiet no sound at all from the mechanism. Nice starting speed and acceleration. Hit F8 and the prime mover start sequence starts. Very nicely done. Has a great early GE chug/bark. One of the better DCC sound decoder instruction sheets with the loco. Reprogrammed to long address Set horns to Leslie S3L's. They give you all the defaults for the most common cv's which I appreciate. Makes it much easier to adjust if you know where you are starting. In my book these are a winner. There will be additional ones joining my late PRR/early PC diesel fleet. --- Ken PS I wonder if we will ever see the KBM version ? I would have bought a Korea Brass one, not this one. I eagerly await a Alco C-415 from Bowser. |
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Post by ambluco on Oct 16, 2014 13:15:53 GMT -8
Interesting with all the posts on the issues they had, they sold right out at many places.
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Post by theengineshed on Oct 16, 2014 13:46:06 GMT -8
Rivarossi seems to have done better with the U25C than Bowser with the C-636, you can still get the C-636.
And for all that talk about high prices, the street price of the U25C with sound was on par with the competition, not much over $200. The UPS guy delivers tomorrow for me, and I suspect many others, so we shall see if all the fuss was warranted...
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Post by keystonefarm on Oct 16, 2014 15:14:15 GMT -8
My PRR U-25c arrived here about 2 hours ago. Opened up package no loose parts or anything bent or broken. Nice Dark Green loco enamel color lettering and numbers look correct. The handrails are flat and not round but in the dark green it's hard to see the difference and they look nice and sturdy for handling and operations on my rr. The seperate air tanks behind the screening is a nice touch as are the exposed moving bearing caps. Trucks have that big shoes little kid look to them like the real ones did. Visually a winner in my book. I ran the engine on my NCE Power cab test/programming track. First at address 3 with no sound. Loco is dead quiet no sound at all from the mechanism. Nice starting speed and acceleration. Hit F8 and the prime mover start sequence starts. Very nicely done. Has a great early GE chug/bark. One of the better DCC sound decoder instruction sheets with the loco. Reprogrammed to long address Set horns to Leslie S3L's. They give you all the defaults for the most common cv's which I appreciate. Makes it much easier to adjust if you know where you are starting. In my book these are a winner. There will be additional ones joining my late PRR/early PC diesel fleet. --- Ken PS I wonder if we will ever see the KBM version ? I would have bought a Korea Brass one, not this one. I eagerly await a Alco C-415 from Bowser. If KBM had offered one I would have bought one BUT so far they have not mentioned the possibility of their U-25c seeing the retail world . Do not hold your breathe on a C-415 from Bowser !!! Too many versions not enough road names. Too bad the Reading did not follow through with their planned purchase. ---- Ken |
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Post by bigblow69 on Oct 16, 2014 15:29:30 GMT -8
I would have bought a Korea Brass one, not this one. I eagerly await a Alco C-415 from Bowser. If KBM had offered one I would have bought one BUT so far they have not mentioned the possibility of their U-25c seeing the retail world . Do not hold your breathe on a C-415 from Bowser !!! Too many versions not enough road names. Too bad the Reading did not follow through with their planned purchase. ---- Ken Nekoosa paper is all I need. |
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Post by theengineshed on Oct 16, 2014 15:37:19 GMT -8
A planned purchase is sufficient for Bowser to do a road name...
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Post by Judge Doom on Oct 16, 2014 21:15:37 GMT -8
Rivarossi seems to have done better with the U25C than Bowser with the C-636, you can still get the C-636. And for all that talk about high prices, the street price of the U25C with sound was on par with the competition, not much over $200. The UPS guy delivers tomorrow for me, and I suspect many others, so we shall see if all the fuss was warranted... Too early in the game to really conclude that, and not enough variables are known (how many were produced and in what road numbers - maybe Bowser was more liberal with the amount they produced, maybe hobby shops ordered more thinking "ZOMG! C636! EVERYONE'S GONNA FOAM OVER THESE!" ). But then again, isn't extra stock on the shelves and availability what most modelers want anyway? |
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Post by thebessemerkid on Oct 17, 2014 5:49:34 GMT -8
IIRC, MB Klein had more initial stock of C636's and restocked or transferred store to mail order stock at least once. They had 3 of each of the U25C's which to my knowledge have not been restocked.
Both filled significant needs.
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Post by theengineshed on Oct 17, 2014 20:00:18 GMT -8
Put a dozen photos of the ACL U25C up on flicker, including some fairly cruel close-ups. Haven't had time to do much but take the photos, but I think it looks the part. Some odd twists in design, the ribbed for pleasure tread plate being one, and those handrails, but I'm not complaining. It's a very nice model. I love my Bowser C-430s and the Rivarossi U25C certainly compares well. The two photos below have clickable link thingees in them that take you to the rest of the images.  ACL 3016 Rivarossi Oct 2014 l by Engine Shed, on Flickr  ACL 3016 Rivarossi Oct 2014 j by Engine Shed, on Flickr |
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Post by thebessemerkid on Oct 17, 2014 22:56:16 GMT -8
Those are nice photos!
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Post by markfj on Oct 18, 2014 5:00:49 GMT -8
+1 on the “nice photos” comment!
Looks like the color match between the two models is excellent.
Thanks for the photos.
Mark
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2014 7:42:48 GMT -8
Put a dozen photos of the ACL U25C up on flicker, including some fairly cruel close-ups. Haven't had time to do much but take the photos, but I think it looks the part... Thanks, those sure look nice together. Tempting. |
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Post by bdhicks on Oct 18, 2014 10:33:24 GMT -8
Looks like they put a few bends in the final version that I don't remember seeing on the preproduction samples. That seems to help.
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Post by theengineshed on Oct 18, 2014 11:26:13 GMT -8
Looks like they put a few bends in the final version that I don't remember seeing on the preproduction samples. That seems to help. Actually- just took another look at the model, LOL. The handrail is bent on the one side I photographed, must have been shipping damage. The other side on the long hood doesn't have the bend inwards... There is some visible glue around the etched steps in one area, but it is hard to see even with strong glasses, I only know it there because it showed in one of the photographs. Crooked bell aside, the model is very clean, no glue smears or paint defects, which are too common these days. I'd have to give Rivarossi an A+ on quality control, all the etched bits are applied neatly. No regrets in picking up a couple of ACL units. |
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Post by jlwii2000 on Oct 18, 2014 13:56:28 GMT -8
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Post by theengineshed on Oct 18, 2014 14:05:57 GMT -8
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Post by edwardsutorik on Oct 18, 2014 14:22:32 GMT -8
Just wonderin': I notice that the, what, speedometer cables, once they curve upward, kinda stop up in the air. And that that early termination shows from the side. Are these cables removable?  I think it might be nice to replace them with ones that went higher--maybe into holes. Ed |
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Post by thebessemerkid on Oct 18, 2014 14:29:13 GMT -8
The soldering quality on the (blue) daughtercard looks good. Presuming they are coming from Loksound pre-assembled.
The main board (black) is not as good. There is notable flux residue in the upper LH corner and several of the stranded wires tacked to pads show no evidence of proper wicking. From the engineering world, these present some reliability concerns. When I get my U25's will check and clean / touch up boards as required. Most won't need to, but if they act up down the road, check those areas first.
Interested in observations on running quality out if the box, break-in, amount of lubricant etc.
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Post by bdhicks on Oct 18, 2014 16:04:41 GMT -8
I was more referring to the bends right next to the cab, although I think that one by the steps does actually help a bit too. The preproduction pictures I saw had a straight shot from the stanchion to the mounting hole on the cab, which is far enough inboard to give a really weird angle to that section of handrail.
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