GGD Amtrak

@Paul Finn posted:

The K-Line 21" Superliners look like Phase IV to me?  Can someone confirm before I order a GGD transition car?

I'm hoping the Kline and GGD won't look that noticeably different.

Thanks

The K Line cars are Phase IV, but there aren't transition sleepers in this GGD offering as Scott is doing Superliner Is right now and the transition cars are IIs.

@Will Ebbert posted:

The K Line cars are Phase IV, but there aren't transition sleepers in this GGD offering as Scott is doing Superliner Is right now and the transition cars are IIs.

To add to this, the K-Line cars are Superliner IIs and they did make a transition car.  The biggest challenge is finding them at a price that is remotely competitive.  The last one to sell on that auction site went for more than the cost of a new GGD car.  K-Line offered transition coach, coach, diner, and sleeper configurations for their Superliner IIs.  The coaches come up most commonly and are least expensive.  The other cars regularly sell for over $350 each.  For that price I can be patient and wait for GGD Superliner IIs.

In addition to that, the finishing on the K-Line seems off. It doesn't look like stainless steel. It's certainly not at the level of quality from GGD...even if the price points are the same.

Without seeing what GGD has in store, I'd speculated that there'd be a noticable difference between GGD's cars and K Line's cars and would stick out quite noticably.

K-Line 21" Super Liner

The lack of a lounge car from K Line is a bigger issue too. I'm very excited for the GGD versions with 9 cars ordered. When they offer the Superliner IIs I'll probably order 7 of them for two complete trains of mixed equipment.

I also agree that the finish on the K Line cars isn't very impressive but I expected to repaint mine anyway into phase VI. Here's a comparison of the two manufacturers silver. GGD has a warmer hue to it that picks up light better in my opinion.

@P42Amtrak83 posted:

In addition to that, the finishing on the K-Line seems off. It doesn't look like stainless steel. It's certainly not at the level of quality from GGD...even if the price points are the same.

Without seeing what GGD has in store, I'd speculated that there'd be a noticable difference between GGD's cars and K Line's cars and would stick out quite noticably.

I don't disagree at all.  The GGD cars will be a generational improvement over the K-Line ones.

I am having a hard time mating GGD Amfleets to MTH coaches; the latter seem but toys by comparison.  Even the Atlas Horizons don't quite compare, though they are of much closer quality.

I guess I am a GGD snob now; the Amfleets look fabulous with the Atlas AEM7s.  Now let's do the slumber coaches and then baggage cars after that.

@Pantenary posted:

I am having a hard time mating GGD Amfleets to MTH coaches; the latter seem but toys by comparison.  Even the Atlas Horizons don't quite compare, though they are of much closer quality.

I guess I am a GGD snob now; the Amfleets look fabulous with the Atlas AEM7s.  Now let's do the slumber coaches and then baggage cars after that.

Speaking of Slumbercoaches, how are they reserving? I can't get an answer from Scott which can equate to low reservations currently.

@prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Speaking of Slumbercoaches, how are they reserving? I can't get an answer from Scott which can equate to low reservations currently.

Assuming the “ Slumbers” are still at a small reservation number, it would sure be nice to see the Slumber coaches tacked onto the Olympian production run for a greater combined  numbers efficiency.

@GG1 4877 posted:

Exclusive here.  You won't see this from Atlas's Railking Scale line.   It will be up on the website by the end of the weekend along with a few other P32 offerings.

CCAL doesn't have the capital for an additional locomotive (I ordered 3 -that's alotta $$$), but I will definitely amend my current reservation once this is available. I'm kicking that Phase V model off in favor of this much-needed Empire Service model. This is a big deal for me.

I'm currently using plain ol' Phase V P42's by MTH. Although I look forward to the GGD models, I have to defend the Atlas/MTH P42's. The last few runs are not as bad as people have commented here. No, they aren't up to GGD standards, but the most recent ones aren't "railking at the premier price."
There are actually 3 different MTH Premier P42's. The PS3 models are pretty great. The earlier ones from 1998 are pretty bad. The PS2 versions are fine. All are better than those goofy Williams/Bachman models.

I'll make a case for Williams too. For now, it's the only P40 out there. I have one to pull my Three Rivers train for a while and then I switch to my goofy E60.

What are the external differences between a P40 and a P42?

@Will Ebbert posted:

What are the external differences between a P40 and a P42?

The only external differences are with Phase III.

The Phase III P40DCs had two strobe lights and an emergency blinker above the cab.  The rear of the locomotive had a window next to the door.

The P40s also had the "fade away" stripe as well as black trim around the front windows.  The gap between those windows was also painted black.

The physical differences were eliminated during their first maintenance cycle...most received Phase IV paint during the overhaul.

In subsequent schemes, the only visible differences are thicker window gaskets around the front windshields.

@P42Amtrak83 posted:

The only external differences are with Phase III.

The Phase III P40DCs had two strobe lights and an emergency blinker above the cab.  The rear of the locomotive had a window next to the door.

The P40s also had the "fade away" stripe as well as black trim around the front windows.  The gap between those windows was also painted black.

The physical differences were eliminated during their first maintenance cycle...most received Phase IV paint during the overhaul.

In subsequent schemes, the only visible differences are thicker window gaskets around the front windshields.

One of my "when I get around to it" projects is to cut out the recesses molded into the Williams model and install real "eyebrow" strobes.

Just sayin'

For those who haven't seen, Scott just sent out an email saying that reservations for the P42s have been so good he will be able to lower the price by $120 per unit! Thanks Scott and all who have reserved!

Time to add another one to the order

@Will Ebbert posted:

For those who haven't seen, Scott just sent out an email saying that reservations for the P42s have been so good he will be able to lower the price by $120 per unit! Thanks Scott and all who have reserved!

Absolutely AWESOME !!! 👍👍👍👍      And that might stir even more   reservations !!!! 😜

I know it was covered but I'm unclear on the Transition car that's now available:

Is this a "fantasy" Superliner I Transition Car- basically taking a Superliner II transition car and imposing it on the superliner I? Is this like an el-Capitan step-down?

I know Scott has said that Superliner IIs are going to be produced and there will be a transition car. I already have a 21" Superliner Sleeper(K-line) and an 18" Transition(K-line) but would like to replace that with a prototypical transition and fill out my Superliner consist with a combo of Super Is and Super IIs.

Help/assistance/clarification would be greatly appreciated!!!

I believe before the arrival of the Superliner IIs in real life, the old Hi Level transition cars were used and that is what is being modeled, so it is prototypical for early trains.

@Will Ebbert posted:

I believe before the arrival of the Superliner IIs in real life, the old Hi Level transition cars were used and that is what is being modeled, so it is prototypical for early trains.

This is correct.  Several El Capitan cars were upgraded to HEP and run with Superliners prior to the introduction of the Superliner II cars.  This included coaches, lounge cars, diners, and coaches that were converted to coach / dorm transition cars.  The single level El Capitan dorm with the streamlined roof profile that matched the Budd El Cap cars was retired with the introduction of the Superliner fleet.

Former El Cap coach / dorms had a few configurations.  One, which GGD is offering had the crew beds on the lower level of the car.  The other configuration utilized the front half of the transition coach as the dormitory space, while the rear half of the upper level had coach seats.

When I rode the Southwest Chief in the late 80's and early 90's the train always had a former El Cap transition dorm behind the baggage car and ocassionally had former El Cap coach, lounge, or diner in the mix with the Superliner I cars.