Sunset Models SD40-2

Hey this is fantastic!

great news modern modelers! 

How cool is that. 

Excellent news!  Thanks for sharing Bill!

Thankfully, there are no new SP or DL&W models.  My wallet can breathe a sigh of relief.  And the Erie Lackawanna ACE 3000 provided the comedic relief I needed today.

Bob, Don't forget you can write in a roadname, assuming if Scott get's enough requests they would be done.

Scott has added N&W to the list.  All are planned to be low hood so if you want Southern, N&W or NS high hood you need to mention it to Scott so he can see if there is enough demand for high hoods.  If not you will have to wait for MMWs SD-40s at a much higher price.

I'll be reserving a Chessie System SD40-2. Now to convince Scott to do a GP30   Kinda funny to hear you call an SD40-2 "modern" Erik :-)

I pout myself down for a couple of Scott's SD40-2's in Chicago Northwestern, now to buy enough to get them made

I'll spring for 2 CSX SD40-2's unless enough requests to do a run of Wheeling & Lake Erie SD40-2's can be met.

My gut feel is Scott will end up doing multiple runs of this VERY popular locomotive! 

This would be dope if enough reservations are met...

I think this would appeal to any D&RGW aficionados as well.

Scott will have to talk to the builder regarding the additional cost for the high hood as for how many units will be required to get it done.  My guess is around 50 including Southern, NW and NS.   The tooling cost for the SD7/9s was not quite double the E and F units so tooling costs for hood units is becoming a significant piece of the cost structure.

Great y'all are emailing Scott with units you'll reserve that are not listed.  Keep it up.  The possibilities were overwhelming so the initial pick was a total WAG.

The Conrail units are in a similar situation as the high hoods as they sat on older trade-in trucks for which tools need to be made.

I've also told Scott I may sponsor/guarantee the Milwaukee Bicentennial unit if there is any interest.  Email me or Scott if interested.  We shall see.

Mike DeBerg posted:

My gut feel is Scott will end up doing multiple runs of this VERY popular locomotive! 

And more F7s ????

Soooooo wish Scott would do this in S gauge with TMCC! I would be in for half the road names he has listed.

Ben

Hi RDUNN,

The Conrail SD40-2s were ordered with Flexicoil trucks (while other roads used the HTC truck).

These Flexicoil trucks on the CR SD40-2s were not trade-ins.

I have read that the Flexicoil trucks used on early Conrail SD50s were trade-ins from CR SD9s and SD35.

By that rational (and if valid), couldn't the SD7/9 Flexicoil truck sideframes be used?

Probably the most significant O scale locomotive announcement in a decade. 

Not my era but certainly one of, if not the most significant locomotive of the past 50 years. 

Tell me again how O scale is dying?

Rule292 posted:

Probably the most significant O scale locomotive announcement in a decade. 

Not my era but certainly one of, if not the most significant locomotive of the past 50 years. 

Tell me again how O scale is dying?

Not "the most significant O Scale locomotive announcement in a decade"  if those who want a particular SD40-2 and it can't be made because of tooling cost. Especially when it is popular roads. We will wait and see how this all pans out. I will not be ordering any.

Stephen

nw2124 posted:

Rule292 posted:

Probably the most significant O scale locomotive announcement in a decade. 

Not my era but certainly one of, if not the most significant locomotive of the past 50 years. 

Tell me again how O scale is dying?

Not "the most significant O Scale locomotive announcement in a decade"  if those who want a particular SD40-2 and it can't be made because of tooling cost. Especially when it is popular roads. We will wait and see how this all pans out. I will not be ordering any.

Stephen

I dabble in a couple of different scales. HO being one of them. This announcement got me thinking about the recent announcement by ScaleTrains for their "Rivet Counter" SD40-2. Apparently it will feature not only road specific details, but road number specific details. If I were a betting man I would bet that the HO model will be more detailed and accurate. I could be wrong, we'll see. List prices are $199.99 vs. $729.99 both having DCC and sound factory installed. I'm working on both an O scale switching pike and an HO module right now. I'm not sure which way I'm going to go on these now that I've thought about it a bit. I'll probably wait to see the SD7 first before making a decision.

Jonathan, Certainly understand your situation, but this is a great problem to have. 

Unless you make your tooling modular, similar to Scaletrains.com and Athearn Genesis are doing to allow for more of that road and roadnumber specific details it will be hard to match that level of accuracy.  So here in lies an opportunity, do the SD40-2 in phases, it's got such a long life span, many multiple owner locomotives, modifications, etc.  If you're looking at the higher end line, this is almost a must, if you're wanting to minimize the variations then it may not matter except for just breaking them up into multiple runs from a production standpoint.   The SD40-2 can easily be a cornerstone product in one's product line if done correctly.

nw2124 posted:

Rule292 posted:

Probably the most significant O scale locomotive announcement in a decade. 

Not my era but certainly one of, if not the most significant locomotive of the past 50 years. 

Tell me again how O scale is dying?

Not "the most significant O Scale locomotive announcement in a decade"  if those who want a particular SD40-2 and it can't be made because of tooling cost. Especially when it is popular roads. We will wait and see how this all pans out. I will not be ordering any.

Stephen

Stephen,

Since you were interested in Midwestern Model Works locomotives, after Sunset’s announcement related to the SD40-2, do you think Erik will still be offering the same model as his next project?

From following Sunset’s announcement in the email newsletter & from following the comments on the 2-rail & 3RS forum, I get the impression that Sunset will be offering road specific details for the popular road names. So that leaves Erik to offer SD40-2 in the less popular road names that have unique details that Sunset couldn’t economically make.

As a disclaimer I am not interested in the SD40-2 but I would be interested in the next project, Erik has on his website, the AC4400CW.

These are just my opinion,

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan