Neil Rogers Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 http://www.flipgorilla.com/p/23023990364711720/show#/23023990364711720/70 ROCO just announced HO EMD SD40 page 69-71 interesting! Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted January 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 15, 2014 The CSX livery is rather tempting. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Very interesting. Tempted by the SF, how do we think it compares to the Bachmann offering which I was contemplating. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted January 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 15, 2014 The new Roco Czech outline locos are superbly done so if the SD40 is done to the same standard then it's likely to be very nice. roco tend to use Zimo decoders which give excellent sound aswell. The only concern will be whether they do RP25 wheel profiles as European wheel flanges are quite coarse compared to Uk and American modern models Ian Edited to RP25! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 The CSX livery is rather tempting. Ian That looks like it would have been an ex-Conrail unit, upgraded to -2, (called SD40-2R), possibly retired by now. Basically, the PRR, Conrail, and CSX units would be different time periods in the life of the same series of locos. Based on the numbers in the photos, the PRR one would have been 1966 into the first years of Penn Central (maybe 1970 before it got repainted?), Conrail would have been sometime after 1976 (i.e. when it got repainted) until rebuilt into an SD40-2R in 1993 (number changed), and the CSX unit would have been sometime after 1999 (again, when it got repainted) to ?. Correction: The CSX unit is ex-Clinchfield/Seaboard, so didn't come through Conrail. Livery is late-80s. If build to European standards we'd be looking at some 250-ish euro for a detail level that'll set a new benchmark for US railroad modelling. I wonder if they'll do the Golden Beaver or Dual Flags paint scheme on the remainder of the once extensive CPRail fleet of SD40-2's, now that would be tempting 274 Euros according to the catalog pages. Note that these are SD40s, not the longer-frame SD40-2s. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted January 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 15, 2014 That looks like it would have been an ex-Conrail unit, upgraded to -2, (called SD40-2R), possibly retired by now. Basically, the PRR, Conrail, and CSX units would be different time periods in the life of the same series of locos. 274 Euros according to the catalog pages. Note that these are SD40s, not the longer-frame SD40-2s. Adrian The CSX livery depicted is prior to the Conrail take over by CSX and NS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 The only concern will be whether they do RO25 wheel profiles as European wheel flanges are quite coarse compared to Uk and American modern models Ian It does actually state low profile wheels in the text. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 The CSX livery depicted is prior to the Conrail take over by CSX and NS Sorry, you are correct. That would be an ex Clinchfield and Seaboard unit, not an ex-Conrail one. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbb Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Not sure how competitive the prices are even with sound option. For non-sound customers the current RTR Athearn ones would seem to offer a similar spec. for a lot less...and Athean wheels are to RP25 standard too. Also Intermountain and now Bowser are offering SD40's so as Dutch_master pointed out they have some competition to do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Accurascale Fran Posted January 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 15, 2014 Not sure how competitive the prices are even with sound option. For non-sound customers the current RTR Athearn ones would seem to offer a similar spec. for a lot less...and Athean wheels are to RP25 standard too. Also Intermountain and now Bowser are offering SD40's so as Dutch_master pointed out they have some competition to do. They're SD40s that roco are doing, not the SD40-2. There are currently no SD40s in production. The Athearn model tooling is worn out and Kato no longer produce theirs. I'd expect Athearn to do a genesis model this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
torikoos Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 ROCO has been using RP25 wheels for many years, particularly when they were still independent. Since they went bankrupt, bought up by a german company, merged with Fleischmann, and ended up with a mixed catalog of both former brands, I don't know if RP25 wheels are still as universally used. However, if Roco is back to it's former self with up to date tooling, then this will definitely have a very good chance of being the new benchmark to beat for a mass produced US loco. I hope they've done their homework, and get it right first time round. I could use another SP SD40®. Koos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
torikoos Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Very interesting. Tempted by the SF, how do we think it compares to the Bachmann offering which I was contemplating. When released, it will likely run circles around the Bachmann offering, but it will also have a higher price (although not at Marklin levels...) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Not sure how competitive the prices are even with sound option. For non-sound customers the current RTR Athearn ones would seem to offer a similar spec. for a lot less...and Athean wheels are to RP25 standard too. Also Intermountain and now Bowser are offering SD40's so as Dutch_master pointed out they have some competition to do. No, Intermountain and Bowser are offering SD40-2s, which are a totally different loco. (Sorry, writing that crossed with 071) This is an Athearn SD40 from the last run (2011): http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH89815 Price converts (directly, converting list price, not including any currency or import issues) to just under £80 - mech is good, there is partial stand-off detailing (it's mostly done, but no windscreen wipers, or pilot detail) - you also get road specific options, so this one has a road specific plow, horn, side mount bell and so on...no sound option. The Kato has a fabulous mech - detail is not road specific, my best guess (as it's been a few years since a run) is that it would come in about 10 to 20 percent above the Athearn, and you're paying for some nice engineering in that. That's the competition... A non-sound Roco one will work out about £160 (again, directly) for a non-sound - so double the Athearn, and roughly competitive with Genesis, who these days appear to be building specific models of specific loco's not generic shells with a few customising detail parts stuck on - so if that's the competition then Roco will have their work cut out to both create tooling that allows that level of customisation, and make it accurate for an increasingly demanding market (rightly so, at the price point) - and research and prepare the details for each version... Can they manage that? I don't know, and will watch with interest. They have been reasonably canny in picking schemes and liveries that might allow lots of liveries without too many variations - they are all DB equipped, most are "early years" prototype images when the spec was close to EMD factory spec - but there's still variations. High and low brake cylinders, horns, plows, and the hard one will be the nose headlight and ditch lights on the BNSF - is it important to do them? Well, Genesis has been paying that level of attention... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stock_2007 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 The RTR ATHEARN SD40 I believe has the Railpower body. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Wonder how impressions remaining from the Atlas-Roco tie-up from years ago will effect its reception in the US Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Agree Tim - although at the time (a bit of googling suggests it's from way back circa 1975 - well before Kato, and with little competition except early Athearn 'widebody' EMDs or 'toys') I think they were a lot more competitive as models than they now look! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Certainly make life more interesting if this is just the start.... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prof Klyzlr Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Dear RNWebbers, Anybody notice the "true to original claw coupling" comment? Happy Modelling,Aim to Improve,Prof Klyzlr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Dear RNWebbers, Anybody notice the "true to original claw coupling" comment? Happy Modelling, Aim to Improve, Prof Klyzlr Google translate perhaps? Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridwatcher Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Interesting move? Chasing a bigger market. Pricing will be crucial. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
torikoos Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Interesting move? Chasing a bigger market. Pricing will be crucial. Pricing is going to be hard for a european manufacturer, that in the case of Roco , does all the work in their own facilities, they do not subcontract any modelmaking to others at this time, so they will need to offer superb quality (don't think that's an issue) and correct road specific detailing instead (to be seen). They do describe several separately applied (and partly etched) parts, which seems to indicate they can adapt it to several variants. (also I have seen that some of their german models have build in cameras to get an engineers view of your layout, if they offer that on this model in future then I'm sure they will get some additional sales)... Did anyone notice that one page further, they also offer snow fighting equipment based on a european manufacturer in several US roads. (hope they are also correct, and not fantasy models). Koos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 CSX have a real Beilhack one: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=172976 Don't know whether they are all entirely accurate, but there is some basis in reality for that one at least! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted January 16, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 16, 2014 Interesting move. If Roco get it right then the US market is very lucrative however standards are already very high at the premium end and some of the cheaper models actually give a very good basic model with a good mechanism at a very attractive price. Which means that Roco have to both get it right and be competitively priced. Technically there is no doubt that Roco are capable of producing an outstanding model but whether they are any better than other high end US models is debatable so I'm guessing a lot will come down to price. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Interesting move. If Roco get it right then the US market is very lucrative however standards are already very high at the premium end and some of the cheaper models actually give a very good basic model with a good mechanism at a very attractive price. Which means that Roco have to both get it right and be competitively priced. Technically there is no doubt that Roco are capable of producing an outstanding model but whether they are any better than other high end US models is debatable so I'm guessing a lot will come down to price. It will also come down to availability. They will have to get their product into a sensible distribution chain and have sufficient publicity that people will notice it. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
torikoos Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 The only negative I've found so far is the fact that it will employ some traction tires, I don't know why European manufacturers still insist on those awful things. they aren't really needed, particularly for US railroad models, where quite regularly we operate with multi unit lash ups. DCC gives us better motor control too, so a lot more torque can applied at low speeds. Perhaps that's something we need to lobby them for :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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