Looks like MTH will do the SD60E

I like NS's SD60 rebuild program..dam pretty engine. I am DCS so MTH it will be when they are released.

I already Pre-Ordered my Lionel "First Responder" SD60 through Trainworld.  If MTH releases one, I'll be tempted to purchase that one as well.

 

Chief Bob (Retired)

I'm in for the MTH "Honoring Our Veterans" engine.

 

Pricing is more attractive than Lionel's also.

Well there goes the wallet again for not sitting on the sidelines for these MTH releases.  Just hope the rolling stock is a bust or this is gonna hurt.  November alone is bad enough with the business train expected and the BNSF Golden Swoosh. 

 

Thanks for posting the pic.

Glad MTH is doing it.

For what its worth I think MTH will do a better job with both appearance and sound. I guess we'll just wait and see. 

Who will be the first to bring up grape Kool Aid? Orange Kool Aid was widely discussed on the Lionel 2015 VII thread. 

 

JohnB

I think you just did.

I will be getting one of the 9-1-1 units,  being a fire fire fighter it's unique,  heres a short story,  I work for Norfolk Southern in Altoona,  one day we had a structure fire and was in charge, so I went into work alittle late and at lunch time,  I was asked to hook batteries up on a special unit,  so of course I said I would,  well wouldn't you know when I went into the paint shop there was the first responders unit.  I thought it was pretty cool that not only was I on a structure fire that day but I got to give life to the first responders unit.  Proud NS worker right here.

Bill T,

     Yes but I have not accused anyone of drinking the grape Kool Aid. If I did it would probably be Paul:

---

    

What color does it turn to if you like both flavers???

I got that email yesterday.  I will be ordering that one for sure.  I will run it with pride on my Union Pacific layout to honor those great Americans who gave all on 9/11.  GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!

John,

 

    It is called Punch and I do like it.

 

JohnB

I think I will go with the MTH once it comes out. I have the MTH will more accurate sounds, and I'm also predicting a scale fuel tank since I'm thinking the Lionel will have one smaller for switches, and the price ($499 retail) looks a little more friendly than the $649 retail of the Lionel. Now, I just have to make decision between the 9-1-1 and 6920..

Interesting that both major importers would do the SD60E's at the exact same time.  Gives credence to my decades-old, tongue-in-cheek theory that there's really just one toy train manufacturer over in China.  And they just change the name of the sign outside the buildings depending on which executive is in town visiting that week!!! 

 

Assuming both importers produce a reasonably similar model in terms of detail (including an accurately sized fuel tank), that pretty much leaves price, paint-finish and sound as potential determining factors.

 

MTH will probably be $50-$75 less expensive (street-price) than Lionel.  And that may or may not be enough to sway folks... depending more on finish and sound preferences.  MTH did the NS Heritage fleet in a flat, satin finish... which tends to accentuate the details in the ABS plastic.  Lionel, on the other hand, chose to go with the high gloss, straight-from-the-paint-shop look.  So that may very well be the real decision-maker right there, if the same holds true with the SD60E finishes between the two importers.

 

Lionel will probably get the tip-of-the-hat for sounds, as Legacy Railsounds remains largely unsurpassed in the market today.

 

Unfortunately, with the SD60E's falling into the BTO camp, there will likely only be a limited number available as "extra's" for folks to make the comparison AFTER these units arrive Stateside.

 

As for the Kool-Aid discussion... That only happened in the other thread 'cause there are folks who believe it's OK for Lionel to charge whatever price it wants, so long as it guarantees the company will be back next year to charge yet even higher prices.   And while that may be all well and good from a mathematics perspective, it overlooks the fact that most model train enthusiasts already have more trains than their great grandchildren will ever need.    So why trip over themselves shelling out premium dollars just to make Lionel's inflated price model work?    It's not like any of us NEEDS this stuff.  Rather it's probably more accurate to say, most of us now fall into the category where it's just nice to refresh our roster every once in awhile with a new item or two.    The importers know this too, but you'd never know it by the prices on some of the new stuff.

 

David

 

 

I'm curious if Lionel would offer some specific crew talk to these to sway more to a Lionel preorder now that the information from MTH is out.

 

 

Recently it's been reserved for VL items but I wonder if demand for it would sway Lionel to add it for the First Responder and Veterans units.

David,

    Have you been to the grocery store lately.....a dozen eggs are almost $4, a few months ago a little above a dollar. Same with a gallon of milk. Your right we don't need to buy trains so why loose sleep over a price increase when you can say no to it. Can't do that to food.

    Anyway not only do I drink the Orange Kool Aid.......I bath in it.

 

JohnB

All locomotives come gloss painted, (not sure the unfinished gray ones are flat) on models it makes them very toy like rather than scale appearing. The normal Atlas/Lionel/MTH satin looks great and is pretty easy to clean as well.

BobbyD,

 

     What railroad do you watch? I watch the NS and all the heritage engines have a glossy paint job as do the First Responders and the Veterans SD60Es. The normal NS black engines look to use a flat or satin finish paint even when clean.....which you don't see often. The NS does do a good job keeping the heritage engines clean although sometimes you do catch one dirty.

 

JohnB

Would there be anything other than the specific train or engine number? Maybe Forward/Reverse/Grade Crossing horn selections rather than crew talk?

Or "crew talk" between crew members?

My advice.  Buy what you like and don't let anyone rain Kool-Aid on your parade.  There will always be folks who will use any reason and witty cliches' to justify their point of view.

 

Both Lionel and MTH will produce fine models with pluses and minuses of each.  It just depends on what you are looking for in a model and who can delivery those options.

Speaking of bathing (as in Lourdes or York) and visits to the various meccas of model trains, is it correcct that MTH no longer is spreading their gospel, as do Lionel, Atlas and 3rd Rail by advertising in OGR and those other company's magazines?  Is print media dead for MTH?  Will they advertise this new loco in print media?

 

Then again I notice MTH is not a forum sponsor at present.  Is that a change?

 

Is this a hiatus or an alteration in plan?  Inquiring critical thinkers (who drink only overpriced  bottled sparkling water) are interested in what, if anything, is up with the advertising strategies?

this is great!  I must have missed the email, but MTH will get my $$ on this one over Lionel

My entire scale NS roster is MTH, so getting this one from MTH makes sense.  I can use the 1 control system, run it together with my other units, etc

 

The lower price is also a factor 

       
       


Thanks, I thought so.  Yeah you were pretty close to where I volunteer,  I'm up in Morrisdale right outside Philipsburg.  These are 2 hobbies that are expensive and time consuming,  but volunteering at one and working for the other never gets old.

Good Day,

 

Does the MTH SD60E announcement describe the features of the engines? Any pictures?

 

Regards,

Swafford

Well let's see, I ride a Harley Davidson (anything HD costs lots of money), I collect and shoot guns (they are expensive, but last forever) and I operate O gauge trains.  Yes, I agree some of the locomotives are pricey, but really...buy a Lionel Legacy or MTH Premier locomotive, remove the body and look at the electronics, that is one big reason they cost so much.  Anyway, my enjoyment that I get out of my hobbies is worth the price I have to pay to support my hobbies.  However, yesterday a friend of mine with a huge HO layout was showing me a locomotive he was buying on a web site.  The locomotive he was looking at costs $185.00, ha!  in O gauge $300.00 would have been added to that. 

I was thinking along the lines of what's been done before with say the VL GE EVO where the dispatcher (or engineer) states: "General Electric 2010 stand by (waiting) for track orders".

That's awesome!  I often drive by the NS Altoona plant at lunch to see what you guys have sitting outside.  Never know what you will see.........

What craft are you? I was a conductor until an off-duty auto accident got me disqualified medically. I'm still an NS employee, to help me get back to work they're paying for me to go to school. I too am a proud NS employee.

 

Bill

I had heard that MTH would be offering the First Responders SD60E.  I don't know if they will also offer the Veterans SD60E.  I have preordered the Lionel versions.

 

While I have a pretty large roster of MTH engines (over 30) and a slightly smaller roster of Lionel (TMCC and Legacy) engines, I do prefer Legacy over DCS.  I, of course, run both systems, but I do find Legacy to be less finicky.  And, the Legacy sounds are just awesome. 

 

The Lionel versions were a sure thing, and at time I preordered them, the MTH versions were very likely, but not guaranteed.  In general, if the same engine is available from both companies, I will go with Lionel.  But, if it is only available from MTH, I don't hesitate buy the MTH version.

       
       

I'm certain of they are making First Responders they'll make a Veterans unit too. As for Legacy sounds...I feel they are better in quality but MTH wins when it comes to sound accuracy. That is partly a big reason I will be going MTH.

While an MTH version would be my first preference, I reread the MTH email and it basically says "Guess what we're making for the fall catalog" and shows a photo of the actual 9-1-1.  Nothing about the Veterans or Go Rail.  List price of $499.  The email makes no mention of an SD60E specific model either, unlike the Lionel catalog that says new tooling for the SD60E with the Crescent cab.

 

MTH's 2015 v1 lists SD60M models for $499.  Unless MTH is finally investing in new tooling, it seems to me there is a good chance of that M-model run extended for the 2016 v1 9-1-1 scheme at the same list price.  Hopefully not, but given the in-depth discussion about tooling and recovery costs on the Forum, perhaps we should breath before we hyperventilate for what may or may not be a correct E-model 9-1-1, Vets, and Go Rail versions from Mike.

 

Lionel is playing tough business with earlier catalogs and by ending BTO preorders on October 13 (according to Trainworld).  MTH's catalog is out October 21.  If MTH wants the orders and business for these popular models, it would be helpful to customers to show a little more "leg", so to speak, and offer more details over the next few weeks.   

 

Cheers,

Bryan    

 

Bryan, I hope that is not that case, as I think MTH would leave a lot of potential sales on the table.  I'm sure people would buy it just based on the scheme, but If it has a 60M cab & not the correct 60E one, that would drive a lot of the sales in the hands of Lionel 

Christopher,

I agree with you completely.  I'm not a total rivet counter, but the model/Crescent cab is a big rivet to me and will drive my purchase decision.  I have more MTH engines than I care to admit, but I won't hesitate to go with Lionel to get the right SD60E at a pre-order price.  At this point, there's no sense in MTH just teasing us and not disclosing details of their SD60? engine(s).  Keeping details under wraps to generate York buzz is so 20th century, but that's food for another thread.    

 

Best regards and congratulations on a really nice new layout! 

Bryan

 

       
       


Hi Bill,
Glad to hear your still with the company! �� I am a electrician.

       
       


Mr Union Pacific,
I could have worked that alittle better,  they price has gone up but that's to be expected,  I don't care what the price I'd still buy these units,  I spend a lot of money every year on this great hobby but the  bottom line is it gets expensive but that's the nature of the beast,  as many have said it's not like we have to buy them but I too support my hobbies too.

A BIG AMEN TO THAT!