New Lionel SD45's

645 posted:

The 400 was to be used on a photo charter freight in April which I attended. We used the BN SD9 instead which was temporarily relettered as 'C&S 839' but still in BN green.

In regards to 400 this is what I was told: There was a problem with it not being able to go over 20 mph after coming out of winter storage and museum personnel could not figure out what was wrong so it was sent to BNSF's Northtown diesel shop for evaluation. The shop put it on the load tester and revved it up then the crankshaft broke. While MTM (Minnesota Transportation Museum) operates the 400 it is owned by the GNRHS (Great Northern Railway Historical Society). The GNRHS is supposed to be looking for a replacement crankshaft plus figure how out to pay for same plus repair time/labor. Unknown is when 400 may be operational again.

Thanks for the clarification, even though it's crappy news. So much for Matts photo session... 

Lionlman posted:

I received my Southern Railway SD45s from Brian at Legacy Station earlier this week.

Neal Jeter 

Do you mind posting a few pics?

Southern Railway SD45s

Havent seen these in person. Are the paint on these shiney, satin or dull. Hard to tell from the pics on this thread. Especially  interested in the Penn Central version.

Here are a couple of shots of the GN 400.  

This next picture doesn't show as well as I would have liked; the orange on the SD45 is less red than the GP35.  The SD45 closely matches the GP7 in color.  

Also, the finish on the SD45 is less glossy than the GP35. As I look at them all together, the gloss contributes to the odd look of the GP35.

Just for fun, here it is compared to an Atlas RS1.  It does have a redder tint.

jini5 posted:

Havent seen these in person. Are the paint on these shiney, satin or dull. Hard to tell from the pics on this thread. Especially  interested in the Penn Central version.

I just received the Erie Lackawanna version (will post pictures later). I think the paint is definitely on the matte (not shiny) side. It's a nice-looking model. Good amount of detail. Would be interesting to compare next to the MTH model but I only plan on having one of them.

Here's the video I promised on Thursday....

TX_Steven posted:

Just for fun, here it is compared to an Atlas RS1.  It does have a redder tint.

In my opinion, THAT sure is NOT "Omaha Orange" on that Lionel SD45 model.

TX_Steven posted:

Just for fun, here it is compared to an Atlas RS1.  It does have a redder tint.

I am with Hot Water on this one. Lionel still can't get it right. That is definitely not Omaha Orange on the SD 45. So instead of correcting the obvious, they use the same incorrect color again. So Atlas, MTH, and even Williams can get it right, but not Lionel and then expect you to pay $700.00  plus. At least most of the details on the engine itself  are correct. 

Rocky the Goat is screaming.  The Orange is not right.

Dominic Mazoch posted:

Rocky the Goat is screaming.  The Orange is not right.

Rocky the Goat is so mad and ****ed, that he turned Chinese red.

D&H 65 posted:

Here's the video I promised on Thursday....

Very nice!  I can hear the freight sounds car too!   It seems like the sounds on the locomotive are nice and deep.

Love the sounds at idle on my SP. 

It might be Chinese Red because the factory employees used the Burlington paint chips. 

falconservice posted:

It might be Chinese Red because the factory employees used the Burlington paint chips. 

CBQ SD45s came delivered in the Cascade Green and Black with the hockey stick white stripes on the side. I think Lionel just came up with a new version of Omah orange because they could and people would still buy them. As for Chinese  red that would be a very faded version that was seen in the west. My guess true reason was person was color blind.

Has there ever been an O scale 1969-1970 BURLINGTON Cascade Green SD45 diesel loco factory painted in China or the USA?

Has there ever been an O scale 1967-1970 GREAT NORTHERN Big Sky Blue SD45 diesel loco factory painted in China or the USA? 

Andrew

Maybe in 2R. Reality is from GN#411-415  were delivered in the BSB scheme, but everyone wants the simplified Empire Builder scheme.

TX_Steven posted:

Just for fun, here it is compared to an Atlas RS1.  It does have a redder tint.

Very disappointing. Lionel gets the Omaha Orange completely wrong again. The correct Atlas RS1 shows how much redder the Lionel color is, as does the prototype pictured below. Lionel's engine is nowhere close. It's so dark it's even hard to read the Hustle Muscle lettering.

breezinup posted:

TX_Steven posted:

Just for fun, here it is compared to an Atlas RS1.  It does have a redder tint.

Very disappointing. Lionel gets the Omaha Orange completely wrong again. The correct Atlas RS1 shows how much redder the Lionel color is, as does the prototype pictured below. Lionel's engine is nowhere close. It's so dark it's even hard to read the Hustle Muscle lettering.

The disadvantages of pre-ordering and Lionel not listening to there customers. But then again they got there money upfront. 

Mill City posted:

645 posted:

The 400 was to be used on a photo charter freight in April which I attended. We used the BN SD9 instead which was temporarily relettered as 'C&S 839' but still in BN green.

In regards to 400 this is what I was told: There was a problem with it not being able to go over 20 mph after coming out of winter storage and museum personnel could not figure out what was wrong so it was sent to BNSF's Northtown diesel shop for evaluation. The shop put it on the load tester and revved it up then the crankshaft broke. While MTM (Minnesota Transportation Museum) operates the 400 it is owned by the GNRHS (Great Northern Railway Historical Society). The GNRHS is supposed to be looking for a replacement crankshaft plus figure how out to pay for same plus repair time/labor. Unknown is when 400 may be operational again.

Thanks for the clarification, even though it's crappy news. So much for Matts photo session... 

Rumor has it that BNSF has donated ex-Santa Fe SD45-2 (GN 6470) to be a parts donor. Will they swap crankshafts, or whole prime movers?

Sam Jumper posted:

Rumor has it that BNSF has donated ex-Santa Fe SD45-2 (GN 6470) to be a parts donor. Will they swap crankshafts, or whole prime movers?

The logical thing to do would be to swap out the complete prime mover, as the "Dash-2" series units have a more advanced 20-645E3B prime mover. Removing the engine, splitting the crankcase & oil pan, removing the old crankshaft and inspecting and possibly line boring the all the main bearings, would be VERY labor intensive, and STILL wouldn't provide an newer 20 cylinder 645 engine anyway.

Sam Jumper posted:

Mill City posted:

645 posted:

The 400 was to be used on a photo charter freight in April which I attended. We used the BN SD9 instead which was temporarily relettered as 'C&S 839' but still in BN green.

In regards to 400 this is what I was told: There was a problem with it not being able to go over 20 mph after coming out of winter storage and museum personnel could not figure out what was wrong so it was sent to BNSF's Northtown diesel shop for evaluation. The shop put it on the load tester and revved it up then the crankshaft broke. While MTM (Minnesota Transportation Museum) operates the 400 it is owned by the GNRHS (Great Northern Railway Historical Society). The GNRHS is supposed to be looking for a replacement crankshaft plus figure how out to pay for same plus repair time/labor. Unknown is when 400 may be operational again.

Thanks for the clarification, even though it's crappy news. So much for Matts photo session... 

Rumor has it that BNSF has donated ex-Santa Fe SD45-2 (GN 6470) to be a parts donor. Will they swap crankshafts, or whole prime movers?

6470 was an ex ATSF unit awaiting scraping. My guess it would be more cost effective to overhaul and transplant the engine and possibly some other components to rebuild 400. 

SUZUKOVICH,

You apparently have no idea how much it would take/cost to "overhaul" a 20-645E3B engine.

Hot Water posted:

SUZUKOVICH,

You apparently have no idea how much it would take/cost to "overhaul" a 20-645E3B engine.

Your right but common since rule applies.  If They have to replace the crankshaft they will have to replace other engine components that were damaged. The crankshaft still has to be inspected and refurbished. Either way they will have to rebuild the engine. So if I going to spend the money to fix one engine, I might as well consider the cost of dropping in a new engine and associated cost to include a overhaul. The engine was on that line for a reason and unless it was overhauled recently no doubt it's a high milage engine. Since if it's true and 6470 was donated the initial cost is no longer there and so they are already saving money. 

suzukovich posted:

6470 was an ex ATSF unit awaiting scraping. My guess it would be more cost effective to overhaul and transplant the engine and possibly some other components to rebuild 400. 

I don't know where it was, or ultimately where it's going, but it's on the move. Last week GN 6470 arrived in Topeka, KS. No word on what GNHS will do with 6470 when they're done.

In the video of the Lionel Southern Pacific SD45, does anyone else hear a slight bell ring/clang when the horn is sounded?  This same bell clang sound occurs when I blow "full horn" on all five of my new Lionel GP9 engines. Lionel has said that the clang (or "chirp" as Lionel calls it) is true to the correct sound file. If the sound is eased into slowly with the 990 Remote, the clang/chirp dos not sound on the GP9 engines.

Do you hear the bell sound at full horn?

I picked up  the Lionel SD45 " Hustle Muscle" from my friends at Eastside Trains.  I think it is a fantastic engine!  The color is an almost perfect match with the Great Northern aluminum passenger cars from many years ago, as shown in the first picture, which was shot by a Nikon 3100 in my dining room under natural light conditions.  The other three are from my train room, again with the Nikon camera, shot  in a mixture of natural light and flood lights.  I included a close up of the words printed under the "H"  it is really small print and a nice touch.    The last picture, I got off the internet, in  all honestly,  I don't see much difference, but I know some of you really care about small differences, and I can appreciate that point of view.   

I did notice that there is no Legacy module, not sure what is up with that (the one page insert in the instructions on how to load the module was missing as well.  The engine did not run in conventional mode using my CW-80 transformer (in Legacy it did),  it ran fine in conventional using my ZW (the one with the 180 bricks), so the problem is with the CW-80, which I was going to replace with the MTH Z1000.  

I think this one is a keeper.

Whatever a person is satisfied with, that's all that really matters. For me, however, the new SD45 shade of orange is considerably off the mark. That's very clear from the comparison of the Lionel SD45 to the Atlas O model (their color fidelity is unsurpassed), and also to the actual GN paint chip. The Lionel SD45 orange, like their SD35, is way too red.

Also, to me, I can see the difference between the orange on the Lionel passenger cars (from the 1991 set, I believe) and that on the SD45. Put one of the matching F-3s from that set nose-to-nose with the SD45, and I think the difference will be clear.  

Showing photos of the museum SD45 is not of great help; there are too many variables of lighting, among other things, as shown in the last two photos below. But even the bottom-most heavily saturated photo does not have the reddish tone to the degree of the Lionel model.

But, as noted above, this is just one person's opinion. Others may not notice a difference, or it may not matter. It's just an individual view; opinions will vary, obviously. What matters is only what a given person is happy with.

Page Eight GN COLOR CHIPS - SCANNED, PANTONE, RGB & HEXADECIMAL SCANNED GN Paint Chips:

I agree If you happy with it then your happy. But Lionel can't say they had matched the paichips. I to could see the difference on the passenger car. Also I my just be the lighting or the Lionel version of Omaha Orange but the Pullman Green has a slight bluish tint to it.  For me I already  the MTH #400. So for me it would be one of the other road numbers and the possibility  of repaint to the BSB scheme then make it a BN patch job. The other ting I was looking at is the possibility of bleed over since they obviously painted the shell Pullman Green first. They may of just need to apply a second coat.

Seems the GN Historical group has the paint chip.  I would guess DuPont, Pittsburgh Paint, or SWP has the chip.  I would guess Warren Buffet and/or BNSF has the chip.  Wile E fail on the part of Big L.

D&H 65 posted:

The box end flap lists the minimum radius as 0-54.

 

Regarding the minimum,  the instructions also say on page 4 "Your locomotive requires Lionel compatible 0-54 or larger track curves when coupled to some freight cars. Your locomotive will negotiate an 0-36 curve independently and with most scale freight cars."

So I tested the SD-45 on my 0-36 inch curves and it did negotiate them.  However, it does clip the nub on the switch machine on Atlas switches.  I have the same problem with other engines on my 54 inch curves, so I just clipped the nub off.  

So technically it will run on 0-36 curves, but you will need to check clearance for overhang, and make sure you couple it to a freight car that is scale.  

Thanks for the reply, Brewman1973. I have some 042 curves on my layout, so I may try to get one of these, if I still can.

I see light spilling out from under the Southern Pacific #8820 nose horizontal headlights.  Is this engine supposed to have light shinning out under the nose headlights?

I believe what you are seeing is the reflection of the headlights bouncing off the sheet metal (plastic) of the body. Is it the triangular patch that you are seeing?

Charlie

Out of curiousity, I shot a couple of comparison photos of Lionel's Post War Celebration Great Northern EP-5 next to their Legacy GP-9 (which I borrowed from a friend). (The EP-5 would be about the same color as that older Lionel F-3 set with the passenger cars mentioned above.) The picture of the SD45 and the Atlas O engine is reproduced at the bottom for comparison.

As can be seen, the orange paint colors between the EP-5 and the Geep are radically different, with the Geep heavily into a red tint. The SD45 is about the same color as the Geep (reportedly maybe even a tad redder than the Geep is). The EP-5 and the Atlas O engine are pretty similar.

The variation is fine with some, and that's great. Just not for this pilgrim.

Can someone clue me in how to manually load the legacy without the orange module? Thanks right now it comes up in cab-1 on the screen.

I just opened up my Penn Central SD45 and tried it out.  This thing is a brute!  The only issue I had was when I had it coupled to an Atlas O SD35 dummy unit.  The coupler on the SD45 wanted to ride up on the Atlas coupler.   After one lap around the layout the couplers were engaged by only about 1/8".   After further inspection, I found that the Atlas coupler sits somewhat lower than most of my other locomotive couplers.  I coupled it to a Lionel GP35 dummy unit and the couplers matched up quite well.

I was concerned about the advertised 0-54 minimum radius as I have 0-42 maximum radius curves on my layout.  I did a solo test run to check clearances and tracking.  I then coupled it to a train with the before mentioned Atlas O SD35 in the consist.  The semi-fixed pilots worked well with the swinging pilots of the SD35. I then put the GP35 in the consist and got excellent results. 

Here is a video I shot of the SD45 in action.  (Sorry about the unsteady picture.  I was trying to operate the camera and the Cab-1 at the same time.)

Tom

Any pictures of the Union Pacific SD45? 

Regards, 

Swafford

wb47 posted:

Can someone clue me in how to manually load the legacy without the orange module? Thanks right now it comes up in cab-1 on the screen.

Push the info button and change the control to LEG. You turn the red knob to scroll through the options then use the keys under the screen to make your selection.