Anybody have one and what are your thoughts on it?
Thanks,
Dave
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Dave, I have one of these and I like it. It's RailKing so not true scale and it is also non-prototypical. The real thing is an SD-60, not an SD-70ACe (the Premier version is an SD-60). I also haven't looked closely at the paint to see if what differences there are as compared to the prototype but again, it's RailKing and I am not a rivet counter at all.
Last year I wanted a new diesel to run on my Christmas layout. MTH has a green Christmas engine but when I saw the First Responders, I thought "I could run that all year" and I just happen to like red. It looks right at home on my Christmas layout.
When I first got it, it had an intermittent issue of stalling at slow speeds through switches. As it turned out, one of the pickup roller arms was not as free moving as it should be. A bit of tweaking around the pivot and some lube cured the problem. I had the same problem on a NS ES44AC (I pretty sure they use the same trucks).
The only thing I don't care for are the station announcements. Instead of the usual freight sounds, you get a "hey, check that out" sort of thing. It's fine, just not my cup of tea. But that should be easily fixed as there is a NS SD-70ACe that should have a sound file that could replace the one that comes with it.
IMHO, it's a solid buy for around $350.
Tony
Thanks Tony, I also have the veterans set so I know the engines are not prototypical but it looks great and runs even better.
I Have been looking at the first responders set so I will get one soon.
Dave
