Thoughts on MTH's new Heritage units

Hi, David.

 

I don't own a model; however, I have had the chance to see one. The newly delivered GE ES44AC units painted in the heritage schemes feature a number of changes in external appearance which are recent enough that they have yet to be reproduced by a model manufacturer in any scale. Some of the most readily identifiable features are the notch in the nose for a nose mounted headlight, location of the nose door, lack of glass on the nose door and a horizontally mounted rear headlight.

 

From rrpicturearchives.net, here's the 8098 which illustrates these features:

    

 

The 8025, the Monongahela unit, was built as part of a previous delivery and features a nose door with glass:

 

 

MTH's ES44AC represents an earlier production version so there are a number of differences between the model and the NS prototypes. The MTH model has the door mounted on the left/Conductor's side of the nose's center whereas these NS units have it on the right/Engineer's side. In addition, the model's door has the glass window which is correct only for the Monongahela unit, albeit the door is on the other side. Also, the MTH model has a vertical rear headlight, unlike the horizontal configuration of the NS units. As I stated above, there are other differences but I focused on these select few as they tend to be the easiest to notice. I can't comment on the operation as I didn't see the model run and I was focused on checking the details as I was most interested in this aspect from my own perspective.

 

I expect there will be those who'll say I'm being too picky. I'm not taking sides one way or the other. You asked about the details and I feel I'd be remiss if I didn't point out these discrepancies. It is up to each individual to determine if the model suits his or her needs. That said, I hope you've found this information of some use.

 

Regards,

 

Bob   

I have seen a video of the original NS engine. It appears to sound and run just as good as previously run ES44's. Also I have seen the same engine as well as the Conrail version at Nicholas Smith, very well painted and decorated. Like the above poster stated it does have discrepancies.

 

Bill

I saw original NS ES44ac at my LHS this past weekend.  I had them run it for me. The horn sounded good but to me the crewtalk was muffled.  Having the rear oscillating marker lights is nice feature. I asked MTH this last Fall if it would have ground lights.  They told me it would, but I did not see them.  Nicely painted, but I am going to wait for Lionel's version.

Bob,

 

Thanks for the great info. Disappointing that MTH did not go the extra mile to include those details. Although I doubt Lionel will get it right either, I'll take a look at them at my LHS and York in a couple of weeks before I make a decision.