What SD45s Need to be Made?

Chicago & North Western had distinct color and graphic versions.

The 1960's Traditional Yellow and Serif numbering scheme.

The 1980's Safety Yellow and large Sans-Serif numbering scheme

 

 

Andrew

 

Falcon Service

St. Louis South Western SSW "Cotton Belt" to be specific about the road name.

 

Andrew

And some SDP45's would be nice.

You could revise your list again by railroads in the East and West.

 

Andrew 

MTH has produced the following SD45 road names

 

Conrail

 

EMD Demonstrator

 

Union Pacific

 

Pennsylvania

 

Reading

 

Santa Fe original

 

CAT

 

Frisco

 

Susquehanna

 

Erie-Lackawanna

 

Montana Rail Link

 

Buffalo & Pittsburgh

 

Arizona & California

 

Great Northern Hustle Muscle

 

Norfolk Southern Low Nose

 

CSX 1992 Bright Future

 

Santa Fe Warbonnet Silver & Red

 

Southern High-Hood

 

Wisconsin Central

 

Milwaukee Road

 

Electromotive Division

 

SF Kodachrome scheme

 

Seaboard - Seaboard System

 

plus the new ones just released

 

Andrew

What are all the Wisconsin Central graphic variations that appeared on their fleet of SD45 locos?

 

Andrew

Was a Santa Fe SD45 painted is the 1970's-1980's Yellow & Blue Warbonnet for real?

 

Andrew

Andrew....

 

Some of those SD45s are Proto 1. The Conrail and Reading I believe were made in 1995. A couple of those are RK Scale. Now I have the Wisconsin Central SD45 and its the old SD45 mold. The WC had many different versions. 

 

Here is the usual WC SD45

http://www.rrpicturearchives.n...ture.aspx?id=2392427

 

Look Listen & Live

http://www.rrpicturearchives.n...cture.aspx?id=623240

 

Operation Life Savior

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=195692&nseq=10

 

Customer Minded Employees

http://www.rrpicturearchives.n...cture.aspx?id=195416

 

There are a few more that I can't find...and I'm not referring to the special schemes on the GP40's or F45. 

They should start the new list with was they have not produced for any of the SD45 editions. The original 1960's graphic schemes that have never appeared on the SD45 should be next on the Premier and RailKing models.

 

Put the remakes on the bottom of the list.

 

Andrew

Good Day,

 

I'd like to see the KCS and Frisco SD45's in the MTH Premier line-up!

 

Regards,

Swafford

 

 

Here is a place where Mike's Train House can start.

Original 1960's versions of these railroads

 

SSW Cotton Belt

Southern Pacific gray & red

Denver & Rio Grande Western

 

Northern Pacific

Great Northern Big Sky Blue

Chicago & NorthWestern

 

Atlantic Coast Line

Seaboard Coast Line

Penn Central

 

That would be a lot to offer for the SD45 in one year.

 

Andrew

I'd like to see MTH re-work the SD45, SD24, and E-unit platforms for the new Proto 3-2 trucks and fixed pilots. I'd be in for a set of CNW's and ATSF's, just not in the same catalog.

falconservice, I strongly endorse your Top 5, particularly SP.  I'd like to think that with the "Daylight" SD45 "done," (and which I have purchased thanks to some images lensed years ago on the Cotton Rock), a "standard" SP scarlet and gray unit is in the offing.

Yes.

 

Rusty

As far as I am concerned is that they made every SD45 I wanted.  Now if they did the SDP-45 in Erie Lackawanna I would love it

I am game for an Sd45-2 for EL and CR and NS!

Several of those SD-45's have been made by MTH in previous years.

Go to either the product locator or product search and type in your favorite railroad name and you will find many MTH items already made for your railroad.

 

I typed in Reading and found over 150 items made for the Reading Railroad, some even for Philadelphia and Reading railways.

 

So do some searching on the MTH site and see what you can find!

 

Lee Fritz

I am all-in for an NP SD-45 IF it has the correct side windows and nose gyra-light. (It will not sell well if they don't do that.)

Good Day,

 

I'd like to see the ATSF SD45-2 presented in 3-Rail and 2-Rail. If you like the Santa Fe............... you will love this engine! This is a Classic!  

 

Regards,

Swafford

 

 

 

 

 

Because both Northern Pacific and Southern Pacific had the special Lighting on the nose it would be worthwhile to duplicate it on the Premier O Scale scale models.

 

Andrew

 I should have ordered a scale wheeled one when they came out. I liked the look of the BN version. Of course, CSX is my main road, but heck, any would fit right in for me. I finally got one in G scale, only to find out that silver and red SF didn't exist.

 Maybe I'll paint over it someday, I like all the colors......

(roads) so maybe not. No sd45 dark blue in CSX? (all retired?)

 The older SF with more blue looks good. So does the SP. the EL. etc. etc.

Your post might be better titled 'SD-45's MTH needs to make' as some on the list have been made by others.

Has a Southern RR SD-45 High hood 'Hammer head' in tuxedo paint been done?? Seems SRRSean said he had one......either way I'd like one someday along with many of the others!!

Southern Railway High-Hood SD45 has been produced.

 

A Norfolk & Western 1960's scheme High-Hood SD45 has not been made.

 

Andrew

I'm with Frank on wanting an SD45-2 in ATSF. That (not the SD45, as suggested above), by the way is the engine Santa Fe painted in bicentennial colors. Here is an example of the re-tooled Premier SD45 in ATSF. I'd quibble over a few of the details, but they are nice, and the sounds are both spot on accurate and very-well reproduced.

Superpower, yes, my SP "Daylight"-schemed SD45 does have the special nose light package seen on the prototype.  Once I clear some of my 32-car Powder River coal train coupler, truck, painting, and numbering project out of the way, I'll lens the mpdel and attach an image I shot of the prototype.  I'm pleased with MTH's offering.

 

Now on to the scarlet and gray units! 

Thanks Rick, I'm looking forward to the photos of the model and prototype. I agree let's get to the scarlet and gray units.

They need to reissue the GN simplified Empire Builder scheme with PS 3.0 so I can get a scale wheel version that is DCC compatible :-)

 

PS. Big Sky = yuck ;-)

Shown are SP SD45 #7399, in its Daylight paint scheme, on the Cotton Rock at Joy, Kansas, 27 July 1983, and the current MTH version on CONUS Lines.  The nose light package was done on the model, but not the rear series of "interesting" lights.  The large light on the nose does glow "red" on the model, but only shows off-white in the image.

 

The model is literally "out of the box" and has yet to go through my normal weathering process.  Too many other projects are underway right now, but before I run "SP" it will be "toned down" a bit.

CB&Q:

 

 

Rusty

Boy, now THAT will be a tuff model to produce. Just look at the old FT/F2/F3 journal boxes on the trucks. Obviously the CB&Q traded in old "F" units for the SD45 units.

Rick,

 

Nice pics of both model and prototype. I recognize some of your prototype photos from trainorders forum while recently doing a search for photos of #7399. MTH did a nice job on their premier SD45's and they did a nice job with the paint and nose lights on the SP version. It looks very nice on your layout. Thanks for posting!

The CB&Q BURLINGTON graphic scheme did not look right, until it was reworked and applied as the Burlington Northern E9 diesel scheme.

 

Andrew

The SD45's scheme was in anticipation of the BN merger and was very likely a possibility for the final scheme. 

 

The SD45's and if I recall correctly, (this is when I hate not having my books handy...) an order of U30C's were the only CB&Q locomotives to wear the pre-merger green/white/black scheme.

 

Rusty

I would be in for a couple of Penn Central SD45's. I saw quite a few of these back in the day, mostly very dirty but it left a very positive Impression on me. Hey I like the PC. 

superpower, thkx!  I've been off posting on trainorders for a while...but I've got more than 50 views of the Joint Line from the early 90s scanned; I'll post some there soon.

 

Re MTH's #7399, I do wish MTH would use a darker shade of gray on their SP power.  I normally hit it pretty good with Grimy Black in weathering the unit to drive that gray more towards the prototype.  Looking at MTH's ads for the HO SP GP35 in the current issue of MR, they got the gray "right" there; don't know why it is so hard to do in O.

 

But I won't go as far as I did with their gray MilwRd Fs from years ago.  The gray was so light there, I masked off everything else, and sprayed it with a Floquil mix of Engine Black, SP Lettering Gray, and a bit of Gilford Gray.  I guess with Floquil going to the "great roundhouse in the sky", I'm going to have to get back into the "custom mixes," a pursuit of the hobby that I don't particularly enjoy.

Thanks for posting those pictures of the MTH model Rick.

 

Looks like they did do the SP lighting package but failed to do it on the rear.

 

I also noticed that they used the long-hood mounted wheel brake configuration on the engineer's side.  But the actual prototype 7399 didn't have the wheel brake (you can actually see it's not there on the prototype pics above); it was one of the SD45s that used a hand brake lever that was recessed into the front nose on the conductor's side, like you see on the MTH SD45T-2s (also can be seen in the prototype pics above). 

 

Nice looking model, but unfortunate that the aforementioned prototype specific details were omitted.  Otherwise I would have gotten one of these.

John, understand and appreciate your perspective.  But I'm a bit more lenient in what I decide is "good enough" as opposed to what it too far beyond the prototype for me to consider.  I was aware the aft lighting package was "missing," though not the wheel brake issue that you cite.  But even if I had known of that, I would have still bought #7399.

 

On the other hand, years ago MTH did the SP SD40-2 in the "Daylight" scheme.  I knew the prototype was a SD40, not -2, and held off buying for a long time...that front platform was just too long.  But I saw the PS-1 unit at a good price at the Great Steam Festival in Michigan in June '09, and bought it.  I knew my LHS (EngineHouse Hobbies, Gaithersburg, MD) could covert it to PS-2, but while the colors were right (except, IMO, the grey was too light), the lettering was wrong, and that was an "error" I was unwilling to live with.  Unlike #7300, the SD40 had "Southern" stacked atop "Pacific."  So I got a set of decals from MicroScale, removed the old lettering, repainted the "Daylight" red, re-lettered the unit, and then had it converted to PS-2.  So I drew the line at lettering format, but let other "errors" ride.

 

It's just like my Powder River coal trains.  I'm building two 16-car trains.  Atlas 100T trucks and Kadees do wonders on those MTH "Coalporters."  One will be loaded with real PR coal I got from the Thunder Basin in '06, and one will be MT.  16 cars on a unit coal train--who am I kidding!!!  But on CONUS Lines it looks big, really big, over 25 feet in length, spanning several of my scenic vignettes.  And with two powered units up front...and one powered and one non-powered serving as helpers or DPUs, it "sounds" BIG.

 

The late John Armstrong once observed that after the engine and about a half dozen or so cars go by, most viewers lose interest and wait for the caboose and helpers.  I've had enough open houses at CONUS Lines to confirm John's observation.  Even my 18 car sugar beet train, which is the heaviest and longest freight I run, with four powered engines, garners attention at the beginning...and with those SP tunnel motors pushing hard at the rear.  The intervening 8-10 cars are just "white noise."

 

So I'll run #7391 on the point of an SP freight, and most of my audience, myself included, will be satisfied that it is "good enough."  But I certainly appreciate your affinity for accuracy.  And I do wish we had the options in O that I used to pursue ardently in HO to get detail parts, etc., to render our models more accurately.

 

But frankly, for now, I just revel in the quality of product we have in O as compared to 20 years ago...and am a happy camper!