NTS mini report

[cfritschle]

Some photos - though most of them are HO...

http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/nmra_2009&page=all

Is that an Athearn MOW truck?

Lou,

Yes, Athearn is doing a Ford F-850 MOW (boom) truck in HO along with an Ottawa yard tractor. 

During the convention in Portland last month they would not tell me what their next N scale vehicle would be, only that I would like.

Carter

[BCR 570]

The biggest announcement for me is the Intermountain HO Scale Procor 3300 cu ft pressure flow hopper.  I am delighted to see that it indeed will be the version operated by British Columbia Railway and Canadian National.

Frank Angstead told me about this car at the N Scale Convention but did know what version they were doing at the time.  If this car is eventually duplicated in N Scale (which Frank thought very possible) I will have to get some.

Tim

[sizemore]

http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/image/114848366

Jason

Is that a HALLMARK ornament?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I really wish they would start using Celcon or Delern to mold their handrails. I apreciate paintable handrails, but IM is very good at doing virtually all paint schemes on every engine they make (like an Alaska F7).

I hope they mold in some tread pattern, or someone comes out with an etched kit for it.

[JoeD]

Dan,

I suspect they use ABS or Styrene is because everything is run in the same base color for the whole production cycle?  We are able to match Celcon to each release since we are doing it in the shop, but to have it done off-site, you are going to be charged for each color change, and that would effect the final price significantly.  As a modeler it's kind of a double edged sword, I'd like to be able to cut them up and use them on other projects, but Celcon is more forgiving when on the road and running on modules (lots of touching and the like.)

Still, for the fans of Wide Cabs, these will be nice to have.
Joe
MTL

I really wish they would start using Celcon or Delern to mold their handrails. I apreciate paintable handrails, but IM is very good at doing virtually all paint schemes on every engine they make (like an Alaska F7).

I hope they mold in some tread pattern, or someone comes out with an etched kit for it.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I plan on getting a stripes unit if I have money. What a great looking engine. I hope the model does it justice.

I am more excited about the HS grain hopper with round hatches. IM simply refuses to run these in CP Multi-Mark and I need a few.

[sirenwerks]

Some photos - though most of them are HO...

http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/nmra_2009&page=all

Is that an Athearn MOW truck?

Lou,

Yes, Athearn is doing a Ford F-850 MOW (boom) truck in HO along with an Ottawa yard tractor. 

During the convention in Portland last month they would not tell me what their next N scale vehicle would be, only that I would like.

Carter

Carter,

Does that 'mean' there's hope of getting the F-850 in N? Soon?

[POVC]

 "Intermountain - Nothing new to announce at the show.  They had the final pre-production version of the AC12 running at the show; it looked really smooth.  They also had samples of the SD40-2W, and indicated that they would be doing other SD40-2's.  They indicated that they would also be doing the U18B (announced in HO) in N; they learned a lot of things from the HO model that they needed to go back and incorporte into the N scale tooling."

If "indicating"  amounts to a Pre-announcement = then this is the biggest news I have heard so far - The SD-40-2 and the U18B in N scale.
Since, IT IS going to be Intermountain that finally brings us multiple versions of the SD-40-2, and since they are starting with the SD-40-2W, I am sure that they will do multiple versions, I will encourage them to be thorough in the production. The possibility of a Gold Mine exist for them, IF they do them right.
AND the U18B is a Must have for any Southeastern modeler, yea and somewhere up north also !

Maybe there will be samples of the SD-40-2 at Trainfest, later this year !

GREAT NEWS this is

I wouldn't say "indicated" amounts to a pre-announcement;  I was just told they would be doing them in N.  I was talking to the Intermountain rep, and ask him about the U18B, since they had a flier out for the HO version.  I told him I thought I remembered hearing that they had announced they were doing them in N at a show a couple of years back (Philly 2006?), but I hadn't see anything more on them.  His response was "yes they would be doing them in N" and then he made the comment about learning from the HO models.

As for the SD40-2, I ask him if they would be doing other SD40 variants after the SD40-2W and he shook his head yes.  I then mentioned that a lot of people took one look at the SD45-2 mechanism and said it would work for an SD40-2, and he said "yes, they had thought ahead on this one".

So the when, where and how is still up in the air, but I expect to see both U18B's and SD40-2's from IM in the next year or two.

Tim

[Dave Schneider]

I plan on getting a stripes unit if I have money. What a great looking engine. I hope the model does it justice.

I am more excited about the HS grain hopper with round hatches. IM simply refuses to run these in CP Multi-Mark and I need a few.

Daniel,

Could you provide a bit more info on the "HS grain hopper..." I don't have any idea of what/who this is.

Thanks.

Also, did anyone see anything new in N from City Classics? There was a cryptic post about this from Bernie K.,  but I haven't seen anything mentioned about this.

Best wishes, Dave

[BCR 570]

Could you provide a bit more info on the "HS grain hopper..." I don't have any idea of what/who this is.

Dave:

I believe I can help you with this - NARC released the Hawker Siddeley version of the cylindrical grain hopper with trough hatches, and are now announcing the potash version with round hatches.  The cylindrical hopper cars were built by Hawker Siddeley, Marine Industries and National Steel Car and there are variations in details such as the running board supports, brake equipment location, ribs and so on.  The older Intermountain car was the NSC version, so we now have two of the three.  I believe that NARC are focused on running the roadnames and paint schemes which were correct for the Hawker Siddeley cars.  The NARC car has quite a number of etched metal parts.  In addition to different hatches, the potash version has a different air line arrangement which appears to be faithfully reproduced on the model.

Tim

[Dave Schneider]

Thanks for the info Tim. I had forgotten about these cars as they are a bit too new for me.

Best wishes, Dave

[cfritschle]

Some photos - though most of them are HO...

http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/nmra_2009&page=all

Is that an Athearn MOW truck?

Lou,

Yes, Athearn is doing a Ford F-850 MOW (boom) truck in HO along with an Ottawa yard tractor. 

During the convention in Portland last month they would not tell me what their next N scale vehicle would be, only that I would like.

Carter

Carter,

Does that 'mean' there's hope of getting the F-850 in N? Soon?

Bryan,

I am not holding my breath on that one either.  I gave John a CD with several photos of Ford C Series trucks with grain beds and several shots of a really nice F-850 flatbed with lettering for a blacksmith shop on the door.  That was nearly two years ago.  He said thanks, and I actually thought the photos might inspire them to do C Series grain trucks as well as the F-850 in N scale. 

With all that said, I still think we stand a chance of learning what Athearn's next N vehicle will be by the time iHobby rolls around in October.

Carter

[asarge]

I thought Athearn said at the N scale convention they were gonna give vehicles a bit of a rest.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

That is what they told me as well on Friday.

[cfritschle]

I thought Athearn said at the N scale convention they were gonna give vehicles a bit of a rest.

That is what they told me as well on Friday.

I am sure that is their "official" position, but their R & D man told me he was working on something that I would like.  And, John seemed quite impressed with a model of a "foreign" prototype done by another manufacturer. 

It may or may not be a long time before we get another N scale vehicle announcement from Athearn, but they certainly have plans for new models.   

Carter