JREB.ORG

blue flag · July 07, 2008, 12:40:55 PM

I see that T55 is to bring out NS 70M-2's and EVO's
I know nothing about T55's ~ soo, as they are abit pricey, Id like to know
how good is T55 detail? and how close is the correctness of T55 detail??
and how good of runners are T55's on the layout??
thanks, your imput is greatly appreciated!!!

Michael Knight · July 07, 2008, 03:58:30 PM

I have no idea as to how T55 products perform; they weren't around back in my day. However, here is a link to another thread that discusses T55's models.

http://jreb.org/ns/index.php?topic=5087.0

RJ · July 07, 2008, 04:23:55 PM

T55 Has come into some hard times..... If you go to thier Web site and read the update section, you will read what is going on. From the sounds of it, it will be a long time before we see any new products from them... :-\

T55 Web site is t55products.com

Hoydie17 · July 07, 2008, 04:53:20 PM

Of all the companies, Mikes Train House (MTH) has announced that they'll be doing the SD70ACe in HO Scale (I assume the M-2). And as I understand it they expect to be shipping in early 2009, so if you're going to any trainshow in which MTH participates, make sure to register your desires for details on the models.

Don't count on seeing the SD70ACe out of T55 in the foreseeable future.

RJ · July 08, 2008, 12:33:44 AM

Good find Hoydie17........

A quick search and I found this http://www.mthhotrains.com/models/SD70ACe.asp

They look good so far.......Loooking at about 250$ thou.... :-\

And go figure My M-2 is almost done ;D

ns_7011 · July 08, 2008, 01:56:27 AM

those don't look too good there's something about the radiator fans and the front end that just isn't right. i never really cared for the stuff MTH did in o scale either.

Hoydie17 · July 08, 2008, 02:42:13 PM

This has been the topic of discussion on a couple of different forums, TrainOrders and the AtlasRR forums most notably.

The pictures they have released thus far are for the O-scale, two rail version of their SD70ACe, NOT, I repeat, NOT the HO scale. The molds for the HO Scale models aren't even finished as of yet.

I'd figure it'll be a few months before you see any test shots of the HO scale models yet.

For what it's worth, I'm not a big fan of MTH either, but I'm quite tired of waiting on T55 to get the ball started again on their own models.

Also, to answer the original question, the existing T55 models are solid runners and good performers, details are decent but lacking in a few respects.

ns_7011 · July 08, 2008, 03:17:05 PM

I have a t55 ES44DC in Santa Fe but I was actually going to repaint it into NS and move the headlights up but as far as a good running engine it can compare to an atlas.

stillbre · July 23, 2008, 02:40:00 PM

Unfortunately for us NS modelers, MTH has said they have no interest in doing a M-2. Of course, from the preproduction photos I've seen, I will not be spending any money with MTH. They specialize in O 3-rail and all their stuff reflects that. Very toy-like in appearance. I heard Kato has announced a ACe and maybe a deuce in N. They have a pretty good track record for releasing everything in both N and HO scale though. I'm cutting off my modeling era pre-GEVO/Deuce.

NSDash9 · July 23, 2008, 04:05:57 PM

Don't knock the MTH models until we actually see samples. MTH did an interview at the NMRA convention and said that the tooling for their models is setup to produce eight different versions, including the SD70M-2. They say the SD70M-2 will be offered in a future catalog. You can read their interview at this link (scroll down to MTH):

http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/id41.html

I would urge anyone interested in undecorated and/or non-sound versions to send MTH an email letting them know.

Chris

Hoydie17 · July 23, 2008, 08:54:25 PM

Quote from: stillbre on July 23, 2008, 02:40:00 PM
Unfortunately for us NS modelers, MTH has said they have no interest in doing a M-2. Of course, from the preproduction photos I've seen, I will not be spending any money with MTH. They specialize in O 3-rail and all their stuff reflects that. Very toy-like in appearance. I heard Kato has announced a ACe and maybe a deuce in N. They have a pretty good track record for releasing everything in both N and HO scale though. I'm cutting off my modeling era pre-GEVO/Deuce.

That's not true, MTH was asked not only in the interview Chris highlights, but also in person at the National Train Show of their take on doing the SD70M-2. The answer was they intend to produce 7 different variants (maybe 8, memory is a little rough) one of which will be the M-2. The production of the M-2 was expected to be a follow on offering after the first runs of the ACe.