I've just finished sticking the fiddly bits on to my most recent Kato SD70MAC. I must have almost a dozen Katos still awaiting full assembly and I'm trying to do a bit of catching up. Although the parts fit where they're supposed to (unlike Heljan's Western, for example) it's still a fairly time consuming job. Not the end of the world, but a waste of good, layout-building time. Irritating, rather than wildly annoying - or at least it is until one of the little blighters pings across the room onto the carpet...
You know how it is. It's always a critical part like a windscreen wiper, rather than one of the grab-rails they give you spares of. It's always the same colour as the carpet, even though it's not the same colour as the area of the model you were trying to fit it to. And you can never see it, so you end up sweeping your hands across the floor in the hope that you'll feel it or see it move. Of course, all you find are a few dozen rather painful strands of fibre-glass from your burnishing pencil and you end up with hands like pin-cushions. Still, at least it stops you m*st*rb*t*ng for a few days.
I'm getting the hang of modern superpower, at last, although it's taken me a while. Having always been into the 60s and 70s scene, with glorious Alcos and the earlier EMDs, the garish liveries and brutish looks of more recent years seemed a trifle sudden for my tastes. But it's different once they're in model form and on the layout. Some of these modern machines are truly awesome, and I can even tolerate the BNSF Heritage II livery in subdued light.
Finally, some photos of a couple of recent US HO releases that have visited my layout, not particularly newsworthy now as they've been on sale for a good while. I didn't upload the photos originally as Chris Collins beat me to it - he'd got the first of these pics on his Fotopic site before I'd even finished cropping the last ones.
Chris has recently set up a Yahoo! group for anyone interested in American Railroad Modelling in the UK - well worth joining. Is nothing safe from the hands of this guy? Certainly not donuts or single mothers...
Atlas's model of GE's Dash 8-40CW has a few cheesey bits (the outline of the radiator fan and the low-slung chain on the trailing truck spring to mind) but all-in-all it's a gobsmackingly good model. For those not up to speed with US railroading, GE stands for General Electric, one of the two big manufacturers of the real thing. The 'W' in 'Dash 8-40CW' denotes the wide cab version of the preceding 'Dash 8-40C' which is also available from Atlas. You've probably guessed that the 'C' denotes 3 axles per truck (bogie, in English) as opposed to the 2 axles of the 'B' models. The 'Dash 8-40B' is, yet again, available from Atlas.
The model has a commendable level of very fine detailing pre-installed, a very refreshing chance if you're used to frittering away an afternoon on a Kato. It should be noted, however, that there are still extra parts supplied for the user to add, although these have not been fixed in place in these photos.
As well as being available in regular DC flavours, the model can be bought off the shelf with not just DCC but sound as factory installed options. Excellent value for money, whichever variant you choose.
Athearn's SD60 is also a very impressive model, if not quite up to the standard of it's Atlas rival. Personally I find the paint finish on Athearn products a little lumpy and the drives variable, with a hint of a metallic sound betraying the Athearn heritage on even the better examples. But from a UK modeller's perspective I'm nit-picking here, these items are so far ahead of all of the UK diesels I own that I'm not going to worry. I'll certainly end up owning a large number of Athearn's more recent SD45T-2.
The SD60 comes from the other big US manufacturer, GM's Electro-Motive Division. GM also provided the Class 59s and Class 66s familiar to UK enthusiasts, note the 3 axle trucks that look suspiciously similar to those found underneath the Class 59s. EMD have always referred to their 6 axle locos as 'SD' or 'Special Duty', as opposed to their 'GP' or 'General Purpose' 4 axle designs.
Part of Athearn's 'Ready To Roll' range (as opposed to being a stick it together yourself number) the SD60 is well worth considering if you're in the market for some relatively modern 6 axle power.
Currently On My Stereo: Porcupine Tree - Deadwing