I am new to the hobby and I am thinkin about starting off with a SD-70MAC from USA trains. I am a modern diesel lover and really likes the look of the sd 70. Does anyone out there have any feedback on these or any other diesels to consider?
Welcome...beautiful, wonderful engine, but keep in mind that that USA Trains loco is 1:29 scale, so if you're planning on pulling Bachmann 1:20.3 rolling stock behind it, for instance, you're probably not going to be very happy with the looks of things.
The St. Francis Consolidated Railroad of the Colorado Rockies
Denver, Colorado
The SD70MAC is a good loco and all of USA Trains locos are well built and run great. I have a USA Trains GG1 that I ran for 12 hours non stop at the 2008 Convention in Chandler Az. BUT I have stopped buying USA Trains loco no matter how many I want and what new ones they come out with until they start putting the DCC reveiver plug into them like the other manufactures do. I don't want to have to gut and rewire the loco when I convert it to DCC and battery power. If you intend on ever running any type of sufisticated control system , sound or battery power buy the Aristocraft Dash 9.
Do the quick and dirty install for DCC then, will take more time to open the shell than to convert.
Make a set of JST connectors, plug the track pickups into the track connections on the decoder, and run the output for the motor to the connectors leading to the mother board.
Yes the lights won't be constant brightness, but they will come on early, thanks to the PWM from the decoder motor outputs.
Regards, Greg
Visit my site: http://www.elmassian.com - lots of tips on locos, rolling stock and more.
Click here for Greg's web site
Get the Garden Railways newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month