UPDATED 12.14.10 - I have added these photos of the KCS GEVO...a few are a little blurry but most give you an idea of what it looks like -conditions for taking these were not great so forgive the quality.
The cab front handrails were removed prior to the photos for removal of the shell so they are not missing - just not reattached.
My thanks to Intermountain for bringing a much desired and missing modern Diesel Locomotive into the HO market.
This is a personal and in-depth review of the GEVO, which recently started to ship to dealers and of which I had recieved a few early on.
This review will be in two parts:
The pros and cons, based on my personal views and use of the model. First, I'll cover the Positive attributes.
I will also comment on the Sound features provided by Soundtraxx, but that will be discussed later.
I am using the KCS model as a basis for this review - only because it is the first model of the six I grabbed off the stack. I purchased this model from a local dealer at a very resonable price of $199 with sound.
At first glance, the Gevo appears to be a very nicely done model and the dimensions seem to be faithful to the manufacturers specifications I aquired from a friend at GE's warranty service unit.
The CARBODY:
First, one of the most sought after questions has been: "How does the body shell compare ot the T55 variant, and does it come apart for easy servicing..." .
The answer is yes, the carbody is actually comprised of five basic modular components: Walkway Skirt (2 versions), Main carbody(longhood-3 versions), Cab unit(5 versions including a TBA style), Radiator housing(2 versions) assembly and cab interior.
For those concerned, there are versions with and without door windows, and 3 and 4 window versions. The TBA version may be that of the door on the other side of the cabfront.
The long hood has three versions, one with lower headlight and no headlight placement(some versions had the high headlight in the radiator), and a third version with different D/B vent placements.
There seems to be an incredible similarity to the tooling characteristics and design, to the MTH SD70ACe -very similar, in terms of how the parts assemble and comprise the whole.
That being said, the carbody is a little easier to remove but you must detatch several handrail pieces before lifting the shell off - this created another issue, which I will get to later.
The relief details and tooling are quite good - more defined than that of the earlier T55 shell, and has separate etched metal grills for the radiator section and intercooler. This too, is an improvment over the T55 shell, but was something that Brian Marsh was planning to upgrade on subsequent runs- that never happened.
The IMRC GEVO uses a either a brass or pewter casting (I can't tell which) for the Air Chime K5HL horn and is one of the best detailed castings I've seen, but the material is soft and the trumpets can easily be bent so care is required not to catch this on anything that may damage it or the model. Other add-on detail includes the liftrings(plastic) and wire grabs.
One thing I noticed right out of the box, was what appeared to be the ommission of some type of etched metal grill work for the engineers side Dynamic brake/Inertial Air cabinet - the basic openings are there and it is see-through but reminds me of a old west jail cell window with only verticl bars. I doesn't look right and the enclosed exploded isometric of the model does not show a view of any grille that would indicate a part should be there -so, that is a concern and will be asking Richard or Frank at IMRC about that...more later.
The cab is very well done and includes a semi-detailed interior, in a cream colored plastic and includes clear window glazing and very fine etched wiper details. I plan to add a gel to simulate tinted glass on mine.
The Walkway skirting includes diamond treadplate detail and very good front and rear pilot detail, cut levers, MU connections, airline and trainline hoses, etc. Also a nice touch was the see-through step treads- again, very similar to the MTH SD70ACe design.
The Ditchlight assemblies are a part of the front anti-climber handrails and are well perportioned-no bulbs here - LED light pipes are used for illumination - more on that later.
On a scale of 1-10, 10 being perfect, I'd rate the overall carbody/cab shell detail and accuarcy at a 9.0.
The CHASSIS:
Out of the box, the GEVO responded as normal, with defualt speed settings on the decoder set at the manufacturer. These can, of course, be user-changed by CV adjustment(different topic).
Upon initial inspection, the motor does not readily have any identity markings, so I do not know the manufacturer -it could be a Canon, and looks similar but again, I cannot comment on the make.
I did notice a little shakyness on slow start up but this seemd to go away once the motor settings were adjusted.
Heavy Brass Flywheels and cast frame add suitable weight for good traction and the model has decient heft.. I did not weigh it in.
The DCC circuit board is located on top of the enclosed motor housing/weight and is secured by 4 small screws -no clips here - again, following design similarity to the MTH method. Wires are neatly bundled and secured with a first to me: nylon tie straps. The LED lighting is surface mount type with the typical black baffle to get the light only to where it is supposed to be.
I did have to make a repair on this KCS model -one of the wire leads to the ditchlight/headlight circuit board ,was pinched off by the plastic light baffle being screwed down too tight - there was no place for the wires to extend through and I removed the part, cut a square opening into the back of it, large enough to allow the wires to pass though without future damage.
I will recommend that if you have the shell off, you may want to check yours for this problem.
The trucks have plenty of travel -too much if anything -up and down but this not a negative per say.
The Sideframes are well detailed with simulated lettering cast in and brake cylinder details added. They are moulded in a black plastic similar to what appears to be Delrin but that is not certain. a unique feature is the sideframe wheel bearing,which can be 'seen' through the spring detail on the truck.
Overall the chassis is well built and has side sill pieces similar to those used on Kato models - that add relief detail, such as cabling, etc.
I would rate the chassis/motor/drivetrain on a scale of 1-10, at about an 7.5.
The Paint, Fit and Finish...
The assembly Fit and Finish of the KCS model I've been using as the sample for this review, was quite good, with all body components, neatly fit together as they should be , with no noticeble gaps or mis-fitting parts. the Handrail assembly and parts are made of a peculiar type of plastic that is both flexible to an extent and seems to be easily broken...CAUTION is to be practiced anytime you are removing the shell, as these will break very easily of pulled on or tugged at.
The material used reminds me of the same plastic that Altas uses on the Genset: soft and breakable... not what I consider the best choice for handrails -more later.
Paint finish over all is neat and crisp, with good line separation. I will make one comment here that is really subjective: the red used on this model appeared to me, to be much brighter or lighter than that found on the KCS MTH 70Ace or the Athearn KCS 70Ace - side by side comparisons clearly show the different hue of the red. The KCS uses the 'Brunswick Green' on their locmotives - not Black - but it appears that Intermountain didn't get that memo and went with Black anyway. Which is correct? That is for you to decide. For me, there is enough differences in prototype manufacturing and with different contractors painting locomotives, there can be differences in the real world - so I can live with the color difference.
The pad printing was excellent -especially the small warning labels and placards located all ove the engine. even the sight glass filler on the fuel tank is well done, but this was printed on not painted.
There were a very few areas where there was a little paint missing that should have been painted but this seems to be the norm in the industry. it was so miniscule, that it would be an easy touch up.
The Paint on the UP version looks to be very well done, but I haven't had time to really go over it up close.
Surface cover was excellent with no runs, dirt or particulates on the paint surface anywhere that I could detect. The overall finish is almost an eggshell satin and looks great.
On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate the over all fit and finish at 8.5
The SOUND:
I'm going to reserve this comment for the Con's section coming up.
THE CON's...
First, my only concern or gripe with the detail aspect of the model, was the choice of material plastic used for the handrails.
It is very soft and appears to be suseptable to handling, and if care is not exercised, breakage. Delrin has similar characteristics but is much more durable - but is not friendly to painting.
The handrail assemblies are all one-piece so if you break a part, you have to try to repair it or replace the whole part.
A better material could have been used and my idea would have been to mould the stanchions in plastic and use the tried and true wire handrails formed to fit.
They just endure handling better.
BE ADVISED: CARE is required for handling these delicate parts and method for removal of the handrails is illustrated in the instruction sheet enclosed with the model.
Another peive I had was that there is a noticable lack of that 'extra touch' of detail painting- example: the ditchlight rims could have been highlighted with silver paint and the MU cable, which is glued to the pilot recepticles, was not painted to set it apart from the black(Brunswick Green?). This is not that big of a deal for ME to fix but there are many out there that do not have a penchant for fine detail painting, so it could be a disapponitment for some. It should have been done.
I have a vast supply of the yellow and red MU cable pieces from Kato and will be replacing mine with those as time permits.
The Choice of Paint color/hue, at least on the KCS version, should have been more carefully researched. the Black isn't all that bad to live with as Brunswick Green is not that different except in lighted environments. But the 'Chinese Red' appears to be too light and dosen't match the models offered in KCS by other manufacturers. Again, this is subjective so, to each his own, as they say.
Lastly...THE SOUND.
The sound...the sound... the sound.
This is tricky, because the sound files are by Soundtraxx, who generally does a terrific job at what they do.
This is probably the most disappointing aspect of the model for me, and the most frustrating.
I do not hold my criticism about what I consider to be shortcomings, against Intermountain persay. BUT - somebody has got to realize at some point, that this is a problem, yet it passes anyway.
I don't understand how a company that for the most part, produces some of the best sound files for MRR that I know of, and yet, can drop the ball on one of the most fundamental sounds of a train - the HORN. Does ANYOBODY LISTEN TO the HORNS????
To make things worse, the AirChime K5HL has a very distinct sound and is pretty much standard on all GEVOS on every railroad out there. Another let down for me, was the 'off the shelf' use, of a generic sound file for the Dynamic Brakes. This is the same sound file used on the 645 and 710G-3 decoders and isn't even close to be accurate for either EMD or GE lcomotives. Again, the GE Dynamic Brake sounds are unique to their locomotives so I don't know why this has been contuniually overlooked - unless its all about money.
Now, to their credit, they DID manage to finally get the correct air compresor sounds and cycling for the GE model and it sounds great... for that effort, my thanks. As a sidebar: They need to get this added to the FDL-16 Decoder starting immediately.
But the Horn sample they used for the K5HL is just about as dumb as it gets - it is unacceptable. I'm not even sure it was a re-master from an actual horn and the more I listen to it, the worse it sounds -I think it was a futle attempt to synthesize the sound. I've heard better sound recordings off of a 1947 Baldwin on its last legs.
I don't know what happened... but the Horn is the biggest let-down ever.
The quality of fidelity, of the Prime mover sounds, is not all that much better, and I went to great trouble to install a bass reflex speaker and crank the Equalizer to the max settings for the prime mover -it is what it is - O.K. but not great. At higher revs(running speed), the prime mover sounds like a mismash of a Pratt and Whittney and a GE TurboJet engine mixed in- there is really very poor definition. To be fair, at lower speeds and at Idle, things do improve greatly.
This is not a very good effort by Soundtraxx and I'm surprised that Intemountain was 'satisfied' with the result. I sincerely hope that the new user-installed version of this decoder, will be better, but I doubt it.
Back to the horns... you can select two other horn files but neither are correct for the GEVO, so I'm not sure why they bothered.
George at Soundtraxx, personally told me that the sounds were recorded trackside from an actual GEVO.
Okay, if that is true, then that locomotive needs to be taken out of service and sent back to GE for a Horn failure.
Sorry, George, but I'm going to throw the offical BS flag on that one.
Okay...enough said.
ON a scale of 1-10, 10 being perfect, I would rate the overall sound on this engine at a solid 5.0. The Horn ruined this whole experience for me. Soundtraxx needs to RE-Do the horn track and remaster the mix and replace the existing decoders at no charge to anyone who purchased a sound equipped model from Intermountain or its dealers.
This is another reason I'm taking another hard look at LokSoundESU - you can change the sound files on those decoders. If they come out with a Sound set for the GEVOS, the Tsunamis are going to be gone- like yesterday -and I will alter any future purchases to non-sound only. As amatter of fact, I have already.
The Final Anylisis...
The Intermonutain GEVO is a very welcome addition to the HO market and to my fleet. I am quite pleased with my purchases, thus far- and with the exception of the Horn sounds, I find the model to be very satisfactory, in terms of the overall quality, running characterisitics, lighting(even number boards) and the smoothness of the operation.
Intermountain has done a terrific job for their first 'modern' locomotive and the vast majority of buyers should be pleased with the model.
While not perfect in every detail(you can't make some guys happy- like me-lol), it represents this type of locomotive exceptionally well and I look forward to the other versions yet to be released.
The model offers very good assembly quality and fit and finish are on par - if not above- with others in the same market, and it offers nice features like the operating number boards and etched metal detailing.
If this is any indication of the future of products from IMRC, then I'll be looking forward to getting the CN SD40-2W's when they come out.
The only detraction for me , was the less than stellar sound from Soundtraxx -especially the AirChimeK5HL effect. This model deserved to have better - that is going to be up to you- the consumer- I'm already trying to live with mine.
FINAL SCORE: on a scale of 1-10, I give the IMRC GEVO ES44AC a solid 8.0
Great job to all at Intermountain -keep'em coming.
Thanks for your attention...I hope my experiences help you decide - its a great model.
HeritageFleet1
Thanks for the detailed review.
It's very disappointing to hear about the sound issues. I can't believe they got a simple thing like the horn completely wrong.
The sound is very important to me .Even though, I will still probably pick up a couple of the UP versions. Maybe they will hear our complaints and improve the sound on the next round.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
RE:My REVIEW OF THE INTERMOUNTAIN GEVO ES44AC IN HO...
UPDATE:
In my review, I mentioned that there appeared to be some grille work missing from the inertial air cabinet and Dynamic Brake cabinet, located behind the engineer's side of the cab. I checked my other units and sure enough, the grilles are missing- but not having fallen off -they were never installed at the factory. this got by not only the factory in China(Imagine that...)but unfortunately, by Intermountain as well.
Repair parts have not startedot arrive from China yet, as is the norm, so Richard was kind enough to see what he could find there, that was a return or reject, and get the parts for mine that way.
Hopefully, there were not many that slipped through this way but it has happened.
My suggestion to all buying these: BR CAREFUL in the handling of the model - I'm not saying its 'Nitro' or anything but just a little extra care will probably prevent any damage or breakage to any add-on parts.
This really goes for any detailed model.
Thanks again for the interest.
HF1
Thanks for the review and i dont have to worry about the sound because i like the dcc ready no sound units.
Russell
HeritageFleet1,
Thank you for such an in depth review of the long awaited Intermountain GEVO. You have covered just about anything and everything I would even think of, and then some. I did see a clip on You Tube of the GEVO and I totally agree with you about the horn. It sounds like someone stuffed a rag in the horn, that is if they actually took this sound byte from the prototype. My thought was that Intermountain was already behind schedule on the shipment date and was just trying to get them out before Christmas. Which left them with no time for last minute tweeks.
But I still cant wait for my BNSF's, which probably wont be in until 2011. (Im also wondering if the ES44DC's release date got pushed back as well). Anyhow, I will just be careful when handling the beast and please keep us up to date with the modification you are going to make on your models.
Keep up the great work,
Shawn
Here is my youtube review of the intermountain ES44AC. Since time is limited on youtube per video, I had to go with the obvious things. However, my technical detail is nowhere near your level:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTCKXQR10xE
So maybe then, Soundtraxx will come up with some recommendations for CV adjustments that'll improve the Gevo sound. Their suggestions for the Genesis SD70ACe seem to be working. See other topics here and at Atlas and Athearn Facebook and at TrainOrders.
David Harrison
Thanks John ... I wanted to post photos but didn't have the time to devote to this right now...I may do a few on my next update, or as soon as I have time, but my guess is most people will have them in their hands by them anyway.
Appreciate your video much though.
Thanks again,
Hi Dave...
Just reading that post.
Interestingly enough, I went back to my scratch pad I use for a programming log, and with the exception of CV's on the equalizer, Was not able to get much more satisfaction out of the Horn sound.
I believe the real problem lays with the original sound master and how it was remastered - perhaps losing some of the audio in the process.
For now, though, its as good as I can tune it and it is what it is.
Walt at LokSound ESU is working on a new upgradable sound file for the ACe and the Gevo and He's leaving for London , ONT to re-record some sounds of the ACe again, to improve the transition sound recordings for re-mix. They sound pretty good now, except for the transitionand he wants them to be right.
I'm anxious to hear the Gevos improved.
BTW: I posting a related update on this review.
Thanks for your advice
Well, here's some interesting news, I was not aware of and it is a rather complicating issue to me.
I spoke yesterday evening, to SoundTraxx about the Horn(AirChimeK5HL)file for the new Intermountain Gevo, and my displeasure with the inaccuarcy and quality of the sound.
I was then told that the Horn track on the Factory-Installed Decoders, were NOT Soundtraxx's sound files recording, but rather that of another private party that recorded the sounds for Intermountain. These sounds were simply programmed to the file storage on the chip used created by Soundtraxx, at the request of Intermountain.
What the....?
A reason was not given why this would be done but is apparently agreed to by both IMRC and Soundtraxx.
I was also told, that Soundtraxx has their own sound for the K5HL and that it would be available on the forthcoming GEVO prime mover sound decoder from Tsunami- probably after the first of the year.
Unfortunately, this decoder sound file has not 'made' it to the website yet, where you can sample their sound files for that particular locomotive. I was told that this decoder would not be shipping to dealers until sometime in January. So, you can't make a judgement call about which has the better horn sound.
You have to decide - do I want to get the factory sound with the awful horn but great sounding AirCompressor cycling and prime mover ....or, wait to see if the Tsunami has a far better and realistic sound recording for the K5HL horn and possibly lose the compressor sounds??
With the recent issues with the horn sounds on the Athearn 70 Ace, its becoming more frustrating to be excited about the newer products.
Moving forward, I'll wait and see what the Tsunami sound decoders deliver in the new year and in the meantime, I guess I have what I have.
But it makes no sense to spend money on a sound equipped loco of the sound isn't up to par.
HF1,
Thanks for the up to date information. I will follow your lead on this since it seems like you are on the inside. But I cant believe Intermountain would not let Soundtraxx work their magic without any influence from a 3rd party. Hopefully this can be resolved before the next batch of GEVO's hits the shops.
HEREE ARE SOME PICS OF THE GEVO IN THE KCS SCHEME FOR YOUR http://s982.photobucket.com/albums/ae301/heritagefleet1/KCS%20GEVO%20SOUTHERN%20BELLE%20INT/
And another downside of Tsunamis - so what if they come out with the correct horn sound, you'll have to buy a whole new decoder and swap them out to get it. Not having swapable sound files is a MISTAKE. I don't mean user-created sound files - few of us can gain the access to a locomotive to make proper recordings, let alone edit them and tune them properly. I mean factory produced sounds that you can change around, like QSI. One decoder, many sound files. No tweaking required, you just download the file and load it in the decoder. One SKU for the decoder - no "oh well, store's out of the EMD 710 version, so I have to wait til they order more".
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I agree with Randy, does Intermountain plan to do anything with fixing the sound on this release? I wonder if it was a financial decision to go to a 3rd party for sounds? Did you ask them why they did that?
I guess I'll be finding out soon what they sound like, because my pre-order will be shipping soon.
Hi Randy...
I'll agree with you that I wish Soundtraxx would go to a user-interchangable, downloadable sound file chip, there doesn't seem to be much interest in this, by the minds at Soundtraxx. One reason may be that it would be more expensive to produce and could increase the size of the required board and components, although I just bought a Lok-Sound by ESU, in their 'Select Series' and it is both smaller and requires no heat sink, yet offers downloadable sound files, using their Sound Loader.
And...the fidelity of the recorded sounds are real, and offer more selections of prime movers, horns, etc.
It's a trade-off on expense.
I don't see Intermountain going this route on its own either, but it would be nice.
In all fairness to Soundtraxx, I do credit them with the overall best sound files available -right now. Lok-Sound is coming from behind fast, and with new people at the helm in the US market, they are seeking to offer the best.
We'll see.
Mot...everyone.
This is the very best model of the ES44AC/DC ever done in HO to date and I have no plans to cancel my orders for more, just because the Horn sound is not quite right. Intermountain and SoundTraxx have worked very hard to bring all of us a very desired model and they are to be commended for their efforts. Even with the issues with the Horn, I'm still pleased with the model and I expect most all of you will be too.
From my brief discussions with both Intermountain and SoundTraxx, I don't see a fix coming soon -if at all.
I'm not speaking officially either, because I don't know what if anything IMRC could do... the decoders are installed.
SoundTraxx has stated that their recordings have different Horn .wav files than those used on the IMRC Gevo - Apparently, they(IMRC) requested that their own provided recording was to be used? SoundTraxx also told me that their own Gevo decoder would not be released until after the first of the year, presumably awaiting arrival from the manufacturer.
Knowing the quality of sound that Tsunami produces, I would think that it will have the correct horn .wav but it isn't available for listening at the SoundTraxx Sound file library, on their website yet, and probably will not be until, again... after the first of the year.
The recerdings, according to Soundtraxx, were done about a year ago, and I'm waiting on a response from the good folks at SoundTraxx to determine if anything can be done to improve the sound of the file, but I can tell you, it's not right, so all the equalizers in the world will not be able to deliver the apporopriate sound.
If I were doing this all over again, knowing what I know now, I'm not sure if I'd have gone with the sound versions - the rest of the sound is good - especially the Cyclic air compressor sounds-excellent.
SoundTraxx still offers the very best sound decoders out there in IMHO - but there was some mistakes made on the selection of this recording. If what I was told is true, then the decision to go with an 3rd party recording, was not a good one.
Heritagefleet1 For those concerned, there are versions with and without door windows, and 3 and 4 window versions. The TBA version may be that of the door on the other side of the cabfront.
I believe the TBA variant is to be the CN first-order ES44DC cab, which has their distinct tear-drop windshields and marker lights in the corners of the nose. Like this here: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=241878&nseq=3
I've corresponded with Intermountain with regards to the CN model, and they've been clear they intend to accurately reproduce that cab style for the CN models.
Anyway, thanks for the very comprehensive review! I'm very excited to eventually get the 4 CN DC versions I have on order, and reviews like this make me even more excited! I'm not a sound guy (all silent models for me), so thankfully most of your "cons" section doesn't apply to me! It does look like a beautifully detailed model, and if they do get the CN version right, it will be one of the best on the market.
-Tim
Thanks for the review. It really helps keep people from getting burned. Particularly with sound locos. I would like to add a couple of observations as I come from a manufacturing/marketing background:
1. Resist preordering locos with sound. This practice has made it easier for the model mfg to produce and sell substandard equipment--lots of recent releases to point to by several mfgs. Since we all agree that sound is subjective and up to the individual, than this makes the practice of preordering at best questionable. Not doing so would force the mfg to make quality products that have to be sold on the basis of quality at the time of sale(among other things). I wish I could mfg and sell product on a preorder basis and leave unmet demand. It would sure help me keep my prices up and inventory low.
2. Reviews such as yours, particularly those with video are getting to be much more important due to the lack of inventory in the store for inspection/listening. In my area, there are at least three stores that will let you listen to the locos (one in GA , one in SC and one in NC) and they seem to be the more successful stores. They seem to find a way to get inventory.
3. QSI is coming out with a new decoder which will have more sound channels, 10 functions, etc. I am very excited to try one and already have one coming for Jan as a repair replacement. I suspect this will give Soundtraxx some competition. I believe they have trackside recordings of the GEVO as well as ACe.
4. I have installed many Soundtraxx decoders and at this time in my humble opinion for the most part, sound more realistic than anything else on the market. I think they need more function outputs, particularly given need for ditch lights as a basic item. I'm doing an F40 install and will have to add a TCS 4 function along with the Soundtraxx.
5. I have been waiting for about 7-8 months for the Soundtraxx GEVO and hope that patience pays off.
Thayman...
Good thought... you're probably right. If true, Intermountain would be the first to get the teardrop cab windows right in HO.