Has anyone used one of these before?

[Anonymous]

has anyone used a Overland models Sd40-2 chassis (with motor and drive assembly) before? If so, how well does the motor run? how is the drive assembly? (is it loud or quiet? and does it have much tractive effort?)

[dacort]

I haven't used the SD40-2 chassis, but I do have an SD45 and a B23-7 both based on Overland mechanisms. The B23 is still a project but the SD45 is in service on my layout and I like it very much. Both mechanisms are very similar, so I would imagine the SD40-2 is as well.

At first I was disappointed in the mechanism because the SD45 wouldn't pull itself up a hill, much less a train, until I traced the problem to a loose universal in the drive. A drop of CA fixed it, and now it runs like a champ.

It's a very smooth runner, and the sprung journals are neat to watch as it goes down the track. It easily runs as well as my Katos, and will now pull a 10+ car train of weighted cars up a 3.5 % curving grade by itself without trouble (that's about as long of a train as is practical on my layout).

As far as noise, it has a mild whine, not really any louder than most other locos, though perhaps a bit louder than a Kato. To me the noise is a bit reminiscent of real diesels, so it's not entirely a bad thing. The shell (Rail Power) has a slight rattle but I think I could fix that with some tape or some other soft material between the shell and the frame.

Unless Overland has changed the design recently (my frames are probably ten years old) you'd need to use a wired decoder for DCC, as there's no plug.

[Vampire]

I have an Overland SD40-2. I bought it about 5-6 years ago IIRC. It has been a good runner for me. The motor whine dacort mentions is kind of unique but it's not by any means objectionable. Mine doesn't have a DCC plug either. The only minor complaint I have is it picks up power from only 8 of its 12 wheels. There are contact wipers for the outer wheels of each truck but none for the center wheels. It's more of a "pet peeve" that a real source of trouble though.