SeeYou190Will it need to be mail ordered from Europe?
I have dealt with Reynaulds for mail-order of European products imported to North America:
https://www.reynaulds.com/
Perhaps check with them about availability.
Good Luck, Ed
They taking pre orders yet? I can think of a bunch of northeast railroads that had them. Should be interesting loco. there is a shell avaliable on shapeways.
Shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
I am excited about this. Like center coupola cabooses, I have a thing for center cab diesel locomotives. This is one I want.
Will it need to be mail ordered from Europe?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
An interesting choice. I wonder what the trucks will look like internally? Because if it can be narrow-gauged relatively easily, they could sell one here, maybe more.
Most Euro models will convert easily to the Kadee Euro coupler (NEM?), so there's a path to the US versions in most cases. NWSL might offer a solution to the deep flanged wheels.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Hi Crew!
I read the news on FB and on another forum and thought I'd share it here.
PIKO (German manufacturer) will be producing the Whitcomb 65 Ton Centercab switcher. I was happy to read of the news as this is one of the units that a number of modelers have been requesting for years! Of course, the standard response from our favorite manufactuers was (paraphrasing): "It won't sell". (which was said of the SDP40f.......FL9....... EP5.......U36B....... fill in the blank ).
I've always liked the appearance of these unusual looking switchers.
Here's a CAD photo from Piko's catalog and a photo of the Atlantic Coast Line "patch" paint scheme that I plan on painting the model in to when I get it:
If no Undec version will be available, I hope that the shell will be easy to remove for a "bath" in Super Clean. Here's a link to the PIKO Catalog. The switcher is on page 171. https://www.piko.de/KAT_PDF/99501.pdf
The prototype European connection to the 65 tonner is that the Netherlands Railways bought 20 used units from the U.S army, which may have sparked PIKO's interest in producing it. One of the paint schemes being offered is in the US Army Transportation Corp.
The CAD drawing features European bumpers, but this looks like a model that may be easy to "Americanize" by removing the European bumpers and installing Kadee #17 thru #20 couplers.
Although the ACL unit in the photo did not make it into the SCL merger of 1967, in my world, the unit survived into the early 1970's in that ACL scheme.
One potential "bug" of an issue is that it will come equipped with NEM wheels (which most of us here call "Pizza Cutters). For those of us that use Code 83 track, that's not welcome news.
I'm hoping that, perhaps, the NEM wheels can be removed from the axles and replaced with RP-25 style wheels. But we're early in the game, so we'll likely see/hear more detailed info in the future, including DCC compatibility.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"