Broadway-Limited now has the Blue Line SD40-2 on their web page with a full description of the details along with the date they will be imported for sale.
They were moving on this before the annoucement.
Look under products and the SD40-2 is under the Blue Line
Do you think that the Built to Order disclaimer is to get dealers to get on board!!!
http://broadway-limited.com/
BlueLine products are built to order, so get your order in today at your favorite hobby shop or dealer!
Specifications on this page subject to change
In addition to the information provided by BLI, I received an e-mail from HObbies USA who said the sound system being used in these engines is custom made by BLI, and is from neither ESU (LokSound) nor QSI.
Whoever it's from, I hope it will sound as good as one of those brands.
Model Railroader recently had a demonstration video of the new InterMountain sound-equipped diesel engine and it has the most horrible sounding horn of anything on the market today, if their video is an accurate recording.
"Built to order" maybe means FINALLY they are learning and aren;t going to overprodce like previous models. No more super blowout sales at Trainworld. Atlas has been doing this for a long time - hence their email newsletter with deadlines to getorders to dealers. AFter the deadline, they make approximately however many have been ordered by dealers and that's it.
Of course nothing stops a given dealer from ordering more than his customers have ordered, if he thinks he can move a few extras. But then the cost of warehousing the extras is borne by the dealer, not the manufacturer.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker wrote: "Built to order" maybe means FINALLY they are learning and aren;t going to overprodce like previous models. No more super blowout sales at Trainworld. Atlas has been doing this for a long time - hence their email newsletter with deadlines to getorders to dealers. AFter the deadline, they make approximately however many have been ordered by dealers and that's it. Of course nothing stops a given dealer from ordering more than his customers have ordered, if he thinks he can move a few extras. But then the cost of warehousing the extras is borne by the dealer, not the manufacturer. --Randy
Randy
I agree with you assessment about BLI trying to avoid the blow out sales with this new approach in building to reserve level only. Atlas has been doing this for many years now and it creates a want list for sure. They certainly make less money at BLI using the blow out method since they are selling way below the price to a distributor. I Talked to a dealer that just a few months ago paid more for the PCM bug boys without sound than FDT was selling them for last month. That means BLI/PCM was getting less money also to get rid of items what were slow and they needed cash for new products that might sell. Their future plate is certainly full of new models including the Daylight Train, which to me is useless because they are bringing in the original 1941 train with the Southern Pacific Lines lettering. I know some might want that, but it dates the train to early WWII only.
I think the real reason they are using the " Built to order" is they do not have the cash to keep flooding the market. I did find out several of the larger dealers have decided not to shelve the BLI/PCM models and only get them if they are presold. That will hurt both the distribution and availablity of new models to all of us. I recently decided not to reserve any of their products since the quality varies so much model to model and if I can't see it, I won't purchase them.
It will be interesting to see if anyone is ordering the DC only version of the SD40-2, since the first run of that model received a very poor review in MR. The lack of detail is not too bad if you want to add detail to the model.
. CAZEPHYR