OK, the U30c was nice, actually VERY nice.

How about doing either a Railking or Premier SD-45 in BN Cascade green, that can run with our GN engines during the transition to the BN era. There would be a lot to say for a "Northern Pacific" SD-45 as well!
NP HO SD-45
Anybody else interested in either of these? Yard Bull

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Yard Bull,

I would also like to see the ever-popular SD40-2, but not the white face units-

Agreed.

More SD40-2's, without the white face.



The best white face ofcourse, is this classy unit:



I am hoping for updated tooling on both of these units plus a run of C30-7's!

I'd order an SD-45 in BN and NP in a second. BN and NP are core to my layout.

BN roster: SW1200, MP15DC, GP15, U33C, SD40, SD60, SD70MAC, SD24, C424

I can always use more Cascade Green and especially more NP!

An early SD40-2 would be great, and yes, definitely without the white face clown make-up (or Atlas prices). However, the SD-45 is the bridge from NP and GN and can run from the first days of the BN into the 1980's. And, of course, twenty cylinders and flared radiators are ultra-modern. Yard Bull

I could go for some 21" scale coaches in BN green.

My Jersey Builder could use some 1971 cars behind the CNJ GP40P that I am hoping Atlas decides to do.

The only problem with the BN passenger cars was the "turned down" white stripe, which made every car look like the masking tape had slid down before the painter got there....

If we do get the BN SD-45, let's work to insure that they are not the same numbers assigned to already made GN engines. Also, every SD-45 does NOT need to be marked Hustle Muscle....

YB

YB - they look cool mixed in with some NP Empire Builder cars, Great Northern Sky Blue cars, and ex-SF stainless coaches.

What can I say?

quote:

Originally posted by Yard Bull:
If we do get the BN SD-45, let's work to insure that they are not the same numbers assigned to already made GN engines. Also, every SD-45 does NOT need to be marked Hustle Muscle....

Maybe they'd make a Hustle Muscle and non-Hustle Muscle version like they did with the GN release.

Mmmmm.

Living along the BNSF here is Illinois I'm all about the BN. I'd also want to see the SD-40s and 60s again without the white face. I don't remember them being all that common.

Anyone interested in ES44s in BN, NP or GN paint schemes? I'd love to see the BNSF do what the UP did and then have MTH put out the new power in the old schemes.

How about some E series in the old BN commuter scheme? Where the prototypes E-8s?

If I am going to buy any new BN Locomotive from MTH it would be a BN GP50 with the original side graphics and the White Face.

Andrew

Bazonkers:

Those photos are EXACTLY what I have in mind - big power, the NP engine especially is one that has never been done, expect maybe by Williams. I've never noticed the light above the Monad emblem before on the NP. The BN SD-45s you show are great. Thanks for the illustrations.

Pete-I'm afraid I like my modern power in the BNSF "Swoosh". Each roadname to its own era - althought a I think an Alco PA in BNSF might be fun... BN E units would be cool and should sell well in Chicago.

The key thing, MTH, is that these would sell, you've paid for the tools, both the BN and NP colors schemes are fairly simple to apply and there's a big market in Chicagoland for these. Talk about a low risk, recession proof project!?!

If you want a slightly more risky one, I'd be OK with a herking Alco C-636 Century in SP&S and BN colors. You could buy Cascade Green paint in 55 gallon drums.

Yard Bull

quote:

The best white face ofcourse, is this classy unit:

Perhaps I am alone in thinking this is an unhappy paint scheme, even though I love the SD-60 and 70 engines. I never liked the wierd white mask on these.

YB

MTH BN Roster

Mark:

Thanks for sharing the roster, but the real Cascade Green nuts already know all of these by heart! They do look pretty all together though, I admit. You can see how well an SD-45 and an early SD40-2 would fit into this line-up. YB

I have the RK BN GP7 P&D; replaced the Lionel SD40s from the BN freight set of ?1985?; looks pretty cool, and is a good color match to the six Std. O boxcars. Also replaced the Lionel EV caboose with the MTH Premier Steel caboose.

For those of us that love commuter operations:



By the way, we also need accurate length Budd gallery cars for Metra, not the stubby looking 18" cars.

And a Premier Line run of these with upgraded trucks and fuel tank:





Dudley....we need a BN roster display...where are you?!?!?

the only BN cascade green on my layout is patched with BNSF orange and is covered in grime!

Look carefully at the extra side windows on the NP SD-45. I'm in for NP units if they include this detail, plus the nose mounted gyra-light.

By the way, NP SD-45's are discussed at length in the latest issue of the Mainstreeter, the quarterly publication of NPRHA. The consist pictured was very typical at NP; the engineers hated the ride and "baseball bat" throttles of the GE U-boats. So the roundhouse hostlers tried to include an SD45 as the front unit in a consist. This was by gentlemen's agreement, never an offical NP policy.

Block: Those may be glass wind deflectors, not extra windows, hard to tell. The Gyralight is very cool and since Mars lights are already on the PS-2 list of tricks, it shouldn't be hard to implement. I want a set of the NP!


Lucas: I think you've shown how MTH could make these more versatile, by including some in BNSF "patch job" paint. That would be OK for some ratty looking SD40-2 engines, not sure any SD-45's lived that long.

The C30-7 set does look terrific! Yard Bull

On the lead NP unit, is that yellow paint oversprayed on the truck & steps? If it is, it's a not so pretty job of repainting.

LeClaire Rail has these early GN-BN GP40 photos.

This is a great BN Paint Scheme for me.






Andrew

That's a really interesting BN paint scheme. I can't say it's my favorite.

A Burlington Northern Look,

A dynamic addition would be the GP39E’s and GP50’s. A Trio of GP50’s would look great!

Regards,
Swafford

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Swafford,

The white face GP39 is pretty elegant looking, I'd go for that, and it would be an easy run for MTH. The GP-40 with the white whale look is an acquired taste that has passed me by.

If MTH wanted to do another paint scheme to flesh out our SD-45 run, they could do a Montana Rail Link. I recently saw one of these still running in Helena, Montana, in a great looking paint job.

Yard Bull

I too would like to see MTh or Lionel make BN SD-40-2 equipment. Its been way too long. In regards to the NP...I'm a huge NP fan and would love MTH to make a model of the SD-45, or U33C which I believe the NP also had.

But the NP is sorely neglected. Not even a GP-9....

Eagle

The NP RS-11 Railking is a great model, but not the same thing as a set of SD-45s pulling tonnage up the Yellowstone River. The great thing about the transition into the BN is that you can run great looking GN, NP, CB&Q stuff along with the green. YB

Ok! Now you BN fans have me curious! What other motive power was painted with the "white cap" Wave? I am aware of the e8's in commuter but any sd 40's sd'45's?

I believe that is the first time I ever saw a Northern Pacific SD45.

What we really need from MTH is to stay in business.

Horseshoe:

I believe that the only power painted with the hideous white sides was the engines used to pull the BN Green Empire Builder during the short period between the end of the GN "Big Sky Blue" era and the start-up of Amtrak. I've never seen an explanation of why the designer turned the stripe downwards on each of the cars, instead of having the stripe run the length of the train!

IC: We all want MTH to continue in business, what better way than making something as useful as the best selling diesel ever, or its SD-45 predecessor. I admit the NP SD-45 was not frequently seen, since they only ran from about 1966 to the 1970 M-Day. Still, I'd take one instantly. The key here is MTH already owns the tooling, and a run of BN, MRL, NP and some eastern roads might be a low risk, reasonable sales event!

Yard Bull

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Yard Bull,

quote:

Originally posted by Yard Bull:
Those may be glass wind deflectors, not extra windows, hard to tell.

Yes they were windows. The NP GE U25C and U28C also had the extra side windows. Most of these extra windows were filled with steel plates when the FRA required the change to Part 221 Glazing (or whatever the number was, been too long ago).

YB,

I know you don't like the downward stripe, but there is method to my madness in my interest in the passenger cars. Interestingly enough the cars in this photo don't have the downward stripe and when many got repainted into NJDOT Blue and later New Jersey Transit, I clearly remember seeing the downward stipe edge showing through the paint. Could they have done different schemes...


That's the first kind of passenger train I ever got exposed to as a kid!

How about this BN "thing"? This concept artwork is from when BN was thinking about electrifying some of their track during the oil crisis but it never actually happened.

"In 1973 and 1974, according to the 1974-1975 BN Motive Power Annual published by Motive Power Services, Burlington Northern undertook a study to determine the feasibility of electrifying the line from Lincoln, Nebraska to Sheridan, Wyoming in anticipation of an increase in coal traffic. Both General Electric and Sweden's ASEA, which had licensed EMD to manufacture its locomotives in the U.S., participated in the study. Unfortunately, the economic downturn that began in 1975 put an end to those plans, as well as to those of many
other railroads considering electrification at about the same time, including Union Pacific, Illinois Central, Southern Pacific, Canadian Pacific and Southern."

BN E60C artwork by Ron Hatch from the 1975-76 Burlington Northern Annual



http://www.railheadvideo.com/pix/modeling/bne60.htm

I like it!

GG1:
That is a mongrel looking collection of GN/BN cars, but I agree that I like it. I don't know enough about the BN green passenger cars to know if they all had the turned down white stripe. Wouldn't it be fun if the manufacturers built loose passenger cars, instead of sets, so we could build a consist like this?

I also have to say I find Bazonkers BN electric to be pretty cool, although it seems like electrics should be running Wenatchee to Skykomish, not somewhere out in Wyoming!

Also, very interesting to know there were extra cab windows on the SD-45. Sounds like a job for a drill and a file if they don't come that way when MTH builds our run of 45's.

YB

YB - I'm counting on Atlas O to help out there with their new CZ sets. If they offer them like the Comet cars, they were ordered one at a time by car number. No sets other than the one you put together yourself. How sweet is that!

Former Burlington Northern SD45s did end up on the Wisconsin Central and Soo Line in their original schemes for a while.

Andrew

How about this rare SD60MAC test unit?



or this rare experimental BN liguid natural gas locomotive? (we'd need the tank as well)



or the rare "Pacific Pride" GP38-2?

quote:

Originally posted by illinoiscentral:
I believe that is the first time I ever saw a Northern Pacific SD45.

What we really need from MTH is to stay in business.

I agree but MTH has taken some larger risks in the past in regards to some of the models they chose to make. The DD40AX comes to mind. UP was the only road that had these and they only owned 47.



Also, the U50C only owned by UP. They owned 40.



I would think the NP SD45 would be pretty inexpensive to make compared to a completely new tooling. They already have done the SD45 in many roads so doing NP shouldn't be too much of a stretch for them. Additionally, I'd say that because of the limited number of NP models that are available, NP fans would certainly snap up an SD45.

I agree that the UP monster engines seem riskier, but they've also sold pretty well and still bring a lot of bids at auctions. The SD-45 is a bit more proletarian, work-a-day type of engine. MTH doesn't have to make a million of them, since the dies are presumably on-hand and paid for. Paint masks for BN and the other engines shouldn't be too expensive. YB

I have to put in a plug for some D&RG steam. Look around. Many lines have more available. BN has several pages of former offerings. Look up D&RG ....
And Not the Ski train paint job again!
I go all over looking for MTH D&RG and find nothing but the Ski train or Challengers, and not many of them.
I want a prototypical paint 40's Steam powered train in D&RG. PS2 would be excellent. Is this too much to ask?

Russell

Not too much to ask. Hard for me to argue with the Moffat Tunnel Route, D&RGW. I believe there has been one or two Weaver steamers, a 4-8-2 for example.

I think the problem for MTH and the other makers is the few folks who live along the western roads. Half the population of the USA lives along the Pennsy or NYC routes. Probably about 1 million live along the NP or GN, most of them in Seattle or the Twin Cities. How many folks in Denver and Salt Lake are serious O-guage fans, compared to New York and Chicago?

MTH has made some nice Rio Grande diesels, but have we seen a Kraus-Maffei hydraulic yet in O-Guage?

Still lobbying for a BN SD-45

The Natural Gas SD40-2 pair has to be my favorite all time Cascade Green and White paint scheme for a BN locomotive. I forgot to put that one up because I was thinking of the 1970-1980 time frame only. Make those two LNG SD40-2s and the matching 20K Gallon Tank Car.

Andrew

quote:

the rare "Pacific Pride" GP38-2?

I would love to see this engine, another "easy-to-do" re-run of the BN GP38-2 in the current catalog, without the white face. Even though it is a single prototype, it is very interesting, has been running around for quite a while, and is a "find" everytime you see it. YB

quote:

Probably about 1 million live along the NP or GN, most of them in Seattle or the Twin Cities.

What do you mean by "along"?

Montana has a population of just under 1 million and probably 80-90% of those live in the towns and cities along the former NP and GN mainlines, which are the only places in Montana there are cities.

Washington state has about 7 million people and almost all of those live in towns and cities on the former NP/GN lines.

We haven't touched North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I think there are a lot more than 1 million who live along the former NP/GN. But I will agree that for some reason 3-rail O gauge seems to be largely a midwest/northeast USA thing. Maybe it is just the population.

I am not a fan of BN's natural gas (RLM) loco's. I didn't like running them. They had a lot of safety appliances (gas sniffers etc) that tended to malfunction (or were they functioning!) and shut the units down. I also did not like that LNG tanker right behind the lead unit! By hazmat regulations you could not put a regular revenue LNG tank car within 6 cars of the locos but somehow the BN was allowed to put that bomb right there.

Wyhog

Mike (BNSF Mike),

Here they are...







And typical of anytime you try to get a family together for a group picture, you can't them all to look the same way...

Dudley:

Kind of a hostler's nightmare, but I think Cascade Green SD-45, recently repainted from GN or NP, would fit right in with the early engines shown. Could you squeeze another into your fleet?

YB

Yard Bull,

Yes, I could squeeze in a pair of BN SD-45's in cascade green. I already have a pair of MTH UP SD-45's and a pair of Santa Fe SD-45's on order, so if MTH announces them (BN version), I will order them.

quote:

Originally posted by Yard Bull:

quote:

the rare "Pacific Pride" GP38-2?

I would love to see this engine, another "easy-to-do" re-run of the BN GP38-2 in the current catalog, without the white face. Even though it is a single prototype, it is very interesting, has been running around for quite a while, and is a "find" everytime you see it. YB

I was at the Interbay Yard here in Seattle this morning for a tour setup by the Friends of the BN RR historical society. I was surprised to find this in storage and snapped a quick photo. It's a different number then the image above so there must be more than one. The paint is looking a little rough.