Intermountain ES44AC, ES44DC and Athearn SD70ACe's

[diburning]

The sound quality is different. The Athearns (later production ones) have better sound as the sound chamber is built into the frame. The Intermountain simply has a loose speaker with a backing on it as an enclosure.

On a related note, Athearn released a bunch of preproduction photos of their upcoming Genesis GEVOs based on the Tower 55 tooling.

Just like M&Ms and Santa Claus, they do exist! Here are a few pictures of our upcoming early production ES44AC GEVO. Once we receive painted samples, we’ll make the official announcement with part numbers, pricing, and ETAs.

Disclaimer: This model was assembled from first test shots for initial evaluation in the R&D process. Production will have improved fit and appearance to meet Genesis standards. The test model does not represent a specific roadname.

[Orange Irish]

Ok, I just watched a video on replacing the IM speakers so I totally get what your saying. So now it seems that before too long Athearn will release ES44s. I'm just caught for now deciding on whether to hurry and scrounge up the IMs still available on various sites, or to wait for another round from IM or for other brands to produce their own.

If only I knew what BLI is going to do, I love their Paragon sound and overall quality (but maybe I'm just clinging to the first really nice loco brand I bought). Or should I assume that before too long they will release GEVOs as well?

[diburning]

BLI won't be releasing anything big for a while.... They're having problems. Seeing how they painted up their AC6000s in GEVO schemes, I think it's safe to say BLI isn't doing GEVOs. There really isn't any reason to tool up a duplicate model (in this case, Athearn already had the GEVO tooling they acquired from Tower 55)

Athearn's GEVOs won't be announced (note how I said announced, not delivered) until next year.

[Orange Irish]

Ok, so would you expect Athearn's GEVOs to have LED lights and shore up any other drawbacks from their run of SD70s? I assume the answer is yes but I'm not yet savy to the usual business practices of these companies. If people expect an accurate and quality model of the GEVOs I can wait and pass on the remaining IMs. Also, if they are releasing ACs would they likely include all of BNSF, CSX, NS, and UP, or release DCs later on with NS, for example?

[diburning]

Probably not. Athearn has said time and time again that nothing reproduces a light bulb on the real thing like a light bulb on the model. They're somewhat correct. It doesn't look like they'll have a change of heart anytime soon although they did experiment with putting LEDs in their SP caboose.

[Orange Irish]

I can get over changing a bulb once in a while I guess. So should these Athearn GEVOs be available for purchase before the end of next year, or maybe 2014 after inevitable delays in production and shipment?

[diburning]

Since they're announcing them next year, they'll most likely be scheduled for a 2014 delivery.

[Orange Irish]

Gotcha, thanks a lot for all the info.

[bigB]

About 1/3 of the way down...
http://www.modelrailroadnews.com/TrainFest_Nov2012.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxzWu...&feature=g-u-u

Sure would like LEDs in them...wont hold my breath though.