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Author
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ThoroughBreed
Engineer
Registered: September 2007
Location: Columbus, GA
Posts: 291
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Review Date: Thu September 20, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $260.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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excellent sound and motor control, detail work is great
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Cons:
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high price
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The units I ordered and receieved were the SP fantasy scheme #383 and #399. The packaging is very welll conceived as it keeps the units suspended, much like the Bachmann spectrums. The units run extremely well in both DC and DCC mode with the sound coming on in low speed in dc mode. The crawl speed is good and starts at about 3 on my dcc system. The units can be muted with F8 on the dcc system. The power to pull is good as 1 unit can pull approx 30 cars on level surface, and 20 on a 1% grade without slippage.
The overall detail work is excellent, to include the non slip paint applied to the roof top centerline.
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 My new webpage!   My Gallery
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jbaakko
Diesel Detail Freak
Registered: June 2005
Location: San Diego, CA / Hancock, MI
Posts: 7009
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Review Date: Sun March 9, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Cheapest ES44 on the market, Sound/DCC, accurate
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Cons:
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Poorly assembled handrails & loose dtichlights
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I'm slightly disappointed with my first ES44DC. It came brand new in box with the ditch lights loose from the frame, and half the handrails falling off. I could not get them to fit snug, so I'm going to have to glue them. 
Detail is nice, however, for the price they could have at least given a few see through grills on the sides, even BACHMANN has see through internal air filter grills on the Dash 8's! 
As with any production unit, Details West has found lots to add, I plan on adding their detail back to each and every ES44 I buy.
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Josh
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jbaakko
Diesel Detail Freak
Registered: June 2005
Location: San Diego, CA / Hancock, MI
Posts: 7009
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Review Date: Tue August 12, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $175.00
| Rating: 0
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Pros:
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Better fitting details? easy to remove shell
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Cons:
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Copper/Bronze grabs do NOT come off easy
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I just got my 2nd unit. This one is decorated for Santa Fe, road number 724 (or was).
Re-reviewing these units, I've discovered something. The grabs seem to be made of copper, or bronze, they're far to dark to be brass, and fairly fragile (I managed to break all but one!). Again, the unit came with loose handrails, however this time both ditch lights were well attached.
Dis-assembly is quite simple, I removed the coupler boxes (modified Kadee boxes at that), and the shell slipped right off. There is no permanent connection between the chassis and power board on my DC unit (instructions seem to indicate the DCC version is set up the same), so there are no worries about wires between the two. They used bronze contact strips for power transfer.
Removal of more details was simple, however the odd grabs would not come out w/o breaking. I'll replace them all with Aline brass. I managed to damage one light housing, but that was my own ignorance.
Paint removal was accomplished on the cab in about 15 minutes with the help of some Scale Cote II Wash Away. I need to pick up a 2nd bottle to complete the long hood & deck, as the one bottle is not enough to fill the container around the shell.
I'll be adding DCC + Sound, I hope to use a Tsunami, but they do not yet have GE sound.
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Josh
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