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I'm going to say if anyone does make a replica of it it will be Kato. They are the one company that has HO models that are the closest to the GEVOs or the ACe's. The AC4400CW is similer to the GEVO, and the SD80-90 is similar to the ACe. However, Kato hasn't released a whole lot of new HO-scale equipment, just mostly N-scale stuff.
Ever is a looong time, so it is possible that someone else will make an ES44 or an SD70ACe/M-2 but I can't see it any time soon.
Kato could use their AC4400 and SD90 models as starting points as mentioned above, but the Kato price point would be similar to Tower 55.
Athearn could use their AC4400 and the RPP SD90 or their SD70 series as starting points for their own models. I can't really see them doing a RTR version, so a genesis series model would also be expensive.
The real key to this is how many Railroads buy ES44 and ACe's. To have more than one model produced, you need a large market to sell to.
Fred's point is the most salient. The railroads themselves have to start adopting these "green" locomotives in large numbers before we see any mass model makers interested in them. Right now, the railroads are buying these locomotives essentially as tests beds and to show they are on board with the Obama cap and trade program. Depending on how draconian cap and trade turns out to be, we could see large numbers of older and rebuilt locomotives scrapped and GEVO's and Lord only knows what else replacing them. From a purely business perspective, buying large numbers of these locomotives in a time of falling car loadings and an existing locomotive surplus is foolish. The final outcome will be determined by politics, not the normal railroad cycle of engine replacement.
If Atlas making an NRE 3GS21B (Genset) and now InterMountain making an HO ES44AC shows there is a demand...
I don't see Kato making anything new for some time. They're more interested in re-releasing, for too much money, poorly detailed but excellent running Dash 9's...
I have a feeling the next Athearn announcement for mail subscribers will have a pic of drawings of how their HO SD70ACes will look like, so I voted soon, considering that time flies. They already released concept art for their tooling...
Obviously we have MTH with the ACe/M-2 locomotives currently out...
As far as the ES44 units, Intermountain is coming out with them fairly soon and Kato had a technical data sheet there for theirs as well. The Intermountain are around $175 for DCC/DC but no sound and $250 to $260 for sound. Not sure about the Kato.
I didn't see anything at Athearn along these lines...
Josh, I must have missed the P2K GP-20's when they were being made, unless you're talking about the high hood models. The few short hood models I saw looked pretty bad, with a short hood that was much too steeply sloped. Tyco actually did a better job on the short hood.
I felt the same, Josh. The high hood models looked OK but they weren't all that common in GP-20's. Atlas really blew the nose on the short hood. I wish they'd come out with another issue with the correct nose profile.
The new stuff is cool, but I enjoy the older stuff (the lower number Geeps) in various configurations. But I say that as someone who models a railroad that used rebuilt first generation power into the late 1990s.
KCSRailfan sent me a link to TrainOrders which has some pics from trainfest which in fact include the ACe from Athearn. Hope they come out soon! I am really dying for a FEC model...
How about a decent GP-20? There hasn't been a decent model of those built in years.
