intermountain es44dc (gevo) or a athearn gp38-2w


J

joed2323

Member
I know I'm kinda comparing a modern day loco to a late model modern day loco.
I'm buying another modern loco this weekend. I currently only have a athearn sd70-m2 dcc w/sound and i need another loco.

I model modern day obviously, i want another loco in the canadian national rroad name.
I was originally going to get either a intermountain sd 40-2w or a athearn genesis gp38-2w. Then i came across the newer es44dc and it looks sharp. It would go along good with my sd 70.

With that being said, how do you guys like your intermountain locos? I seen a thread years back of a bunch of you guys purchasing the es44dc..
How does intermountain compare to athearn.
I can only afford one dcc sound loco at a time otherwise id buy all 3 locos that im interested in.
 
joed2323 said:
I know I'm kinda comparing a modern day loco to a late model modern day loco.
I'm buying another modern loco this weekend. I currently only have a athearn sd70-m2 dcc w/sound and i need another loco.

I model modern day obviously, i want another loco in the canadian national rroad name.
I was originally going to get either a intermountain sd 40-2w or a athearn genesis gp38-2w. Then i came across the newer es44dc and it looks sharp. It would go along good with my sd 70.

With that being said, how do you guys like your intermountain locos? I seen a thread years back of a bunch of you guys purchasing the es44dc..
How does intermountain compare to athearn.
I can only afford one dcc sound loco at a time otherwise id buy all 3 locos that im interested in.
Click to expand...

I don't own the IMRC ES44DC (slightly late for my era of 1990s), but do have a couple of their SD40-2Ws as well as a pair of the new Genesis GP38-2Ws. I would go for the Athearn. Better detail, better lighting (IMRC locos have issues with very dim ditch lights), and better sound. Even though both use Tsunamis, the new GP38-2W uses a new decoder model with new recordings that sound very very good. The model is definitely a winner.
 
I really like the IM Gevos. I currently have 4 and have 3 more on order. The ditchlight brightness was fixed on the later runs and you can easily fix it on the first run by removing two resistors under the shell. I like LED lighting vs Athearn's bulbs which burn out so I have become somewhat hesitant to purchase their models. I currently own only 2 athearns with one more on order and have replaced the bulbs with LEDs and added LED ditch lights as well. Athearn seems to have improved their QC of late and the detail on their Genesis line is extremely nice. IM's customer service is outstanding.

Of course, it's going to come down to personal choice. Either way, you cant go wrong.
 
Doh!! I posted this in the wrong forum section...sorry mods

Decisions decisions. I like the gp38-2w alot but looking at the es44dc that is one good lookin locomotive...

Dumb question- in model railroading, is there any difference in pulling power and traction from a 4 axle vs a 6axle?? Obviously you can run tighter curves with a 4axle but that doesnt matter in my case since my minimum curve radius is 26inch
 
joed2323 said:
Doh!! I posted this in the wrong forum section...sorry mods

Decisions decisions. I like the gp38-2w alot but looking at the es44dc that is one good lookin locomotive...

Dumb question- in model railroading, is there any difference in pulling power and traction from a 4 axle vs a 6axle?? Obviously you can run tighter curves with a 4axle but that doesnt matter in my case since my minimum curve radius is 26inch
Click to expand...

No, not really. It pretty much only matters how much weight is sitting on top of the wheels (weight of the loco) and how many of the wheels are powered. Virtually all model railroad locomotives today are all wheel drive. The more weight you have on the loco, the more traction those drive wheels transfer into pulling power.
 
bigB said:
No, not really. It pretty much only matters how much weight is sitting on top of the wheels (weight of the loco) and how many of the wheels are powered. Virtually all model railroad locomotives today are all wheel drive. The more weight you have on the loco, the more traction those drive wheels transfer into pulling power.
Click to expand...

Just one thing to add here, a model of a 6-axle locomotive won't always be heavier than that of a 4-axle loco. All depends on the model's design. So as bigB said, the heavier the loco, the better its pulling power. My 4-axle Rapido FP9As, for instance, are heavy as bricks and tend to out-pull my 6-axle IMRC SD40-2Ws. Haven't compared the GP38-2W to any of the IMRCs, however, so can't comment on how well they'd do against each other.
 
for me, I don't have any IM locos (yet) but as for Atlas and Athearn (had both) I like both as well, as for details I don't notice too much difference between the two in question brand wise, however sound quality is what I mostly go for, and I have had good luck with Atlas, Athearn and a few others with Tsunami sound set ups, Im slowly rebuilding my DCC fleet and I know I have at least one loco (non Sound with DCC) in CSX which I believe is a CW44-W (i think) and it runs really smooth so I am quite happy with it, I think it may be Athearn as well...
 
I like my athearn as well, the tsunami sounds great. I believe the intermountain has tsunami as well so that equals things out.

Back to the heavier loco suggestions... Couldnt a person just add small weights to any locomotive and make it pull like a raped ape! Or does this change things too much with the motor working harder for instance???
 
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joed2323 said:
I like my athearn as well, the tsunami sounds great. I believe the intermountain has tsunami as well so that equals things out.

Back to the heavier loco suggestions... Couldnt a person just add small weights to any locomotive and make it pull like a raped ape! Or does this change things too much with the motor working harder for instance???
Click to expand...

You can certainly try to add more weight - if you can find the room. Most modern locos tend have very little extra space inside, especially the ones with sound. Extra weight, if you can add it, won't hurt. But considering how little extra space there usually is, especially in narrow hood diesels, - chances are it won't make a huge amount of difference.
 
I really like my IM es44dc. It came with a ditch light issue, but I am sending it in for service. Intermountain's customer service has been great. In fact, I have not received the kind of service they have provided from any other manufacturer. I am not too impressed with the quality of the sound, but with a $12.50 speaker upgrade it will sound great!
 
The 'sound issue' that Angel is referring to is that the stock IM sound Gevo comes with a 1/4 watt 28mm speaker. I upgraded two of my 4 locos to Railmaster Hobbies DSM8 2 watt high bass speakers and it makes a world of difference. Shame to have to do it in a $200 model, but it does greatly improve the sound.
 
I would go for the GP38-2W. The Intermountain GEVOs are nice, but I think the Athearn Genesis locos are nicer.
 
Well guys, i bought a canadian national es44dc dcc w/sound for $207 bucks today...
I had the athearn gp 38-2w in my hand but put it back.

Their is a train show tmrw so maybe i can find some more good deals maybe even a cheap gp38-2w with sound ha.

Im new to this hobby and only have 2 locos but i can see wanting to have alot more locos in my arsenal...
 
That is the exact issue Bigb was referring to. The sound decoder itself is great, but with a speaker upgrade it will make a huge difference. The RailMaster speaker is also the one I was referring to. In fact, I am going to Bellflower (happens to be my place of birth) next week and I will be stopping by RailMaster Hobbies to look around and pick up a couple of speakers.

Congratulations on the new locomotive. I think you will be very happy with it. If you are unhappy with the sound quality check out www.railmasterhobbies.com and check out the DSM-8. It is a nice replacement speaker for the locomotive.
 
Thank you for the link you provided. So what exactly is the problem with the speaker? Does it sound muffled or just not very loud?? Im hoping to fire up my es44dc tonight when i get home so i will then have a opinion. I will only be able to compare it to my athearn Genesis sd70 and this loco is pretty loud ive been debating about turning the sound down just a tad, its on factory default but it sounds like its turned way loud... my kids like it
 
So after running my new es44dc i can finally compare it to my athearn sd70-m2

I have a 2 % grade on my layout and my es44dc spins out half way up the grade with 12-15 cars, these cars are mostly pulpwood flats, 2 of the cars were fully loaded with wood from my back yard... The front wheels spin out, and cause the es44dc to slow down way to much to keep pulling, if i push slight pressure on the front nose of the intermountain in has enough traction to pull it up the grade. SO I need to add weights to the front of the es44dc, does anyone know how or what weights to use?

Now i pulled out my sd70m2 and i tried it with 10 cars, then 12 cars, then 15 cars, and it pulled all these up the grade no problems... Its my lil beast.

Im not gonna say the intermountain is junk, its probably just not heavy enough in the front, and the athearn is weighted better.
 
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