Conrail Quality! - Unboxing and Product Review of the ScaleTrains HO Scale SD40-2!

Conrail Quality! - Unboxing and Product Review of the ScaleTrains HO Scale SD40-2!
This model train runs well, sounds great and has fantastic detail! This one is in the Conrail Quality scheme, and has working ditch lights and marker lights!
The Consolidated Rail Corporation, better known as Conrail, came into existence on April 1, 1976. The new railroad took over the operations of a number of financially struggling eastern railroads, including Penn Central and Erie Lackawanna.
The new railroad started out with a large roster of mismatched locomotives from a variety of builders. In an effort to reduce maintenance costs, Conrail quickly retired many of its older locomotives from builders like Alco that had gone out of business.
By 1977 the railroad was getting new locomotives from EMD and General Electric.
Conrail 6450 was from a batch of EMD SD40-2 locomotives that were delivered in 1978.
6450 lasted until the end of Conrail in 1999, and later became Norfolk Southern 3384.
The Conrail Cyclopedia website says that 6450 was painted with the larger logo normally used on GE Dash 8 Quality scheme repaints.
As usual, Dan evaluates the model train's packaging, prototype accuracy, paint & detail, and how well it operates and conforms to applicable standards.
If you're a fan of Big Blue, big diesels, or just like trains in general, be sure to check out this unboxing and product review!
#train #modelrail #model #modeltrains #dcc #conrail #hoscale

[@Lehighrailfanproduction]

I love Conrail locomotives! And this was a cool one for review! BUT THE DANG COUPLERS!!!

[@beeble2003]

The height mismatch is so bad that I'm almost wondering if the trucks are mis-mounted or something, causing the whole back of the locomotive to be too high. But I guess it would be obvious. Also, I'm not sure that couplers the colour of milk chocolate is an improvement over black. It's completely the wrong shade of brown, and it really draws attention to itself, whereas black is wrong but subtle.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked the review. That back coupler was off by quite a bit. Thanks for watching!

[@HaroldAlexis-bb8sd]

No complaints Daniel , I have a Conrail 🔵⚪ SD 40 - 2 in Athearn I bought in 1997 in a Hobby shop in Chicago Illinois. I love Conrail and miss them I rate this Review well done. & 💯. 👍

[@DanielCortopassi]

I’m glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!

[@williamflowersrailfannerpr3808]

I miss CONRAIL thanks for the video

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching!

[@WJP1361]

The practice of having the marker lights change from any other color besides red is incorrect, conrail really only chose red as most 6 axle units could be randomly assigned to helper duty. Great review as always dan!

[@DanielCortopassi]

I thought so. Someone else commented that the lights can be reprogrammed, so that's probably the most practical solution for this model. Thanks for the info and for watching!

[@John-bf4zt]

Great review! I spent two days visiting Horse Shoe Curve in the summer of 1997 and saw a lot of those units!

[@DanielCortopassi]

That sounds like a great memory. Thanks for sharing and for watching!

[@jimnicholas7666]

Great review! I remember seeing the ex Erie Lackawanna, PC, and Lehigh Valley Alcos stenciled with CR growing up in Central NY.

[@DanielCortopassi]

Those sound like great memories. The Alco in the video is one I detailed a few years back. It's not my usual fare, but it was a fun build. Thanks for watching!

[@J3scribe]

Whoever chose that shade of blue for Conrail had quality taste. It's very attractive. Nice review, thanks!

[@DanielCortopassi]

It is a nice color. I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!

[@Ragonnet]

The second box behind the cab is an automatic flange greaser for the wheels.

[@beeble2003]

Thanks -- I was wondering, too! (For anyone else who's reading this, the first box is a filter for the electrical cabinet.)

[@DanielCortopassi]

Thanks for the info! I was wondering what that particular part was for. Thanks for watching too!

[@dr_bnc]

That upper front headlight shield... Ouch.

[@avlisk]

I wonder what happened.

[@tex-hogger4974]

Saw that too.

[@seymoarsalvage]

I noticed that too, surprised eagle-eye Dan didn't see it lol

[@SpecificationR]

Came here to post this 4:15

[@kendallcollinson3387]

haha I totally missed that!

[@Railfan-uf9mw]

And I definitely love those RS3L horns !!!

[@DanielCortopassi]

It does sound pretty good. Thanks for watching!

[@Form44208]

Another great review! Thanks Dan!

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!

[@nyemt601]

The marker lights were a specific Conrail feature. The green white and red was left over from the Penn central days. And new locomotives that Conrail ordered only displayed red. From my understanding it was a north East corridor thing that at one time red meant the locomotive was moving away from you much like the passenger commuter trains seen in and out of NYC were the locomotive could be placed at the front or the back of the train. Being a Conrail guy the answer is extremely vast as the history of the lights themselves. The Cab signal Box you pointed out was also a Conrail only feature and if you compare a Conrail SD40-2 to say your SP Sd40-2T the grab irons for the short hood are reversed because of the cab signal box. From my understanding( Another more knowledgeable Conrail modeler can correct me) that foreign power like the SP originated stack trains coming from the west coast Into NJ didn’t have to swap the front end power out but if it was going from NJ to The west coast (SVLA or TVLA Super van train to Los Angeles or Trail van train to Los Angeles) that the power up front was strictly controlled because they had the Cab signal Boxes and needed them to run properly with the interlocking system on the NE corridor and such.

[@DanielCortopassi]

Thanks for clarifying that. I'm always intrigued by different railroads and their operating practices. Some others have commented that it's possible to reprogram the decoder to only show the red lights, so I may do that eventually. Thanks for the info and for watching!

[@nyemt601]

@@DanielCortopassi deft is. For that era Conrail with the ditch lights they only used red.

[@estebanmartinez7428]

Great video. I love ScaleTrains and its performance. I haven’t had one been that off in the couple height but I guess it happens.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked the video. I haven't had a coupler height be off as far as this one was in recent memory, so it's pretty unusual. Overall ScaleTrains makes good models. Thanks for watching!

[@JimmySpears-xv7bg]

That's a nice model and I like to super detail older blue box or Kato locomotives

[@DanielCortopassi]

I like doing that, too. It takes some time but the results can be really good. Thanks for watching!

[@RonMontagueSWRR]

Great review. The details are awesome. Although I have to admit I don't have any Scale train locos yet.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked the review. I've been generally happy with the locomotives and cars I've bought from ScaleTrains. Thanks for watching!

[@SPSteve]

Nice review, Dan. Man, I hate it when the couplers are that far off, nice you could fix them. I was watching some Charles Smiley videos and it seems it wasn't too unusual to have some foreign power in an SP consist. Even saw a white/red Soo Line, so now I need one. haha.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I've been collecting photos and slides of Donner in the 1990s for a while, and sometimes there's some cool non-SP power in the trains. It's a good excuse to run all my other non-SP stuff. Thanks for watching!

[@shipbuilding1000]

I picked up a few of these, I had been looking forward to this release since like you stated, these are by far the best CR Quality SD40-2’s offered so far. I don’t know if they leased these, but they certainly showed up plenty in our area during the 90s on all the major class 1’s as run through power. I know SP leased some of the older GE’s, and I believe UP did as well in the wake of the 1996 merger. Nice review

[@DanielCortopassi]

I know for sure that SP leased some Conrail SD40s. I made a model of one as part of my SP Consist Build series, after a unit I saw in Truckee in 1993. I'd have to check references to see if SP leased any SD40-2s, but I'll have fun using this one on my Donner layout regardless. I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!

[@rickdee67]

U do good video! Thanks Dan for your hard work .

[@DanielCortopassi]

You're welcome. Thanks so much!

[@KingTrump2024]

Last time I had low on one side and high on the other was a Bowser Sd40 with a bent frame

[@DanielCortopassi]

I may revisit this engine at some point. I didn't notice any obvious bends like that, but something is up because it's unusual for a coupler to be that far off. Thanks for watching!

[@SPRailfan4449]

The model looks so good! ❤🔥🤩

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!

[@SPRailfan4449]

@@DanielCortopassi No problem! 👍

[@thomasdarwin6174]

I'm glad you check coupler heights on these models - that one was way off!

[@DanielCortopassi]

This one was off more than most. Usually ScaleTrains engines end up with the couplers slightly low if anything, like this one was in front. Thanks for watching!

[@BNGreen970]

Dan, These are nice engines. I got two of the BN ones from the this years release. Never dreamed someone would do the 7502 B unit. For what it is worth my coupler heights were good.

[@DanielCortopassi]

Those BN B units looked pretty cool on the ScaleTrains website. It's great that stuff like that is being offered completely done these days. I kitbashed a BN GP38-2 B unit years ago and it was a lot of work. Thanks for watching!

[@BNGreen970]

@@DanielCortopassi Dan, I saw the video you did on another channel on that GP38-2B You did a great job building a nice engine but I was not looking forward to kitbashing this one. Definitely a lot of excitement on the BN IO group for this one when it came out.

[@tallteethvideos]

Re-watching the coupler height section - notice the extra space between the railhead and the bottom of the pilot on the front versus rear? Either you have a bent frame or something was preventing the shell from seating properly on the frame.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'll have to look at it again, as it took more than the usual amount of adjustment. I didn't see anything obvious while doing the review, but you may be right. Thanks for watching!

[@beeble2003]

2:55 "I'm not sure as to the purpose, but this unit had two boxes behind the cab on the left side, instead of the usual one." Not sure if you're asking "What are these for?" or "Why two?" Based on Details West part descriptions, the one closest to the cab is some kind of filter box for the electrical cabinet. Not sure what the second one is for.

[@DanielCortopassi]

Someone else said that the second cabinet is for an automatic flange greaser. I was mostly wondering about the second cabinet, as I'm used to EMD units of this vintage having the electrical cabinet filter box. I love all the detail differences between different railroads. Thanks for watching!

[@roady1710]

Was this just a particular model which to my knowledge SD 40-2 is pretty standard no side window visors molded on as you would see in Broadway Limited I believe Aren I believe Walters and other makes just something I noticed that seems like this manufacture trains would have put onlike I said, unless this is just a particular - too that they weren’t put on too bad. The touch with window shades on a model certainly looks nice.

[@DanielCortopassi]

Many Conrail engines didn't have sun shades over the cab windows like a lot of other railroads used, so this model is correct in that regard. It should have another set of mirrors/wind deflectors to the rear of each side window, as I mentioned in the review. I am very used to railroads like SP, UP and Santa Fe that used sun shades so having an engine without them is definitely different. Thanks for watching!

[@lucgagnon5241]

Hey Dan. You're finally a bit generous with the 90 score. Have you noticed that the operator rear window (above the electric cabinet) is out of it's socket ? I also noticed that the rear part of the walkway is not leveled. It's bending up a bit. That's probably why the rear coupler is too high compare to the front one. It's regularly happening on some engines. Especially the long ones. Is it because the engine frame is bended ? Or the walkway that doesn't sit precisely on the frame. At the end, I really like the engine. You're right about some underneath details that are finally not visible when engine is on tracks. Sand pipes are also a pain in the a** most of the time. They're fragile and easy to break. That engine deserves a green signal BUT I'm giving it a score of 80. Not more. Detail parts shouldn't be falling from the engine... Especially when it's been taking out of the box for the first time. Some should be glued with ultra thin CA glue. Thanks for sharing. This time you were not severe enough. Scaletrains is not the best manufacturer in my book. Keep on your good work.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I will have to take another look at the engine to see if there is a problem with the frame or body being bent. I didn't notice that during the review, but it's a possibility. It's definitely unusual for a coupler to be off as far as this one was. I did not notice the window. Thanks for pointing that out and for watching!

[@lucgagnon5241]

@@DanielCortopassi Hey Dan. You can call me "oeil de lynx" ! Close to none I'm not noticing. About the rear coupler, there must be something wrong. The engine can't be unleveled to that point. That's something I experienced in the past with a Rapido engine. A GMD-1. Frame was bended. They had so many issues with that version. It was like all of them were recalled. I remember the tank fuel was like 1 mm above the rail top. A real disaster. Told you I saw Conrail engine walkway bended on your video. To me it looks slightly bended. It maybe not at the end. It may only be a small piece of mold plastic underneath the walkway. Hope you will find out the issue. Keep on your good work.

[@lucgagnon5241]

Hey Dan. Can't wait to watch the last review. I'm wondering if you can help ? I'm looking for prototype pictures of an SP Hydra Cushion hi cube boxcar on line. Those were model by Walthers. Car number I got is 227017. I want to see how they were when faded. Thanks.

[@beeble2003]

RR Picture Archives. The website's slow but there are literally millions of photos on it. They don't have your exact car but they'll have dozens of similar ones that will show you how they weather.

[@lucgagnon5241]

@@beeble2003 Hey Dan. I'm always looking at Railpicture archives my self. But I can't find SP hi cube Hydra Cushion boxcars with the car number I got. With those numbers (227000) I'm getting Golden West boxcars. Number 227017 was probably renumbered OR I'm a total idiot trying to find railcar pictures. That's why I thought you could help me. I'll try again tonight. There are SOOOOO many boxcars under SP. Thanks for helping.

[@DanielCortopassi]

It sounds like maybe you already went to the rr picture archives site. There's also the SP freight cars page (railgoat dot railfan dot net). I looked and couldn't find that number series. There were cars above and below. Does the car have an SP class designation on it? If you're not familiar they're pretty small but it should be something like "B-100-25" or "B-70-82", usually somewhere on the side of the car near the bottom. If you can find that then you can use the SP freight cars page to search by class. Good luck and thanks for watching!

[@beeble2003]

@@lucgagnon5241 Golden West Service was SP's brand for their reconditioned freight cars. Any GWS freight car used to be a plain old SP/SSW car so, if you're only seeing GWS cars in a particular number range, that means the site doesn't have old enough photos for your needs.

[@thisisnice4025]

Dan, your channel needs an intro song. You're a guitarist! Get on it!

[@DanielCortopassi]

Okay, I have homework. Thanks for the suggestion and for watching!

[@eliabraham6918]

Great review This would've been a perfect review if it weren't for the couplers

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked the review. Coupler height is the most common issue I find when doing reviews. It would be nice if that was correct more often. Thanks for watching!

[@TobiasL1000]

I just wish they would bring some UP and NS ones….its like 5-6 years of the last run for these railroads.

[@DanielCortopassi]

If they did some 1990s era UP I'd probably be interested. This isn't the first run of SD40-2s that they've done, so maybe in future releases they'll cover some of the prototypes they haven't done yet. Thanks for watching!

[@beeble2003]

It's not that long. I bought an NS SD40-2 two-and-a-half years ago, and it was either direct from Scaletrains or from one of the big stores like Lombard Hobbies, who sell out soon after the manufacturer. I remember the timing, as it was my Christmas present to myself and it arrived the same day I got back home from visiting my parents. Can't have been Christmas 2020 because Covid, and can't have been earlier, as I wasn't interested in modelling at that point. I've seen the packaging of UP models explicitly acknowledge the use of UP's trademarks, which I don't recall seeing on models of any other railroad. So maybe UP makes it awkward for companies to release models of their locomotives?

[@derekalexander4030]

Did you find the upper headlight shield in the box or was it shipped like that? You will have to exchange this one before they sell out. I can’t wait for Scale Trains to start producing transition era locos. They make quality stuff but they should switch to Kadee couplers.

[@DanielCortopassi]

To be honest I didn't notice the headlight shield until someone else commented on it. It's not that apparent in person. I will probably try to repair it. I agree about the Kadees. I kind of wish everyone would just use Kadees. Thanks for watching!

[@WhetstoneCreek]

You can go in a change the color to red only. Most difficult part is figuring out what aux is each color.

[@DanielCortopassi]

That's good to know. I may do that eventually with this one. Thanks for the info and for watching!

[@avlisk]

There seemed to be a lot more daylight between the frame and the rear truck than the front. Was a sanding line or something getting wedged in there to blame? It would cause the whole back end to tip up, making the coupler so high. Yes?

[@DanielCortopassi]

I was wondering if it was something like that too. I'm pretty certain it's not the sander lines, as I was very careful to not get them wedged anywhere. That actually took several tries, so putting the model back together is tricky. The coupler test was done before I took it apart, too. I may need to revisit this one in the future, as the coupler was abnormally high. Thanks for watching!

[@riogrande5761]

The only possible SD40-2's from ScaleTrains I would be interested in would be a 1970's UP SD40-2 or maybe BN, as they both ran across the D&RGW. The UP sometimes ran across the system in mileage compensation from when D&RGW diesels ran on the UP. Unless I missed it, I don't think ScaleTrains has offered 1970's UP SD40-2's.

[@O-PAC]

ScaleTrains did offer some 70s UP SD40-2 many years ago but they’re probably all sold out. I model DRGW as well but I definitely exercise some modelers liberties with my consists. I’ve seen quite a few videos of foreign power on Tennessee Pass so I’m using that as my justification lol 😆

[@DanielCortopassi]

I have a BN unit from one of their early runs that would work for the 1970s. It has the beacon, class lights, and no ditch lights, with the diagonal stripes on the nose. I almost included a shot of it in this review, but then decided it wasn't really needed. I hope you liked the review. Thanks for watching!

[@markhayes6407]

good review as usual. Too bad scale trains is out of stock on them.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I guess Conrail must be one of those railroads that are popular enough to sell out quickly. I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!

[@Railfan-uf9mw]

I would love to see if scale trains can do BN and Santa Fe 90s style SD40-2s rivet counter so as the BNSF warbonnet dash 9 rivet counter too from 1997 as delivered and do C40-8Ws and an AC6000CWs oh and the 1998 BNSF with no name just before the heritage 2 scheme

[@DanielCortopassi]

They might do those versions eventually. I would probably be interested in a 1990s era Santa Fe SD40-2. Thanks for watching!

[@jade-a7990]

i notice glare shade of front headlight is broken

[@jade-a7990]

and... to me but shell is bit bended at rear..?

[@DanielCortopassi]

I didn't see that while making the video. It looks like the piece is still hanging there, so I'm hoping it won't be a hard fix. Thanks for watching!

[@LuisUrbieta]

Dan, will you plz review an SC44 Charger & passenger cars? Plz reply

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'd have to think about that. It's an expensive model and it doesn't really work for my 1990s era. If I could borrow one maybe that might be a possibility. Thanks for watching!

[@LuisUrbieta]

@@DanielCortopassi Oh, I get what you are saying but love your videos!

[@geraldstokes5661]

It would b better if it was n scale, hope u guys have been well, take care !!!

[@DanielCortopassi]

ScaleTrains has done some N scale releases, so maybe they will do a version of this one eventually. Thanks for watching!

[@epacm50]

The actual retail price for these ESU Loksound equipped models is over $499.00. Scaletrains just offers a slight discount from their website.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm not sure where you got that number. The theoretical retail price for the sound equipped Conrail Rivet Counter SD40-2s on the ScaleTrains website is $374.99, but the real price is $299.99 US. Is it a Canadian store by chance? I know the exchange rate usually makes things higher in Canadian dollars. Thanks for watching!

[@epacm50]

Nope! I believe it was in the United States. I was thinking it was one of their museum trim lines.

[@TomStarcevich-fb3qo]

Wow 300$ for a engine 😳 I'll stick to fishing 🎣 much cheaper hobby

[@DanielCortopassi]

I used to fish once in a while when I was much younger. There was a spot on the Truckee River where I used to go with one of my uncles. I don't recall ever catching much, but you could see trains rolling by on the SP main up on the bluffs. Thanks for watching!