Rocky Mountain Muscle! - Unboxing and Product Review of the New ScaleTrains HO Scale DRGW SD45!

[@Hunter_Dawso]

I ended up with two of these (5331 and 5335). They look fantastic and I already replaced 5331’s M3 with an SP paint P3 per a 1995 pic. It’s now helping to pull a train for my club’s open house. Great review as always. Also if I’m not mistaken, many DRGW SD45’s were rebuilt by MK into SD40M-2’s for SP.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you're enjoying your new units. It's good to hear they're already putting in some work. Thanks for the info on the SD40M-2s and for watching!

[@thomasavensjr.2790]

Another amazing locomotive model from Scaletrains, the Rio Grande rr had an interesting paint scheme with the orange/ black along the body and the orange/ black stripes applied to the locomotive nose. The emd sd45 is one of my favorite diesel locomotive models and this Scaletrains model is spectacular ; I will be purchasing a Scaletrains sd45 model for myself in the future and I am mainly interested in either the Rio Grande, C&NW or Burlington Northern examples. I enjoyed observing the accuracy of the detail features applied to this locomotive model, excellent product review as they are always very informative-Tom.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked the review. I've got a few ScaleTrains SD45s now and they are all very nicely done. I haven't seen any BN or CNW versions in person but I'm sure they are nice too. Thanks for watching!

[@agwbcfjc2]

Thank you, Dan for another excellent, information-filled review. I hope you and Nicole are enjoying the Blessid, Holiday Season. All Best Wishes to You and Yours.

[@DanielCortopassi]

Thanks so much! I hope you and yours are enjoying the holiday season as well! Thanks for watching!

[@kenneths3742]

Thanks for the review! Looks like a nice model.

[@DanielCortopassi]

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

[@lucgagnon5241]

Hey Dan. Not a big fan of 6 axles but I like this one very much. Rio always had an aggressive look with front and rear angled stripes and orange pilots. The pale orange color makes it attractive and not too flashy in the same time. And like you said, it's pretty easy to make require changes on it. I like Scaletrains engines. They're nice, affordable and have a good quality/price ratio. Cars are great too. Congrats to them. Keep on your good work.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked the review. I like Rio Grande units, too. ScaleTrains has been making some really cool models lately. Thanks for watching!

[@lucgagnon5241]

@DanielCortopassi Hey Dan. Thanks for answering back. Scaletrains has many interesting features on their engines. The occilating headlights and inspection lights are cool and not too bright. More to scale in three words. I'm sad they are not manufacturing 4 axles engines. They're also making many interesting cars has well. I'd be delight to see you reviewing one. Thanks for sharing. Keep on your good work.

[@epacm50]

This Scaletrains locomotive was previously reviewed by an outside organization this past Fall. They gave it a C- for poor integrity and non conformance on both coupler height imbalances. As well as the price. Thanks for the review.

[@DanielCortopassi]

Coupler height is the most common failing that I've seen with the ScaleTrains locomotives that I've reviewed. If not for that, a lot of them would get perfect scores in my rating system. I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!

[@thetaxman5302]

Appreciate the content as always, Dan. I’ve found the plastic handrails on scaletrains diesels to be subpar release after release. I’m probably going to keep holding out until this can be improved, given there’s no real options to address this on the secondary market other than bending/crafting your own

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked the video. I agree that plastic handrails leave much to be desired. I'd really like to see manufacturers use brass or something that's more durable and less prone to whatever problem it is that causes the stanchions to be crooked (often in different directions so there's no fixing it). I have replaced my handrails on some models with brass ones that I made myself, but that is a fair bit of work. Thanks for watching!

[@daviddane4931]

I was out in SoCal in the mid 90’s working and have pics of sets of 3 D&RGW SD45’s in hauler surface at Pepper Ave. in San Bernardino.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm sure those are some great pictures. It's really cool you got to see that. Thanks for watching!

[@10gaDragonsBreath]

Love your review's Dan

[@DanielCortopassi]

Thanks so much!

[@RFMCabooseNP1713]

Great review. Nice model.

[@DanielCortopassi]

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

[@riogrande5761]

i purchased ScaleTrains D&RGW 5327, 5330,5331, 5334 and 5335. Being a major Rio Grande fan it was a no brainer. Unfortunately # 5327 made a high pitched sound and after that the lights stopped working so 3 weeks ago I sent it back for repairs along with 2 GP30's The other four, so far have operated well. I've always been an SD45 fan since my years living in northern California an SP SD45's were one of my favorites. Yet still in 2024 I'm still waiting for a high detail SP SD45 with the L shaped windshield. Some day ScaleTrains will get around to running them and I'll want to buy multiple units.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm sorry you had issues with some of their units. ScaleTrains has done a couple runs of SP SD45s. I have several of the SD45R version. I had one of the earlier non-rebuilt versions, too, but I sold it because it's a little too old for my era. I'm sure they will do more from time to time like they do with the tunnel motors. Thanks for watching!

[@mgr_video_productions]

Awesome review Dan

[@DanielCortopassi]

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

[@nyemt601]

Love the review as always, I’m kind of looking forward to your take on the upcoming SP tunnel motors new release coming in February. I figured you snagged a few units This model was really well done although the yellow jacking pad really really sticks out almost too much and draws attention away from the overall model

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked the review. I have a couple of the new "snoot" SD40T-2s on pre-order, so I'll be reviewing those when they arrive. I'm looking forward to seeing those. Thanks for watching!

[@rickdee67]

Great video! Beautiful locomotive, MUST HAVE! What is the Steam Engine over your shoulder? Keep doing what you do!

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you enjoyed the review. There are three steam locomotives on the shelf behind me. I'm not sure which one you saw. There's an HO scale Proto 2000 USRA 0-6-0 that was a bit of a basket case. I fixed it up and put in DCC and sound and decorated it for my fictitious North Coast railroad. There's an episode of DCC Shop here on the channel about that one. There's also an Nn3 2-6-0 that I'm building using a Marklin mechanism. There are some videos about that one, too, though I haven't been able to work on it in a while. There's also an N scale Bachmann 2-8-0 that also has custom DCC and sound, and is decorated for the North Coast. Thanks for watching!

[@BritanniaPacific]

Put a Rio Grande F unit, a B unit behind that one, a steam generator car, and multiple Budd coaches, and you have the Rio Grande Zephyr. I mean, it could have happened in real life. Well, maybe during the 70s and 80s.

[@DanielCortopassi]

That would be cool. I could almost do that now (though I don't have anywhere to run it). I have an Athearn model of 5771, a B unit, and a set of BLI California Zephyr cars. I don't have the steam generator, though. Thanks for watching!

[@NicksCollectableCreations]

I think the yellow things hanging down could have been left off. Those just look like they would come off real easy. Otherwise it's a beautiful locomotive. I don't understand why they can't get couplers right. For me, if I can't see the detail, I don't care about it. Underframe detail is nice but I don't see it when it is running around the layout, and it looks like something that would eventually catch in the trucks. I think there is a balance between detail and functionality not to mention durability. Very nice locomotive!

[@DanielCortopassi]

The re-railers are prototypical, though I doubt the real ones stayed that bright for long. Some weathering would help, I think. I will likely swap mine out for the type in use during my era, which were a little less prominent. I don't know what the deal is with the couplers, either. It doesn't seem like it should always require filing. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the model. Thanks for watching!

[@MrDgwphotos]

I wish ScaleTrains would come out with MRL SD45's (or MRL power of any sort).

[@DanielCortopassi]

That would be cool. I like the MRL paint scheme. Maybe they will eventually. Thanks for watching!

[@bearzlla]

ScaleTrains makes some of the nicest stuff but they also seem to have the hardest time with coupler height.

[@DanielCortopassi]

Yes, I could agree with that. Almost all the HO locomotives I have from ScaleTrains need coupler height adjustments. If not for that they'd be getting a lot of perfect scores. Thanks for watching!

[@JRPRailways]

I think I remember you being disappointed with a rapido sw switcher, are you still staying away from Rapido? I just had a disappointing experience with Rapido.

[@DanielCortopassi]

Yes, I was disappointed enough in the Rapido SW1200 that I sold it. I also had a bad experience with their bulkhead flatcars. I am not really staying away from them, as I have some more rolling stock items on pre-order. Their products have been a little hit or miss in the quality department, though, so I'm cautious. I have some other Rapido models that are nice, so I hope they can get a handle on the quality issues. Sorry you had a bad experience. Thanks for watching!

[@DanCron]

If I’m not mistaken, I bet some of these engines were rebuilt into SP sd40m-2s

[@DanielCortopassi]

You may be right about the SD40M-2s. Someone else mentioned that as well. I know they got un-rebuilt locomotives from a variety of sources. ScaleTrains has done a couple runs of SP SD45s. I have several of the SD45R version. I had one of the earlier non-rebuilt versions, too, but I sold it because it's a little too old for my era. I'm sure they will do more from time to time. Thanks for watching!

[@DanielCortopassi]

Oops.. the SP SD45 stuff was answering another comment!

[@James-Railyard]

This is a great looking model but why are diesel manufacturers having a hard time just using brass handrails and stantions? MTH used metal handrails why can’t anyone else? BLI used metal for their axes and they look fine.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I agree completely. More often than not the plastic handrails seem to have issues with the stanchions being crooked. I'm not sure why, but it's something that happens with models from different brands. I'd love to see metal handrails. I'd rather take the risk that they could get bent out of shape and not spring back so easily if the stanchions were straight. Thanks for watching!

[@Jabond07]

🤩🤩🤩🤩🫶🧑‍🎄

[@DanielCortopassi]

Thanks for watching!