Atomic Systems

I have treated myself to Portland Terminal, the UP BB & Chall. steam locos but while the sale is on I'm looking at some of the US diesels. I'm not at all familiar with the various classes and sub classes so I wonder if those with a bit more knowledge would care to offer some advice on which offer the best/most realistic driving experience?

I've seen the SW1500 switcher very highly reviewed, so I think I'll get that but I'd appreciate some recommendations about the various "main line" diesel packs available

Thanks in advance

Steve

I got the 2nd SD70 pack ( and the GP9 eventually ), that was enough for me - it's got two different SD70 models in it. The Dash-9 is not terribly different to the default ES44.

A couple of the SD40 packs have some stock in them, the highnose ( which comes with Ohio Steel ) & the widenose CN ones, I believe.

Thanks for that, I've gone for the SW1500, a couple of the SD40 packs and the S2 Berkshire. Just the download bottleneck to negotiate now

Ah, the SP&S Northern is another nice model too. The SP semi-streamliner might be, but I never really liked the prototype...

I agree about the SP&S Northern and the GS-4 for US steam.

I've really enjoyed both the GP9 and the SW1500 for diesel, and they will both go well on the Portland Terminal route.

AN

Im wondering wether to buy the GP9, im not normally an american engine fan, but there's just something about that engine...

Hmm...

Dark.

Getting it a little while ago finally stopped me driving repainted TEM-2s around got to thank Hawk & whoever else set up the RWA offer for that. Nice job all round on that one.

The SW1500 you can repaint as the Merehead quarry shunter ( it's not quite the same, nearly though ) if you wanted... well you'd need some buffers too I guess.

I just bought the GP9 and SW1500 in the 75% off sale. Both seem to be good little loco's, not sure if they use the same soundset but I always find the "little" GM sound quite pleasing (reminds me of the old Irish 121 and 141 class locos). Physics seem to have been tweaked and more realistic, don't take off like a F14 on full reheat.

I would certainly recommend both while the sale is on, for around £3 per pack you can't really go wrong - cheap as chips!

The GP9 and SW1500 have different sound sets, and come with a huge range of liveries each.
Both gave me late nights!

cheers
d

RSderek wrote:The GP9 and SW1500 have different sound sets, and come with a huge range of liveries each.
Both gave me late nights!

cheers
d

I thought they probably were, it was a quick run after 3.5 hours of Fellowship of the Ring! Appreciate the attention to detail.

We do need you to start thinking noisy, raspy, smoky Alco at some stage though Derek...