Product Review ScaleTrains HO SD38-2 Locomotive SP - Heavy Duty Switch Engine!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- Product Review ScaleTrains HO SD38-2 Locomotive SP - Heavy Duty Switch Engine!
The EMD SD38-2 was a 2000 horsepower normally aspirated locomotive, similar in appearance to the more common 3000 horsepower turbocharged SD40-2. The main spotting differences are that the SD38-2 only has two radiator fans in the rear, where the SD40-2 has three, and it has an air filter box on the roof similar to the 4-axle GP38-2.
While GP38-2s and SD40-2s were popular with railroads and produced in large numbers, fewer than 100 SD38-2s were built.
Southern Pacific’s SD38-2s were built in 1973. SP bought six units, numbered 2971 to 2976. These locomotives were ordered specifically for use as switchers in the West Colton yard, and they spent most of their careers there. These locomotives were still in service at the time of the the Union Pacific merger in 1996.
This model train runs well and is loaded with detail.
As usual, after the unboxing, Dan evaluates the model’s packaging, prototype accuracy, paint & detail, and how well it operates and conforms to applicable standards.
If you're a fan of the Southern Pacific, Electro-Motive diesels, or just like trains in general, be sure to check out this review!
#modeltrains #train #trainvideo #hoscale #southernpacific #scaletrains #scalemodels
Dan, modellers license is that absolute reason we like model railroading. I have no idea why my UP SD40M-2 is running with my CN units, but I just really like the unit. Great review as always.
Just add a NRE or LTEX and it fits right in as a CN modeler I get your pain
My Conway River and Portland Railway (CR&P, or Crap railway as the locals have deemed it), got a really good deal on some used GM class from the Australian National, and a C and X class from the V/Line. So, you'll see Australian locos running through the backwoods of Maine on the old Maine Central lines. Modeller's license rules!
That sounds cool. I like this hobby because you can create "what if" scenarios like that. Thanks for watching!
Shared motive power? We see a lot of different road names on the local CN, CP, and UP tracks near our town.
Fun should be the #1 goal! I think it's unlikely that anyone but you would know those locomotives aren't prototypical for your layout, and good for you for taking a walk on the wild side. 😉 They're sweet looking models, I hope the beacon fix is an easy one.
I agree, fun should be the most important thing in any hobby. You're probably right, too, most people wouldn't know or care about the accuracy of having these models in a certain place. I will do a follow up with the beacon when I get around to figuring it out. Thanks for watching!
Model Railroading is supposed to be fun, whomever is critical of someone over details such as this is not worth talking to. And Actually The SD38-2 has a roots blower, instead of turbo, so still forced induction.
That's good to know. Thanks for the info and for watching!
Beautiful units. I've always loved the SD40-2 and by extension, the SD38-2's as well. I'm a little disappointed in the lack of beacon functionality in the equipped unit. If I were to guess the solder pads on the decoder board are just a little too shallow to make contact with the pogo pins. As an aside, as I've said previously on other videos. I LOVE that manufacturers are starting to use pogo pins in this way to enable totally removing the shell without having to worry about wires. It looks like these units are going to serve very well in your yard in Sparks. The Cumberland Mine railroad has two SD38's on their roster that are still in daily service. Are you going to send your unit back to Scaletrains or attempt further repairs and testing on your beacon? Could also make sure that the decoder is powering those solder pads with a multimeter.
They do look like beautiful models but hard to fit into a Pacific Northwest BN layout. I've got one of the SD40-2Bs on pre-order. A little late for my 1970s era but I remember seeing the 7502 a number of times back in the day. A little modeler's license is OK. After all First rule of model railroading: Have fun. Second rule of model railroading: My layout = my rules. Glad to see you are having fun.
@Trains-With-Shane Further investigation with a multimeter would be the next logical step. I was a little pressed for time getting this review done so that's why I cut it off when I did. It's possible to see the pins with the dynamic brake hatch removed, but I couldn't get enough light in there to see if they were touching the parts of the board that are apparently the contacts. I may just redo the beacon with wires on my unit. If I wasn't confident that I could get it to work myself I'd probably send it back, but the model is otherwise very nice so I'll keep it (and I already swapped the couplers). Thanks for watching!
@BNGreen970 Some years ago I kitbashed a BN GP38-2B. Needless to say, but that probably wasn't ever a Donner Pass engine either. I still plan on running it. I agree, fun is the most important rule. Thanks for watching!
Absolutely beautiful! Thanks so much for the fascinating information!
I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!
How refreshing it is to have an honest reviewer not affiliated with a manufacturer or hobby shop. Kind of like the Consumer Reports of Model Railroading. Keep up this great work. Thanks
One of the reasons I do this is that I think a lot of the objectivity has gone out of reviews in the hobby press. That said, I have gotten a handful of models sent to me for free, but I don't give them any special treatment. I buy the vast majority of the stuff I review myself. Thanks for watching!
Beautiful engines!
Yes, they're really nice. Thanks for watching!
That's what makes model railroading interesting and fun, when you can compare the details on a model to the real locomotives and you say (WOW!) Just like the real ones only much smaller.
They did a nice job on these. I don't think there are a lot more details that you could add to a model like this. Someone suggested crew figures, which would be cool. I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!
Dan, Just received my SP #2975. Press the F 7 on your throttle. That worked for my unit. William.
I tried all the function keys on mine, nothing worked. I'm glad yours is good. Thanks for watching!
It looks to me like there are actually missing parts where the contacts should make contact.
not understanding how to have fun is why i have a collection of locomotives that barely turned a wheel and space where a layout once stood that was only a circular loop that never felt realistic to me. And I very much hope to have a collection as vast as yours but the BN/SF/BNSF in my case. I am glad to see you embrace fun.
Absolutely... as fussy as I can be about details on equipment, the models are something that I intend to enjoy running. Having fun is the goal. Thanks for watching!
Nice locomotives and review, I also get locomotives which dont roll near the location I want to model.
I'm sure a lot of us do. I have some other SP equipment that wasn't really used on Donner either, but it'll still end up on the layout. Thanks for watching!
Couplers strike again!
Almost always. I reviewed a boxcar recently that had bolster washers, almost as if the manufacturer knows that the coupler height is going to need adjustment. Super easy fix to swap out the washers. I kind of wish all models were engineered that way. They could put shims between the draft gear box and the mounting pad on diesels. If the height is wrong, just remove or change the shim. Thanks for watching!
Great info on the units. West Colton still has at least one of them still. Used as a hump set. Ran the unit many times. Always stood out with the 3 brake cylinders on the trucks. Wonder which unit number it was in the SP days
That's cool that at least one is still being used. I'm not sure about the number. I'd have to find some updated roster info and cross check. Thanks for watching!
Hey Dan, I wondered if you’d be getting these 😊 just like you, I had to have some. One of my friends kitbashed a Kato UP unit into SP 2976 back in the early 2000s when those first got released. He did a lot of great SP custom work similar to yours, but he eventually left the hobby and got rid of his collection. It was nice to see these finally get released by ScaleTrains. Shame about that beacon on 2975, I got that one too, haven’t put it to the track as of yet. These were originally sent back to the factory and redone last year, and the specific reasons were not shared, but at least they handled the situation well rather than selling defective models like some brands would have.
That would have been a lot of work to kitbash. I'm assuming your friend probably started with an SD40-2, but looking at the SD38-2s there are quite a few differences. I'm glad ScaleTrains did whatever they did for quality control. Other than the coupler height (which is almost all models) and the beacon issue, these are really good. I appreciate not having to do all the kitbashing to have a couple of these. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the review Dan, keep us updated on the beacon solution! Thanks!
I'll have to follow up on that in a future video. Thanks for watching!
I agree! I model a tourist line in N&W country, but it has BN, CB&Q, D&H, D&RGW, ATSF, Milwaukee Road, SP, WP, & UP locomotives & rolling stock. Prototypically, well over half of my fleet didn't work anywhere near the N&W but I don't care I flat out like my foreign power/rolling stock
Edit because forgot to add this sentence: That's why I love the modelers license lol
I have a lot of equipment that is probably not likely to have operated on Donner Pass in the 90s, even other 90's era SP engines that were normally used in other places. I have a lot of Santa Fe, too, and a lot of other equipment. As long as it's fun we're doing it right. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi Exactly
Nice review. I got the EJ&E bicentennial but ended up sending it back because it had some issues. Still awaiting the return of it
I'm glad you liked the review. I hope you get your model back fixed and can enjoy using it. Thanks for watching!
Every hobby isn’t meant to look just like the accurate prototype, locomotives yes as we want a smaller replica of the real prototype. Such as the ScaleTrains AC4400CW, or the upcoming Athearn Genesis AC4400CW. I personally have the CSX YN2 paint AC44 from scale trains. A stunning model.
The ScaleTrains AC4400CWs are very nice. If you haven't already seen it, I did a review on the SP version recently. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi I have seen it. It’s a excellent review on an excellent model.
Excellent informative review video and I follow Rule number one it’s my railroad so I will operate it to enjoy it.👍😁😁😁😁🚂🇬🇧
I'm glad you liked the review. And yes, fun is important. At the end of the day we're playing with little trains. Thanks for watching!
Those are very good SD38-2 models.
I agree! Thanks for watching!
It’s you’re rail road. Run what you want
Absolutely. If it's not fun, then why why have a hobby? Thanks for watching!
Nice review Dan! Odd seeing an SP locomotive without all the extra lights on it.
These were definitely unusual on the SP. I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!
Those are very nice SD38-2 models. I don't have a layout, but I think I might buy one anyway.
They are really nice models. Thanks for watching!
Hopefully these prove to be good sellers for Scaletrains and they make more road names, I'm personally hoping for part of CNW's 10 unit order. Like SP's, CNW's were bought to work Proviso yard, but they did get out and about in the Chicagoland area.
I would imagine that ScaleTrains would want to sell more of these, so I could see them doing additional versions. I have a soft spot for CNW, so I think they'd look really cool in yellow and green. Thanks for watching!
Try turning on F7 and letting it sit for a bit. I had an sd45 with a beacon and it wont turn on right away. You had to give it a few minutes then it would start flashing.
Okay, I'll give that a try. Thanks for the suggestion and for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi your welcome! Let me know if it works.
Beautiful locomotives 👍 I have a couple of Scaletrains locomotives and they are great, unfortunately I live in the UK so they are not too easy to get and are expensive even on eBay ( 4 locos at £350 each which is about $426 )😢 😢
They are very nice. That's unfortunate they're so expensive in the UK. I hope you're able to eventually find more at a reasonable price. Thanks for watching!
I have a similar problem as many other model train enthusiasts. I have more trains than I will probably ever run. I am an SP fan and spent all my teen years and early twenties in the Sacramento area so of course I am an SP fan. But because I have too many trains, I'm getting to the point that I need to stop buying trains that are "shiny" These are really shiny! Thanks for the excellent view. When ScaleTrains finally offers the peas in a pod SP SD45, then I'll want to get some of those - I'm surprised they are taking so long to get them to market!
Having too many trains seems to be a symptom of this hobby for a lot of people, myself included. I don't even really know how many trains I have in HO anymore. It would probably scare me if I ever did an inventory. It's hard to resist those shiny new trains, as you said. I have cut back on my buying quite a bit, but then companies like ScaleTrains keep putting out more cool SP stuff. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi I hear you on numbers if inventoried! When I moved to my current home in late 2017, I probably had over 40 boxes trains at the time (the kind copy paper comes in - some of them the larger boxes that hold two rows of legal paper reams); since then I have added quite a few more. They've all been put on racks and shelves but I'm running out of shelf space. One thing I do do, is go through my collection periodically and looks for models that I can part with and sell, partly to fund better or more appropriate models and partly to keep the collection from getting even larger. The recent Tangent yellow stripe 40' SP modernized box cars were sure a big hit for SP fans, but being that I model late 70's thru early 80's (I was a teen during the 70's and trains still looks wrong to me without cabooses) the numbers had dwindled down, so I only bought 1 1965 rebuild and 2 1968 rebuilds Yellow stripe boxcars. If Tangent offers them again to include late era survivors (1980), I may add a couple more. Soon I'll be going through my inventory to weed out out more rolling stock. I've already sold off most of my late 80's - early 90's rolling stock. I used to buy more of some models but like you, am trying to cut back, but as you mentioned, sometimes there are must haves, like those SP yellow stripe modernized 40 boxcars. And they went everywhere too so people nation wide can justify a couple.
Couldn't resist getting at least one SD38-2 (2975). Only question is whether to grab another. Check your windows. Noticed a couple not fully seated. The front drop step will stow, but the rear is better left down (require some plastic trimming). Didn't notice the copper contacts until you pointed them out. Fine tip paint brush and flat black did the trick. 2971 looks to have faded paint compared to 2975.
I didn't see the windows when I was doing the review, but I'll check that later. Thanks for pointing it out. I didn't notice a difference in the paint colors when I had the models in front of me. It's possible it's the way it looks on camera. I sometimes adjust the lighting and such between shots, and often do some adjustments while editing. Thanks for watching!
That beacon on2975 looks improperly applied as it’s resting at an angle
It looks like the orange lens is not quite all the way seated into the base. I haven't tried to fix it yet. It's not something I spotted with my eyes. It's amazing what shows up in close-up video! Thanks for watching!
Good review!, wish they would light up the crosswalk lights though!
That would be cool. Some of the ScaleTrains GE models have that. Thanks for watching!
I had to get one also, the beacon on mine doesn’t work either, I haven’t checked to see why yet. Like you, I got one because I like it. Good review Dan…
That's interesting. I wonder if other people have had the same issue. There's not a super obvious contact point on the circuit board, just a couple of exposed solder pads. The LokSound 5 has plenty of outputs, so I was thinking of maybe just hard wiring the beacon to one of those that's not being used. Thanks for watching!
I will probably hard wire mine as well, when I get a little time. My couplers had same issue as yours, too low, again I will do what you did to fix the coupler height problem.
Thanks Dan
I bought a pair of L&N’s that probably never made it up in my area of the L&N system but I like them and therefore they did make it up this far! 😉
One question about speed matching. I was going to keep mine paired up together and just wondering if you need to speed match them or if they are close enough. I’m still learning advanced DCC. Thanks!
I haven't run these except on the workbench, but they seem pretty well matched to each other, at least at low speeds (don't have enough room to let them go faster right now). Eventually I'll speed match them to my other units, but if you just wanted to pair them with each other, it seems like they should work okay. Thanks for watching!
Great review!
I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!
I have a SD38 but its Athearn . Getting a slug for it seems impossible. Too bad they don't model them.
It would probably require kitbashing. I did a quick search and there are some 3D printed shells available on Shapeways, but they're not SP prototypes. It would be cool if someone would make a model of one. Thanks for watching!
nice
Thanks for watching!
I just purchased 2976. I have not tun this unit yet, but I have been happy with the ScaleTrains products purchased - and happy to have this unit Good overall review as always. Do you have plans to purchase the SD45 from ScaleTrains?
I've already reviewed a ScaleTrains SP SD45, and several SD45Rs. I broke down and reserved an SD45X even though they're a little old for my era, so I will be reviewing that eventually. Thanks for watching!
Nice review Dan, when Scaletrains announced these I shied away from them as my first thought was where on the system outside of hump yard duty and transfer service will these fit on any SP model railroad? operating these outside of their normal LA yard assignments would pretty much be freelance. I passed on them although they are nice units…
Same here. These SD's do look very nice, especially with the green parts near the axles and all the other trimmings. They were delayed by many months because the first batch were no up to ScaleTrains standards.
If I wasn't planning to build a layout with a large yard I might have passed on them, too, though I will admit that when it comes to the overall layout, I'm not super strict about what can run on it. I'm looking forward to using them as switchers. Thanks for watching!
Hey, I’ve been wanting to get this model for a long time, but I noticed there hasn’t been an in-depth analysis on it yet, is it possible you could do a review on the Broadway limited Centipede Diesel Locomotive?
Unfortunately, I'll have to say "no" to buying a centipede for review. Those are cool but too far out of my geographic region of interest and era. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi , thank you for taking the time to read my comment, and though you couldn’t do a review I appreciate going through the hassle of responding to me, thank you, and have a good day, great review as always.
Hi Dan. You didn't review the SD9... joking of course ! It is very nicely done. OK. Nice review again. For the first time, I'm truly speechless ! Those are VERY NICE engines. Even with my eagle eyes, I saw nothing wrong on both of them. Most of the time, closer look shows couplers in slightly down position. Couplers on both of these engines are straight. There's like nothing that can't be fixed or changed on them. Maybe putting an engineer and a driver ??? ScaleTrains is a serious player in HO modeling. Tip of the hat guys ! Sad that they're only making modern engines.
It might be a little tricky to get crew figures into the cab, but that would be cool. The SD9 is one that I kitbashed from a Proto 2000 unit years ago. I'm glad you liked it. The SD38-2s are very nice. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi Thanks for answering Dan. I saw a few videos of ScaleTrains in their China factory. It's crazy all they can do with a bit of tooling and cheap labour ! Seriously, today's models are so highly detailed. That's why you often open a box for a review and you end up with a part that felt down from a car or an engine. But still, I think there's always room for improvement. How come your engine had a default beacon ??? Is it because it hasn't been tested before packing up ? To my eyes, it's more than probable. Sometimes, paint is too thick. Most of the time, especially on cars, some plastic part are molded in car color but not painted like it. I don't know the cost for Scaletrains to have an engine like yours beeing produce in China ? For the DCC and sound version, I'm sure that it's less than a $100 USD. Nice profit here ! So why not painting those mold plastic parts or why not making sure that rotary beacon is working before selling it ? Quality is not on the mainline anymore. More on the siding ! Keep on your good work.
I'm curious as to how long it took and what type of file you used to correct the coupler height issue. I have 2972 with the same low coupler problem.
My two most recent sets of small files are from a company called SE. I have a diamond needle file set (pn 742DF) and a regular needle file set (pn 731NF) - not a sponsor, just what I could find last time I looked for files. I generally use rectangular flat files for coupler mounting pads. The diamond files are nice because they come in different grits and the widest ones are just about the same width as an HO scale draft gear box. If I'm using a file that's narrower than the draft gear box opening, I make sure to move it side to side as I file so that I don't end up making the mounting pad tilted. As far as how long it takes, I don't remember exactly on this particular model. Usually it takes maybe 5-15 minutes per coupler, depending on how far off the height is. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi Really appreciate the info. Thank you. Always enjoy your reviews. Your segments on how to correct things have come to be very helpful with my own projects.