Review: Budget Friendly Athearn RTR SD40 w/ RTR Sound

I like this guy's youtube channel.  Here's his review of Athearn's new RTR SD40 w/ sound.

Louisville & Nashville 2551-2563 Smoothside Modernized Heavyweight 48-Seat Coaches

From the folks over at Brass Car Sides comes a nice modernized L&N coach.  I'll want a couple of these.

Sides for Louisville & Nashville 2551-2563 Smoothside Modernized Heavyweight 48-Seat Coaches.  We have been commissioned by Michael Welborn to produce HO brass sides and separate door pieces for this distinctive series of modernized heavyweight cars.  These sides will represent the cars in their earliest years of service and will feature the original full skirting.  Jerry Lachaussee has kindly provided these photos.    

Because the prototypes were only 70 feet long at the sills, both the Atlas/Branchline and Walthers HO heavyweight plastic cars must be shortened 5-6 feet to be used for the structure.  Models from other manufacturers may also be candidates.  See L&N 2551 parts for drawings of the left and right sides as well as door pieces sized for both the Atlas/Branchline and Walthers models.  Skirt details are rendered as both partial etchings and openings but this difference cannot be seen in the drawings.  The material is 0.010" spring brass and the parts are tabbed together.  Extra doors are included.  Modelers interested in sides with partial skirting could be accommodated since the center skirting can be removed, either by the modeler or by request by us for modest additional charge.  

The design and engineering of these brass parts are well along and we expect to begin the first etching run in August and deliver these sides in September.  Michael has generously agreed to make these HO sides available to other modelers and Brass Car Sides is soliciting e-mail reservations at this time.  The price for these sides on a special-order basis is $39.75 per set, plus flat-rate shipping of $4.50 for any quantity.  These items are covered by our quantity discounts (see catalog listing below.)  Reservations for an N-Scale version that would cost about $30 per set are also being accepted.  Please contact us if you are interested in either the HO or N-scale versions of these sides.