Today I want to talk about a product from InterMountain Railway. Several months ago I found their ES44DC locomotives for sale, with DCC and sound, and I decided to buy one, because their prototypes are becoming more and more frequently seen on today's railroads. I had never purchased an InterMountain product before, so I decided to start with just one, until I decided if I liked their locomotives or not. By the time I decided to buy one, they were out of stock at InterMountain, so I did some searching online and found that they are still readily available through other hobby retailers. I eventually purchased two ES44DC locomotives, but for this I will be talking specifically about the BNSF 7661. InterMountain is currently taking reservations on the next release of these models.
Exterior:
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| BNSF 7695, with the gold logo |
The first model I purchased was in a trial paint scheme the BNSF used, where the swoosh logo was in gold, instead of the more common black. That one looked good, and the paint quality was high, but having never seen the prototype, I wondered how a more common paint scheme would look. So I bought a second ES44DC, in BNSF's Heritage II paint scheme. I have seen that prototype paint scheme lots of times, and I can say it was very accurately represented on the model. The paint is smoothly and evenly applied, with all the lines and writing being very crisp and clear. Logos, numbers, and warning labels present and accurately applied. I was able to read most of the warning labels under magnification.
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| Lighted number board on 7695 |
The level of detail is great on these models. They come with all the grab irons, handrails, and end details in place, although they all seem to be made of plastic. I have found the end handrails to be slightly brittle and had one break on me after using the locomotive for several weeks. In the packaging, there are foam strips that fit between the body of the locomotive and the side handrails, to protect them from bending or breaking. This is something I wish all locomotive manufacturers would do! On the ends, one noticeably absent detail is the train air brake hose. The MU hoses and MU jumper cables are present, but for some odd reason, the brake pipe, which is the biggest, is missing on both ends. On the rear end, the model even features spare knuckles molded into the plastic. The trucks and under frame feature a high level of detail, most of which is molded onto the model. Cables, hoses, pipes, valves, brake cylinders, springs, and even fuel gauges are all present.
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| BNSF 7661 |
This model features working headlights, ditch lights, and even number lights. On the models I purchased, the ditch lights and number lights are separate DCC decoder functions and can be operated independently of other locomotive lighting. Additionally, the ditch lights flash alternately for several seconds after blowing the horn on the model. Headlights are directional, and when the locomotive operates in reverse, the ditch lights are automatically turned off with the front headlights. On the prototype, the number lights would be used to identify the train. Many railroads today simply use the train's lead engine initials, number, and direction to identify trains, instead of assigned train numbers.
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| BNSF 7695 |
Interior:
The ES44DC model does feature a cab interior, molded in a cream colored plastic. It is hard to see much through the windows, and so the cab lacks a lot of details. It does include a control stand and seating, although the seat arrangement in my models does not match what BNSF has on their Evolution Series diesels. There is no interior lighting in the cab. Despite the lack of interior detail, it is enough to be convincing to the outside world.
Operation:
The model will operate on both DC and DCC layouts, however on DC layouts, not all of the sounds will be available, and they will all be automated. On a DCC layout, the locomotive operates very smoothly. The slowest speed is a little faster than I would like, but it is still comfortably within the safe coupling speed range. The motor is quiet, though not completely silent. However, it really is only noticeable when the sounds are muted. The model operates smoothly through its entire speed range, which exceeds the scale speed range of the prototype. I coupled both of my ES44DC locomotives together and placed them in a consist, without taking the time to match speeds, and they still operated quite smoothly, without jerking or fighting each other at low speeds. Starts and stops are also smooth, without any sudden jumping or lurching to a start or to a stop.
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| BNSF 7661 Rear End |
Sound:
The ES44DC features a factory installed SoundTraxx Tsunami DCC decoder, which has all the appropriate sounds for a GE Evolution Series diesel. When placed on the rails, the locomotive goes through an engine start up procedure, and then it idles until it is moved. From the factory, the sound is setup for automatic notching, which means the engine will rev up automatically as the operator increases the throttle setting. This can be changed so that the user can manually change the engine notching. From the factory, the volume is quite loud on these models, and I found it necessary to turn the volume down a bit, especially with two of them on the rails at once!
Besides the basic engine noises, these models also have dynamic brake sounds, air dryer sounds, radiator fan sounds, coupler sounds, brake squeal and release sounds, and several whistle and bell sounds to choose from. Out of the box, all of these sounds are setup to be manually activated, however they can be set to come on automatically, or in the case of the air dryer, randomly. The dynamic brake sound can also be setup to force the engine sounds to idle or to a specific throttle notch. A list of what functions control which sounds is included with the model, as well as a list of the available bell and whistle sounds, and how to change them.
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| Two ES44DC's coupled |
Overall, I am very pleased with these models. They represent the latest products from General Electric's Evolution Series design quite well. They run reliably and smoothly, and they look and sound great at the head end of a model freight train. I anticipate I will purchase more of these, and the ES44AC locomotives from InterMountain in the future.
Manufacturer: InterMountain Railway Co.
Part Number: 49721S-01
MSRP (no sound): $179.95
MSRP (w/ sound): $259.95
Available in the following paint schemes:
BNSF Gold Wedge
BNSF Heritage II
Canadian National
CSX Future Blue
GE Demonstrator
Norfolk Southern
http://www.intermountain-railway.com/ho/loco/holoces44dc.htm
6 comments:
What are the couplers on these models? They dont appear to be the stock couplers and they look much more realistic.
The couplers are not stock. I typically replace the couplers on all of my models with couplers manufactured by Sergent Engineering. They are a little smaller than typical HO scale knuckle couplers, but they are scale size. The couplers on the ES44DC's photographed above are AAR Type F couplers. All the coupler products available from Sergent Engineering can be found at www.sergentengineering.com
-James
It's the worst model I've ever purchased. The printed circuit board started smoking soon after I put power to the locomotive. It smoked badly and the model would not run. I'm returning the model to the manufacturer. It seems as if the PCB was not adequately tested and the model failed. What good is fancy detailing when the electronics are awful. I won't buy another model from Intermountain.
I am surprised to hear that. I run these models numerous times without any problems at all, and I know several other people who swear by InterMountain. Usually, they are great running locomotives.
I have had two now both had inferior motors in them the motors are throwbacks from the early eighties. 3 pole straight wound motors with no torque, the motors could not supply enough torque at full power to slip the wheels. The engine is very light (loads or room to add more weight) but adding more weight is useless as there is already no extra torque available. The engine is beautuful with supiorior Loc sound electronics but what a waste of a motor, I hope NWSL will come out with a repower kit for it.
I prefer the Red/White/Blue Bicentennial units over the BNSF Scheme.
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