The talk about SD7/9's prompted me to dig out my construction file from the RRM project. Great trip down memory lane. It was neat to flip through the 100 or so photos I bought from Bruce Meyers and think about better days conversing with him. As an added bonus, I found my original SSL&S catalog. Why it was in the SD file is anyone's guess!! The SD7's were built in basically one style while the SD9's had 4 "phases". The RRM brass SD9 was a Phase 2 version. One distinct difference of 7 to 9's that has not been mentioned are the frame steps. The 7's have cut outs, like a ladder while the 9's have treads more like standard steps.
Most of the major railroads that bought 7's also bought 9's. Quite honestly the only reason we built the SD7's was that it added UP to the mix (they had no SD9's). Since the bulk of the prototype SD7's and 9's belonged to the UP and SP, the UP's licensing policy might slow a potential manufacturer down. The project was one of our best, selling around 175 pieces in a little under a year. Photos are in the gallery on the web site. This whole conversation reminds me of an interesting phenomenon for a while in S scale... Basically, many things were built in brass and then were manufactured in plastic. I used to say that the plastic manufacturers couldn't seem to think of their own projects! (That's meant as a joke...)! There were brass RS3's, FA-2's, SW-1's, NW-2's, GP9's, 12-1 Pullmans, SD60's, E8a's, J3 4-6-4's and maybe a few others I missed before the plastic models were built. And that is all fine, you can run a successful brass project and then make them in plastic successfully too! Just seemed like a pattern for a while... Hope you are all successful with the idea, I would think a 'correct' SD 7 or 9 would be a challenging kitbash from a GP, so much of the frame is different. The SD's were featured in Mainline Modeler articles in November 89, December 89 and February 90. Also Model Railroading ran some great detailing articles in the mid-90's. The DM&IR ore haulers were in April 97. When I worked near the EJ&E in Illinois I used to see those units on occasion grinding away on long unit coal trains coming off the UP. A BN engineer told me that into the 1990's crews would shuffle locomotives to get the old SD9's on the point because they road so much better than newer EMD or GE models!! The railroad officials really hated that - probably another reason the crews loved to do it... Thanks for the memories... Jim Kindraka River Raisin Models http://www.riverraisinmodels.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
