Hi guys,

I seem to remember a post sometime in the recent past that stated USA Trains was planning a new run of these locomotives, and that it would be sometime in the near future. Did I dream it, or is it true? I’d very much like to buy a Rio Grande version. They are pretty rare these days, and pretty spendy when they DO show up.

Thanks,
Matt

Hi Matt,

Rumor is that USAT is starting production on a number of engines. The S4, possibly the nw2, and some of the geeps. Also the larger SDs.

The issue I heard a few years back was USAT didn’t own their molds and Kader did, who owns Bachmann and now the Aristo IP. So they were beholden to what Kader would run for them, when, and at what qtys. Now they supposedly bought back all their molds, found a new manufacturer and are kicking off production again! And production on the new F7 streamliners.

Again all rumors and until you see new Engines anything can change. However you can back order a number of engines and road names which use to say sold out on the Charles Ro site. So there is hope.

-Chris

One supportive piece of data is that the F3 used to be the most sold loco, but apparently the GP 7/9 surpassed that some years back. I don’t know the current numbers but would suspect it’s still the same.

I think possibly asking for a SD9 would be of interest to USAT since it has never been made, and could utilize a slightly modified shell and the existing 3 axle trucks.

Greg