Back to the Future - SDs on the White River Division

The CP SD40-2, with its trailing International of Maine boxcar, is at least marginally appropriate for George's layout.

Commentary by Peter Mumby, with Photos by George Dutka.
A couple of weeks ago a friend contacted me to see if I was interested in making a trade for a pair of Intermountain DCC/sound SD40-2 diesel locomotives. He had acquired them shortly before the Bowser Canadian SDs came out, and his attention had been caught by these units.  The Intermountain locomotives were now surplus and available at an affordable rate.

A visit to his layout yielded a comprehensive test run of the two engines.  The sound and light features were nice, and the detailing was appropriate, as far as it went.  Then, out came a pair of Bowser units decorated for CP.  The sound was comparable, but those operating class lights were really impressive.  The detailing was at the next level, especially with the extra piping and  winter hatches on the roof.  The unique CP curved handrails for the walkways between MUed units were also present.  The Bowser units were superior in several ways, albeit at a higher cost price.  I would like to take a look at the corresponding BCR unit - presumably the trademark extra front ditch lights would be in evidence.

Now, this is definitely a strange visitor to northern New England.  The prototype unit would have an extra pair of ditch lights mounted higher than the existing set.

So, I thought the Bowser units were the clear winners, but there was nothing wrong with the way the Intermountain engines sounded and operated.  Appropriate extra details can be added at a later date.  I felt the price was reasonable, so they became the two latest additions to my HO locomotive collection.

Several days after shaking hands on the deal, I was off to George's for our regular weekly work session.  The new acquisitions came along, and after a visit to the programming track, got to strut their stuff on the WRD.  Though certainly not era-appropriate for the layout, they looked and sounded pretty good!