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Alco used AAR Type B trucks, often referred to as "Alco" trucks. Yes, these locomotives used repurposed trucks from old Alco units.

I legitimately do not remember, I am guessing that I purchased a Loksound decoder that came with a cube speaker. That would make the most sense. It is not a Scale Sound System speaker, I do know that.

Thanks, Carlo. I do not have any specific tips, I remember the shells were tough to remove, just make sure you have all of the screws removed and that you do not try to force it off. Use firm, consistent force and try to shimmy it off.

@@ck7813 all of the screws removed ????? :0 )

With this particular brand, when track power is on, the FRED is on. There is no way to disable when track power is on.

All of the rail cars are Athearn, the black cars were released about 7-8 years ago and they included the piggyback trailers with them (search my old videos). The brown cars were released probably 4-5 years ago and they did not include the trailers. Many companies produce HO scale trailers that you can find at your hobby store.

@ck7813 there aren't many train focused hobby stores in Phoenix it seems and I've been struggling to find IC/ICG liveried products. I see walthers is selling the trailers without the rolling stock so i was hoping to modify IC/ICG flatcars or repaint already built TOFC rolling stock.

I have not tried this to give a first-hand testimonial but there is no reason why it would not work. If you want confirmation I would recommend you reach out to Digitrax customer support and they can confirm if it is compatible.

Thank you, while I did not do a pre- and post- weight assessment of the locomotive, the weight loss is negligible. The front weight is probably less than an ounce and the rear may be 1 ounce. While the speakers to add weight back to the locomotive, they are certainly not the weight of the lead. Overall, you will not notice.

No, I have not noticed any issues. I apologize, I am on the road right now and won't be home for a few days to look this information up. Take a look at the manual and see what CV the ESU power pack (current keeper) is. It could be something as simple as the power pack not be active. I know there is a page about this in the manual, I just won't have access to it for a bit.

@@ck7813 Oh ok thank you!

They do! They released an EMD GP30 last year and they are taking pre-orders for a GP40. Unfortunately, they haven't offered any 4 axle units in IC/ICG/GM&O yet :)

Thank you! Sadly, ScaleTrains is actually one of the more cost effective manufacturers of the higher end detailed models. They are much less expensive than Athearn and have more features. You can look into their "Operator" line which has less details, but is also less expensive. No, I do not have any SD7 locomotives. What is interesting is that GM&O/IC/ICG never had an SD7 or 9 on their rosters. They may have used some as leased units but through my research I have never been able to ascertain that an SD7/9 was rostered for those railroads.

@@ck7813 I only asked because I have 2 Atlas SD-7s from the CNW, 1663&1664, they were always or most always run together as a consist since 1953. Thanks for the info, Ron

The short answer is, based upon your summary, I am not sure what is wrong. The most common issue is that it is on the wrong communication (com) port. You can try changing it again, be sure to restart JMRI each time you change it. You can also check to make sure you have the latest version of decoder pro. It seems that your computer is new enough (JMRI doesn’t work on older machines). It doesn’t make sense why it won’t work.

It is very unlikely that ScaleTrains (or any other manufacturer) will make an SD40A since only 18 were ever produced. Maybe we will see an orange/white, it is more likely we will see Death Star since they can do CN repaints to go with them.

@@ck7813 we can always hope for it but I understand what you're saying.

@@illinoiscentralrailroadfan6015 you may be able to kit bash one, you need an SD40 body on an SD45 frame with a 5,000 gallon fuel tank. Not impossible but not easy either.

​@@ck7813 a FP45 gets you closer to the length ....I modeled 6 back in 1994 to 1995

@@ck7813 the SD40A was built on a SDP45 frame with the SD40 car body. ICG sold six of them to the SOO

I think the only option for 4 axle units from ScaleTrains will be the GP30, but on their first run they only used Bloomberg trucks and the IC (ex GM&O) used refurbished AAR trucks of used up Alco trade-ins. Rapido has pre-orders for some switches in the original green diamond black paint.

Thank you for your comment. I want to stress, none of this is directed at you, but your comment struck a nerve for me. I work in education and, in my opinion, students and more and more people in society as a whole have zero ability to critically think for themselves and it is a contributing factor to the downfall of our country. When something is amiss or they face adversity, they ask someone else what to do or how to solve for their problem and people losing their ability to do things on their own. Related to the Walthers situation, they did a horrible job of producing accurate documentation for this locomotive with the Loksound 5 decoder. I could have contacted them but I am willing to bet that whoever would have fielded my question knows less about DCC programming/functions than I do. I had a problem (inadequate documentation) and I used the resources I had (my knowledge of ESU and the information they publish on their site) to solve for my problem! That is much more gratifying then having to have someone tell me. Rant over!

I was merely giving you another Avenue to find the Gap time frame for the road number😂

@@mikeberthold1593 sorry, I thought you were referring to the poor instructions about the functions. I really need an IC/ICG historian to look into this. I have several IC/ICG/GM&O books in my collection and the locomotive rosters list this on the ICG roster, but there is no photo evidence. I started going through looking at the photos but it is a time-consuming process. Eventually someone will figure this out!

@@ck7813 The ICG didn't repaint or renumber most of the GM&O units. GM&O painted units were quite common in Chicago thru out the 1970s and 80s. The numbers may have been assigned but most were not used the exceptions being units that were wreck repairs and rebuilds such as the 2 GP-26 rebuilds.

Thank you, yes ICG 2526 did exist. IC(G) followed the practice of renumbering their newly acquired GM&O locomotives in succession. For example GM&O GP35 #629 was renumbered ICG 2527 and was repainted ICG orange and white (photo evidence here: www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4731625). That just deepens this mystery :) The deal with the trucks is that is 100% a result of the camera angle. I had the camera higher than the plane of the trucks. As far as the number boards, what you see in person is different than how it translates to video. They do have a yellowish appearance and to the naked eye, they are not super bright. With that being said, if they are too bright, you can adjust CVs to get them to your liking. I didn't show it on video, but I did compare the new unit to the 2018 Walthers' model. Absolutely no retooling occurred. The biggest change is with the decoder. I plan to upgrade my 2018 model to a Loksound 5 so I can run them together!

Thank you, yes I do have auxiliary power packs on some of my locomotives (some were factory installed and some I installed). Mostly I have them on slow moving switchers. When I constructed my layout I worked diligently to wire it properly to eliminate dead spots and I also spent the time and money putting Tortoise Slow Motion Switch Machines on each turnout and wired them to power route the frog. If you don't power route your turnout frogs, you have a dead section that can create havoc for some shorter wheelbase locomotives. But, installing power packs is the tradeoff so there is no right or wrong answer!

@@ck7813 Yes they are a must on small switchers. I look forward to Rapido's 44 tonner that has a capacitor built in. One of the reasons I like ScaleTrains locos is because they have capacitors.

Same! Stay tuned, lots of IC/ICG locomotives and rolling stock being released this spring/summer. Orange and white GP9s, orange and gray SD40-2s, GM&O GP35s, etc!!

My favorite paint scheme was the all black with the Death Star

Well, while you may disagree, this video is about as simplified as it gets. What part are you having trouble with, maybe I can help.