HO SD70M-2s delivering in late May from Athearn Genesis

Among soon-to-arrive Genesis HO-scale SD70M-2s from Athearn will be red Vermont Railway examples.

HO SD70M-2s delivering in late May from Athearn Genesis

HO ScaleWith its release of road numbers 431 and 432, Athearn Genesis will offer the opportunity to own both Vermont Railway (VTR) SD70M-2 diesel locomotives in HO scale. The release is expected to ship in late May 2022. The model will come in standard DC version and in DCC-sound version.

Vermont Railway obtained its two SD70M-2s from locomotive leaser First Union Rail (FURX) and the pair originally served Florida East Coast (FEC). FEC 101 (built by EMD in late 2006, serial number 20056711-2) moved to FURX briefly in 2015 and then on to Vermont Railway. FEC 103 (serial number 20056711-4, also built by EMD in late 2006) followed the same ownership path, becoming FURX 103, and then VTR 432.

This six-axle EMD unit is Tier II rated and production began in 2005 and continued through 2011. The largest orders went to Canadian National (190 units) and Norfolk Southern (130 units). The total SD70M-2 production was 331 units.

ABOVE: This is the DCC-sound chassis for Athearn’s SD70M-2.

This Athearn Genesis model includes new walkway variants, see-through steps, and LED lighting. The lighting features include illuminated number boards and ground lights for the first time on this run.

 

ABOVE: This mid-2000s EMD prototype shares design attributes with the newer SD70ACe units, as shown here with the look of the long hood.

This Athearn Genesis release comes fully assembled with many numerous parts added to the detailed plastic shell components. The die-cast metal chassis houses a smooth running drive mechanism that includes dual, cube-type speakers on releases equipped with Tsunami 2 electronics made by SoundTraxx for this model.

Athearn Trains
athearn.com

 


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This article was posted on: April 22, 2022