Walthers Citirail ES44AC, ESU vs Soundtraxx, Ditch Lights

I first ran into a Citirail ES44AC on the prototype during a Tehachapi visit in 2014. This was a really attractive scheme, and I thought about getting a Bachmann model at the time and repainting and relettering it with Micro Scale decals -- but this is a project I'm less and less inclined to undertake. Here's the loco I first saw:

Finally, four years later, Walthers came out with its second run Mainline ES44AC in the Citirail scheme. I ordered one as soon as my budget allowed, though these seem to have flown off the shelves. The only one still in stock was a sound version, my second choice, although this is reasonably priced, so I got it rather than just do without.

According to The Diesel Shop, CitiCorp Railmark has 100 ES44ACs numbered 1201-1215, delivered 2012, 1301-1350, delivered 2013, and 1401-1435, delivered 2014. A further 25 units, 1501-1525, delivered 2015, are listed as "Tier 4 Credit Units". While this isn't intended as a detailed review, several guys have talked about them on YouTube and say the details, including the number of dynamic brake vents and position of the front cab door, are correct for these units, although the front handrails are not.

I don't intend to superdetail my unit, but I do like to see PTC antennas on my models, so I was curious about what type these locos have. However, a search of photos on the web didn't turn up any photos of cab roofs that showed PTC antennas, which most recent locos in main line service on Class 1s now have. I posted a question about this on a forum and learned that these locos are not equipped with PTC, which means they cannot run in the lead in a consist on lines that are PTC equipped.

Thus, although BNSF uses them, they don't run in the lead on BNSF main lines. Also, they run on the Valley Line in California and on the Transcon, but they don't run between Barstow and Los Angeles, where a more limited number of locos in a captive pool tend to be used. Here's another one I caught at a crossing in Bakersfield not too long ago:

You can see that, although no PTC antenna is visible, the loco does have an older style white GPS dome on the cab roof. I will add this when I can find the right part. These locos do run in the lead on routes that either do not have PTC or have the requirement waived. YouTube videos show that when in the lead, they do not have flashing ditch lights when the horn is blown, which is the rule for UP and BNSF. Also, a YouTube video comment says these have Nathan K5HLL horns. The ESU sound decoder gives this as an option, but it is not the default. For Nathan K5HLL, you can set CV 163=1.

I hear a lot of complaints on YouTube about the brightness of the Walthers ditch lights. When I compare them to the ditch lights on other brands, though, I frankly don't see that much difference. For instance, here is a Walthers ES44C4 on the left, with a ScaleTrains ET44C4 on the right. I am using BNSF units for both to avoid any distortion that might result from different paint schemes.

Compare this to a prototype view:

I think that for all situations but head-on, this is acceptable. If the loco is coming at you head-on, they are in fact brighter on the prototype, but I haven't yet seen a model that's that bright.

In this run of ES44ACs, Walthers changed from a limited-range SoundTraxx sound decoder to a limited-range ESU decoder. Judging from the reaction on YouTube, most guys prefer the ESU, and I agree. In addition, the ESU provides much better control of the loco, it starts very, very slowly at DCC speed step 1 without any need to tweak CV 2. Judging from my experience with ESU decoders on ScaleTrains locos, this is a standard feature of ESU. I think it adds value to the Walthers drive.