Intermountain N Norfolk Southern SD40-2

I found an Intermountain N Norfolk Southern SD40-2 at a good price:

The paint scheme puts it in the general time frame I'm interested in, since the full white stripe on the frame would have been added to the loco in the late 2000s prior to the 2010 FRA mandate. This would also have been during the time NS ran short hood front. However, the NSDash9 site doesn't list it as a loco that ever received the solid white stripe. NS 3201-3328 were former Southern Railway units that retained their numbers in the 1982 NS merger. However, all of these have since been retired or rebuilt into SD40-3s with low short hoods.

Nor, apparently, did 3224 ever get the "horsehead" scheme. Locos in the 3200 series have since been replaced by AC44C6M rebuilds from 9-44CWs.

The model has truck siderrames with two brake cylinders, which is correct for former Southern Railway units on NS. Original Norfolk and Western SD40-2s had a third brake cylinder above the center journal. However, only 11 N&W SD40-2s had high short hoods, so this Intermountain model is much more typical of NS SD40-2s, at least prior to Conrail.

The model has ESU LokSound 5 DCC and sound. Following my preference, I set acceleration-deceleration CVs 3 and 4 to 0. I also found that I needed to set CV 2, starting voltage, to 20 to get the loco to start rolling on speed step 1. Once I did this, its performance matches other DCC equipped locos from other manufacturers.

Iconic Replicas LA Metro Bus

I recently discovered a new N scale product, an Iconic Replicas Los Angeles Metro NFI Xcelsior XN 40 Bus. As an LA resident, I can testify that these are ubiquitous. In addition, it's one of very few contemporary US N scale vehicle models:

For comparison, here's a Kevin Wong photo of the prototype:

The model lacks typical ad panels that appear on the prototype. Also, there's no route designation. In addition, the prototype wheel centers are dark gray, not silver.

According to Chrome AI Mode, Iconic Replicas also offers the N scale Xcelsior XN 40 in New York MTA livery, as well as two basic generic schemes. It also offers an N scale MCI D4505 Intercity Coach in Greyhound (Newclassic scheme two-tone blue, white, and silver); Greyhound Canada (Shadow trim); FlixBus, and GO Transit.

Two Locos Back From Warranty Repair

Last fall, I had two new locos that had to go back for warranty repair. Over the post month, I got both of them back without problems. The first was a Broadway Limited N CSX AC6000. This showed some signs of life, but it didn't move on either DCC or DC. I contacted BLI support, which told me it needed a hardware reset and then gave me elaborate instructions on how to do this. I replied that for that kind of money, I want to get this done under warranty service, and they gave me an RA, I sent it in, I waited maybe 12 weeks, and it came back and ran fine.

Then I got a Kato CSX AC4400CW with factory installed DCC. The decoder ran OK for maybe 30 seconds out of the box, but then would either switch to creeping or switch to maximum speed without control input, and to stop it, I needed to disconnect track power. I checked the Kato web site, and it said no need to get an RA, if it's within the warranty period, just send it in with a note sayng what's wrong, the receipt, and return address. The web site also notes that new or not, Kato will not honor the warranty on anything purchased from eBay. I sent this in and got it back with a new decoder within maybe 10 weeks.

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