I confirmed with the Bowser/Sterwart Rep at the Oklahoma City Train Show that they will be producing their Phase 4 U25B in 2009 in O&W. He said they would have liked to have made the locomotive in B&Y, but couldn't since all of the Phase 4 units were delivered in O&W they had no choice. I asked him about the color of orange and he said that they were going to try and match Atlas. Bob Hoover FriscoFriend
As a follow-up to my previous post, Stewart has posted the information for their new Phase IV U25B on their website. The link to the website and drawings is: http://www.bowser-trains.com/New_Products/New 02_20_09 U25b 23375_23390/New 02_20_09 U25b.htm The website says the loco will have many details installed including the rotating beacon on the roof. The sound equipped models will have Soundtraxx Tusami sound which some of us have decided to go with vs. QSI Revolution. As previously posted, they will be matching Atlas colors. Here are the stock #'s, road #'s, and prices: Stock # 23379 Road # 825 DCC Ready $179.95 Stock # 23380 Road # 825 Sound Equipped $279.95 Stock # 23381 Road # 828 DCC Ready $179.95 Stock # 23382 Road # 828 Sound Equipped $279.95 Finally, unless they changed their mind after I talked to the rep at the OKC Train Show, the only downside to this model will be the fact that they will be using some old tooling of sorts where the handrails are mounted on the top of the walkways vs. mounted on the sides as per the prototype. I for one will be willing to overlook this if the rest of the model is a good as it looks in the drawings on the website. The model he was showing at the show did have see-thru screens, etc. Bob Hoover FriscoFriend
I have been monitoring the Bowser website watching for updates on the release of the U25B. The loco in front of it on the release schedule (Baldwin AS616, etc.) has been pushed back to March so keep collecting your pennies, nickels, and dimes. Maybe by summer?
