Description
Railroad Short Name: BNSF
General Electric wrestled the title of top domestic locomotive builder from EMD during the late 1980s with their Dash-8 series. GE once again positioned themselves to shakeup the locomotive world yet again less than a decade later. Entering the 1990s, GE completely revamped their locomotive lineup by utilizing customer feedback, learning from experience gained from previous locomotive series, and improvements in technology.
A single C44-9W demonstrator unit, numbered 8601, made its debut in 1993 (and later became C&NW 8601). While similar at first glance to predecessor models like the C40-8 and C40-8W, the Dash-9 series featured a few notable physical differences. Built on a slightly longer platform that allowed for a massive 5,000 gallon fuel tank, Dash-9s also featured thicker radiator “wings” at the rear of the carbody. This is usually the quickest way to differentiate them from previous models.
Thanks to its long production span and customer options, small detail differences could be noted between various customer orders. This includes changes with HVAC system vendors (the large “A/C” box behind the cab on the conductors side), engine cab profile, radiator lifting lugs, hood end, trucks, fuel tank, stepwells, operator’s cab, and even handrail profiles.
The C44-9W proved to be extremely popular over its production span with over 3,500 locomotives being sold new to ATSF, BC Rail, BNSF, CN, C&NW, NS (including 100 spartan cab equipped versions, nicknamed “Top Hats”), QNS&L, SP, and UP.
Locomotive Features:
- Era: late 1996 to early 2000s
- Series BNSF 960-1123, built August 1996 through January 1997
- Road numbers 963, 970, 987, 1000 and 1019
- Battery cabinet access door with latch
- Road number 1100
- Battery cabinet access door without latch
- Fully-assembled
- No truck ground lights (prototype not equipped)
- Operating LED front, rear, and side walkway lights*
- Operating LED front pilot face mounted ditch lights**
- LED-illuminated high-mount cab number boards*
- Short snowplow without open doors and grab irons
- Semi-scale coupler buffer equipped with durable metal semi-scale Type E knuckle couplers
- 5-step stepwells with see-through steps
- Walkway with front anticlimber
- GE “nub” pattern walkway tread
- Wide-profile end handrails
- Front nose headlight
- Nose door with window
- Two-piece nose top grab irons
- Standard electrical cabinet access doors
- Battery cabinet access door with latch: BNSF 963, 970, 987, 1000, and 1019
- Battery cabinet access door without latch: BNSF 1100
- GE safety cab with “gull-wing” roof profile and three (3) side windows
- Cab interior with detailed back wall and front dash, high-back seats, conductor’s work station, and engineer’s desktop controls
- Tinted cab side windows
- Medium-height mirror mounted in front of sliding cab side windows on both sides; additional small mirror on right side
- Large Sinclair “ice skate” communication antenna, and four small Sinclair “ice skate” antennas
- Electrical cabinet with drop grab irons on rear
- Prime Manufacturing PM5191 HVAC unit
- Continuous reinforcement rib under dynamic brake intake grilles
- Late angled engine cab profile with raised “dot” treadplate on centerline
- Lost-wax brass cast Nathan AirChime K3LAR2 horn mounted on engine cab
- Late non-flanged exhaust stack housing
- “Bathtub” exhaust silencer
- 26 individually-applied etched metal see-through radiator intake and exhaust grilles on sides and top of radiator compartment
- Right side late radiator door grilles in alternating heights
- Standard brake wheel
- Left rear hood door grille arrangement: tall, short, short grilles
- Low-mounted rear sand fill
- Early lifting lugs on ends of radiator wings
- Accurately profiled frame with separately-applied plumbing and traction motor cabling
- Late Hi-Ad trucks with cantilever struts on right front and left rear sideframes, with flange lubricator sticks
- Rotating axle bearing caps
- No speed recorder
- Dual Graham-White (Salem) 824-100 Centrifugal Air Filters
- No air dryer
- 5,000-gallon fuel tank with vertical weld seams
- Single fuel fills per side
- Round and vertical analog fuel gauges
- Fuel tank mounted steel bell
- Separate air tanks with lower mounting brackets, connector pipe, and connector pipe cover
- Early, square handbrake chain bracket
- Spare coupler knuckle holders on rear pilot face
- Many factory-applied details, including: wire grab irons, trainline hoses with silver gladhands, 3-hose MU clusters with silver gladhands, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, mirrors, sunshades, and more
- Motor with 5-pole, skew-wound armature
- Dual flywheels
- All-wheel drive
- All-wheel electrical pick-up
- Directional LED headlights
- Printing and lettering legible under magnification
- Operates on Code 70, 83, and 100 rail
- Packaging safely stores model
- Minimum Radius: 18”
- Recommended Radius: 22”
DCC & sound ready locomotives also feature:
- Operate on DC layouts
- DCC ready with 21-pin connector
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.