Description
Railroad Short Name: ATSF, SF
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: early 1994 to late 1990s
- Series 612-649, built 2/94 to 3-/94
- Fully-assembled
- Multiple road numbers
- Road numbers 629 and 640
- Step warning labels
- Road numbers 628 and 639
- No step warning labels
- Operating LED front, rear, and side walkway lights*
- Operating LED front pilot face mounted ditch lights*
- Printed and operating LED lighted number boards*
- GE safety cab with “gull-wing” roof profile and three (3) side windows
- Short snowplow with open doors and grab irons
- 4-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
- One-piece nose top grab irons
- Standard battery box doors
- Detailed cab interior with desktop controls for both engineer and conductor, seats floor, and rear wall
- Tinted cab side windows
- Large Sinclair “ice skate” communication antenna and small Sinclair “ice skate” End of Train (EOT) telemetry antenna
- Prime Manufacturing PM5191 HVAC unit
- Early dynamic brake exhaust
- Early electrical cabinet with drop grab irons on rear
- Early curved engine cab profile
- Lost-wax brass Leslie RS-3L horn mounted on engine cab
- Early 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
- Early radiator door grille all the same size
- Standard wheel type handbrake
- High-mounted rear sandfiller
- Early lifting lugs on ends of radiator wings
- Accurately profiled frame with separately applied plumbing and traction motor cabling
- Semi-scale coupler buffer equipped with durable metal semi-scale Type E knuckle couplers
- Separate air tanks with upper mounting brackets
- Salem Air Dryer
- Fuel tank mounted steel bell
- 5,000-galon fuel tank with vertical weld seam
- Dual fuel fills per side with rear fill “blanked”
- Round and vertical analog fuel gauges
- Late Hi-Ad trucks with non-cantilevered struts on all four sideframes
- Rotating axle bearing caps
- Late speed recorder
- Early, square handbrake chain bracket
- Spare coupler knuckle holders on truck sideframes
- Factory-applied detail parts: wire grab irons, snowplow, spare knuckles, trainline hoses, 3-hose MU clusters, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, mirrors, sunshades, air tanks, fuel tank mounted bell, brake wheel, exhaust stack 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 equipped locomotives also feature:
- ESU-LokSound 5 DCC and Sound decoder with “Full Throttle”
- Two (2) cube-type speakers
- Accurate FDL-16 prime mover and auxiliary sounds, horn, bell, and more
- ESU-designed PowerPack with two (2) super capacitors
- Operates on both DC and DCC layouts*
DCC & sound ready locomotives also feature:
- Operate on DC layouts
- DCC ready with 21-pin connector
* Note: some sound and lighting functions on DCC & sound-equipped versions are not operable using DC
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