ScaleTrains Rivet Counter N SXT32561 DCC Ready GE DASH 9-44CW Burlington Northern Santa Fe 'Frankenloco' BNSF #5441

ScaleTrains Rivet Counter N SXT32561 DCC Ready GE DASH 9-44CW Burlington Northern Santa Fe 'Frankenloco' BNSF #5441

Road Number Specific ScaleTrains

BNSF - Burlington Northern Santa Fe - 'Frankenloco'

Road number 4331

• Era: late 2010s to present
• Series 4300-4598, built 1-12/1999
• Green color under lower yellow nose stripes
• Octagonal antenna dome with LinkUp PTC
• Rusty air tanks

Road number 5441

• Era: late 2010s to present
• Series 5420-5499, built 4-9/2000
• Orange color under lower yellow nose stripes
• Octagonal antenna dome with STI-CO Inc. PTC

Rivet Counter Locomotives Also Feature:

• Fully assembled
• Multiple road numbers
• GE Safety cab with ‘gull-wing’ roof profile, low headlight, and four side windows
• Operating front deck mounted LED ditch lights
• Printed and LED lighted number boards
• Short snowplow with open doors
• 5-step stepwells
• GE ‘nub’ pattern walkway tread
• Narrow profile end handrails
• Nose door with window
• Detailed cab interior with floor, rear wall, seats, and desktop
• Tinted cab side windows
• Motive Equipment Inc. ‘MEI’ ME7000 HVAC Unit
• Late 'angled' engine cab profile with tri-fold power assembly access doors
• Lost-wax brass Nathan AirChime K3LAR24 horn mounted on engine cab
• Late non-flanged exhaust stack housing
• ‘Bathtub’ exhaust silencer
• High-mounted rear sandfiller
• Early lifting lugs on ends of radiator wings
• Accurately profiled frame with separately applied plumbing and cabling
• GE Hi-Ad trucks with separately applied brake cylinders and air plumbing
• 5,000 gallon fuel tank
• Separate air tanks with lower mounting brackets
• Fuel tank mounted steel bell
• Dual fuel fills per side
• Factory-applied detail parts: wire grab irons, trainline hoses, 3-hose MU clusters, MU cable, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, mirrors, sunshades, brake wheel, and more
• Semi-scale Type E knuckle couplers – Micro-Trains compatible
• Body mounted coupler box – accepts Micro-Trains 1015/1016 type couplers
• 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 55 and 80 rail
• Durable packaging safely stores model
• Minimum Radius: 9 ¾ inches
• Recommended Radius: 11 inches or greater

DCC & sound equipped locomotives also feature:

• ESU-LokSound 5 Micro DCC and sound decoder with ‘Full Throttle’
• Cube-type speaker
• Accurate FDL-16 prime mover and auxiliary sounds, horn, bell, and more*
• Operates on both DC and DCC layouts

DC/DCC ready locomotives also feature:

• Operates on DC layouts**
• DCC ready with Next18 connector

* Not all sound and lighting functions on DCC and sound equipped versions are operable using DC

**Lombard Hobbies Recommendation - As modelers ourselves we highly recommend ONLY running DCC on DCC systems and DC on DC systems, regardless of 'Dual-Mode' capability. This gives optimum performance and safeguards the unit from possible damage from running on a different system than originally intended and from any inexperienced operator errors.

History

General Electric’s C44-9W demonstrator unit made its debut in 1993. 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. Due 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 with 100 spartan cab equipped versions, QNS&L, SP, and UP.

The Dash-9 series remained in production until the early 2000s when it was superseded by GE’s Evolution Series ES40/44-series models. Built over a long timeframe, and proving to be a solid, upgradeable platform, the C44-9W family of locomotives including rebuilds is sure to remain a fixture on today’s railroads for the foreseeable future.

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