ScaleTrains Rivet Counter N SXT41727 DCC/ESU LokSound 5 Nano GE DASH 9-44CW Southern Pacific/As Delivered/Red Cab Window Grabs SP #8104

ScaleTrains Rivet Counter N SXT41727 DCC/ESU LokSound 5 Nano GE DASH 9-44CW Southern Pacific/As Delivered/Red Cab Window Grabs SP #8104

Road Number Specific Scale Trains

• New road numbers
• Era: 1994 to 2000 
• Series 8100 to 8200; built 5-11/1994
• Road numbers 8104 and 8115 
  • As-Delivered Speed lettering
  • Two white nose grabs and red grab irons above windshield
  • Warning label variations
• Fully-assembled
• Multiple road numbers
• Operating LED-illuminated front deck-mounted ditch lights*
• Printed and LED-illuminated number boards*
• Factory-applied detail parts: wire grab irons, trainline hoses with silver gladhands, 3-hose MU clusters with silver gladhands, MU cable, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, mirrors, sunshades, brake wheel, and more
• Tall snowplow with open doors and grab irons
• Semi-scale knuckle couplers – Micro-Trains® compatible molded in a dingy gray/brown color to represent the color of couplers in service
• 5-step stepwells
• Walkway with front anticlimber
• GE “nub” pattern walkway tread
• Narrow profile end handrails
• Nose door with window
• Front LED-illuminated headlight with lenses on low short hood
• GE safety cab with three (3) side windows
• Detailed cab interior with floor, rear wall, seats, and desktop
• Tinted cab side windows
• Large Sinclair “ice skate” communication antenna and small Sinclair “ice skate” End of Train (EOT) telemetry antenna
• Motive Equipment Inc. (MEI) ME7000 HVAC Unit
• Early (curved) engine cab profile
• Early flanged exhaust stack housing
• “Bathtub” exhaust silencer
• Exhaust stack storage cover bracket
• Standard brake wheel
• Early radiator door grille pattern (all the same height)
• Low-mounted rear sandfiller
• Early lifting lugs on ends of radiator wings
• Rear LED-illuminated vertical headlight with lenses
• Accurately profiled frame with separately applied plumbing and traction motor cabling
• GE Hi-Ad trucks with separately applied brake cylinders and air plumbing
• Separate air tanks with upper mounting brackets
• Fuel tank mounted steel bell
• 5,000 gallon fuel tank
• Dual fuel fills per side
• Motor with 5-pole skew wound armature
• Dual flywheels
• All-wheel drive
• All-wheel electrical pick-up
• Printing and lettering legible under magnification
• Operates on Code 55 and 80 rail
• Packaging safely stores model
• Minimum Radius: 9 ¾”
• Recommended Radius: 11”
  

DCC & Sound Equipped locomotives also feature:**

• ESU-LokSound 5 Nano DCC & 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**

* Lighting features operate when using an ESU decoder with appropriate programming while operating using DCC

**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.

Prototype History

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 itself to shake up the locomotive world less than a decade later. Entering the 1990s, GE completely revamped its locomotive lineup by utilizing customer feedback, learning from experience gained from previous locomotive series, and technological improvements.

A single C44-9W demonstrator unit numbered 8601, debuted 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, the DASH 9s also featured thicker radiator “wings” at the rear of the car body. 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 conductor's side), engine cab profile, radiator lifting lugs, hood end, trucks, fuel tank, step wells, 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.

Southern Pacific’s units were some of the first new six-axle power on the beleaguered railroad’s roster in more than a decade. They were pressed into a variety of assignments ranging from hot intermodal trains to coal and iron ore drags.

The DASH 9 series remained in production until the early 2000s when it was superseded by GE’s “Evolution Series” ES40/44-series models. Age has begun to catch up with the earliest C44-9W and related models so some railroads are storing and/or rebuilding these veteran units. NS’s oldest units, the spartan-cab C40-9s, are being rebuilt with the latest GE safety cab for increased crew comfort and safety plus AC traction for increased performance.

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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