Norfolk Southern

After the 1982 SOU-NW merger into the Norfolk Southern, the SD40-2 remained a principal mainline locomotive for the road. Earlier repaints of these units lacked frame striping. Beginning in 2003, these units could be found with the early “broken” frame striping as featured on this release.

 

NS FEATURES:

• Former SOU units

• Bell mounted on long hood

• Nathan P5 horn on each end

• Long hood-forward operation

• Two firecracker antennas

• Front and rear plow

• Flashing front and rear ditch lights with horn activation (DCC Only)

• High short hood

• “Breakaway” style end handrails

• Walkway lights

• “SOU” on cab

• 4000 gallon fuel tank

 

 

Reading & Northern

While wearing a black paint scheme, RBMN 3062 entered the West Cressona, PA paint shop on August 7, 2023. It emerged on September 15, 2023, as RBMN 1983. It is decorated in a paint scheme that celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the Reading and Northern Railroad (RBMN). The locomotive is a tribute to the first days of railroad operation in 1983, when the railroad was originally named the Blue Mountain and Reading (BM&R) which operated 13 miles of track from Temple, PA to Hamburg, PA. Today, the RBMN operates over 400 miles of track in 9 counties. This former BN and NS unit features the original BM&R herald on the nose and a blue color that was used by the first Blue Mountain and Reading diesel units in 1983.

 

RBMN FEATURES:

• Flashing front and rear ditch lights with horn activation (DCC Only)

• Mid-production body with corrugated grilles

• Dynamic brakes

• 4000 gallon fuel tank

• Nathan 3-Chime horn

• Front plow

• Sinclair antenna

• HTC sideframes

• 88” nose with ratchet

 

 

Helm Leasing Corp

Helm Financial is the largest independent locomotive and railcar leasing company in North America. Helm rosters a variety of four-and-six axle EMD locomotives, which can be seen in use across the continent.

 

HLCX FEATURES:

• Mid-production body with corrugated grilles

• Front ditch lights

• HTC sideframes

• 4000 gallon fuel tank

• Front plow

 

ROAD NUMBER SPECIFIC FEATURES:

• #6210 Extended range dynamic brakes, Sinclair antenna, Leslie 5-Chime horn, 88” nose with brakewheel

• #6236 Extended range dynamic brakes, Firecracker antenna, Nathan 5-Chime horn, 116” nose with brakewheel

• #8070 Dynamic brakes, Firecracker antenna, Nathan 3-Chime horn, 88” nose with headlight and ratchet

 

 

PROTOTYPE SPECIFIC INFORMATION

The SD40-2 was introduced in January 1972 as part of EMD’s Dash 2 series, responding to competing products from GE and ALCO. Reliability and versatility of the 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 made it the best-selling model in EMD’s history and the standard of the industry for several decades after its introduction. The SD40-2 was an improvement over the SD40, with modular electronic control systems similar to those of the experimental SD45X and DDA40X. The last SD40-2 delivered to a United States railroad was built in July 1984, with production continuing for railroads in Canada until 1988.

 

SD40-2 LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES:

• Flexible rubber MU hoses for durability

• Flexible rubber trainline hose

• See-through cab windows

• Coupler cut levers

• Wire grab irons

• Exhaust stack

• See-through dynamic brake and radiator fans

• Frame mounted bell (unless noted)

• Detailed fuel tank with fuel fillers, fuel gauges, & breather pipes

• Separately applied air tanks

• Fine-scale Celcon handrails for scale appearance

• Photo-etch stainless steel windshield wipers

• LED Illuminated front and rear headlights, ditch lights, and beacons (where applicable to the prototype)

• DCC-ready Non-sound version features 21-pin NEM DCC plug

• McHenry operating scale knuckle couplers

• All-wheel drive with precision gears for smooth & quiet operation

• All-wheel electrical pickup provides reliable current flow

• 5-pole motor with precision-machined flywheels and multi-link drive train for trouble free operation

• Wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track

• Bi-directional LED lighting for realistic appearance

• Heavy die-cast frame for greater traction and more pulling power

• Scaled from prototype resources including drawings, field measurements, photographs, and more

• Accurately –painted and –printed paint schemes

• Packaging securely holds model for safe storage

• Fully-assembled and ready-to-run

• Minimum radius: 18” Recommended radius 22”

 

SOUND-EQUIPPED MODELS ALSO FEATURE

• Onboard DCC decoder with SoundTraxx Econami sound

• Single cube speaker for optimal sound quality

• Sound units operate in both DC and DCC

• Engine, horn, and bell sounds work in DC

• Some functions are limited in DC

• All functions NMRA compatible in DCC mode

• Effect lighting (if applicable) using F5 and/or F6

• Excellent low-speed operation

• Program a multiple unit (MU) lashup with lead unit only horn, bell, and lights

• Many functions can be altered via Configuration Value (CV) changes

• CV chart included in the box

 

PRIMED FOR GRIME MODELS FEATURE

• Duplicated look and feel of “In Service” equipment

• Faded base colors matched to the prototype

• Perfect starting point for adding grime and rust

 

Reading & Northern

While wearing a black paint scheme, RBMN 3062 entered the West Cressona, PA paint shop on August 7, 2023. It emerged on September 15, 2023, as RBMN 1983. It is decorated in a paint scheme that celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the Reading and Northern Railroad (RBMN). The locomotive is a tribute to the first days of railroad operation in 1983, when the railroad was originally named the Blue Mountain and Reading (BM&R) which operated 13 miles of track from Temple, PA to Hamburg, PA. Today, the RBMN operates over 400 miles of track in 9 counties. This former BN and NS unit features the original BM&R herald on the nose and a blue color that was used by the first Blue Mountain and Reading diesel units in 1983.

 

RBMN FEATURES:

• Flashing front and rear ditch lights with horn activation (DCC Only)

• Mid-production body with corrugated grilles

• Dynamic brakes

• 4000 gallon fuel tank

• Nathan 3-Chime horn

• Front plow

• Sinclair antenna

• HTC sideframes

• 88” nose with ratchet

 

 

Order Due Date: January 26, 2024

Anticipated Delivery Date: June 2025

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