First built for Union Pacific in the late 1980's by General Electric, the DASH 8-40C diesel locomotives were identified by an enlarged exhaust stack and the mounting of the dynamic brake grids in a square-like unit behind the cab, which housed an enlarged equipment blower fan. These six-axle, 4,000 hp engines are still in service today in North America.

The 4,000hp Dash 8-40CW was produced by General Electric between 1989 and 1993 as a follow-up to the successful Dash 8-40C locomotive. The most distinguishing feature of this model was the introduction of GE?s version of the wide-nose ?North American Safety Cab.? This style of cab would become a common sight on railroads across the country. Four major railroads purchased the Dash 8-40CW in fairly large quantities, including Conrail, CSX, Santa Fe and Union Pacific. Most of these units are still in regular mainline and heavy-haul freight service today. Due to various mergers, they can also be seen operating for new owners Norfolk Southern and BNSF.

Features Include:
-Ditch lights (8-40CW only)
-Number boards, sand fill hatch, and marker lights where appropriate by railroad (8-40CW only)
-Realistic die-cast underframe
-Factory-equipped with AccuMate? knuckle couplers
-Coupler pocket designed to accept AccuMate? Proto-couplers
-Highly detailed coupler cut bars
-Multiple unit hoses and trainline hoses
-Five-pole skewed armature motor with dual flywheels for optimum performance at all speeds
-Separately-installed scale windshield wipers, metal grab irons and fine scale handrails
-Directional lighting
-Painted crew members
-Snowplow and piping on trucks
-Recommended minimum radius: 22?

AccuMate? couplers are made under license from AccuRail, Inc.

Atlas Master? Series Silver Additional Features: (Item # 7600-7685)
-NMRA 8-pin plug for DCC (Decoder-ready)

Atlas Master? Series Gold Additional Features: (Item # 9695-9674)
-Electronic Dual-Mode? Decoder (e-DMD) that allows your locomotive to run in DCC or traditional DC

QSI? Quantum System? Features Including:
(Atlas Master? Series Gold locomotives only)
-Dual speaker system
-Authentic diesel engine sounds
-Squealing brakes
-Doppler effect
-Air let-off in neutral
-Coupler impact sounds when operated with DCC
-Helper mode that mutes the whistle and bell for double heading
-And more!

Note: Due to the higher starting voltage required to operate the sound system, it is not possible to MU a non-sound-equipped loco in DC (analog) mode.