ScaleTrains SXT40517 GE ET44AC NS Norfolk Southern/Thoroughbred #3649 DCC & Sound HO Scale

ScaleTrains Rivet Counter SXT40517 GE ET44AC NS Norfolk Southern/Thoroughbred #3649 DCC & Sound HO Scale (Note pictures may show a different road number).

Introduced in 2012, General Electric’s ET44 GEVO Series represents the latest in diesel-electric locomotive technology. Nearly every Class I railroad in the United States and Canada roster the GE Tier 4 GEVO.

Our Rivet Counter series model renders the numerous variations of engine cab rooflines, antennas, dynamic brakes, trucks, and more. We’ve also incorporated LED lighting effects including front, rear, and side walkway lights; ground lights (when applicable); printed and lighted number boards; and ditch lights.

Road Number Specific ScaleTrains

• New paint scheme
• Era: 2017-present: built 2017
• HypoTypical™ Norfolk Southern Thoroughbred Scheme
• Fully-assembled
• Multiple road numbers
• Operating LED ground lights on both sides of locomotive*
• Operating LED front, rear, and side walkway lights*
• Operating LED front and rear deck mounted alternating ditch lights**
• Printed and LED lighted number boards*
• LSL (Locomotive Speed Limiter) indicator lights on cab sides (non-operating) 
• Sill-mounted brake stick holder
• Semi-scale coupler buffers equipped with durable metal semi-scale standard Type E knuckle couplers
• Multiple unit (MU) cable with attachment chain
• Battery charging receptacles on front and rear pilots
• ECP brake equipment box and cable details on front and rear pilot faces
• See-through round-hole stepwell steps
• Walkway with front and rear anticlimber
• GE “nub” pattern walkway tread
• Sand box clean out door with knuckle buster latch and hinge
• Wide profile end handrails
• Front high (cab) mounted headlight
• Extra nose front grab iron on engineer’s side of cab
• Nose door without window
• Cab with barrel bolt latches on subbase doors
• Detailed cab interior with separate floor, rear wall, seats, and control stand
• In cab grade crossing camera mounted on right side
• Tinted cab side windows
• Tall mirror mounted in front of sliding cab side windows on both sides; additional small mirror on right side
• Cab roof JEM Communications PTC antenna farm
• See-through dynamic brake exhaust
• Left side dynamic brake cab: tri blower dynamic brake with flush exhaust
• Etched metal see-through dynamic brake intake grilles with blower motors visible inside
• Right side dynamic brake cab: door with grille, door with grille, small grille, and door with grille
• Current production engine cab (long hood) with angled exhaust compartment roofline
• Lost wax brass cast Nathan AirChime K5HLR2 horn mounted on engine cab roof 
• Separate exhaust stack
• 40 individually applied etched metal see-through radiator intake and exhaust grilles on sides and top of radiator compartment
• Standard production radiator door grilles
• Flat stamped brake wheel
• Accurately profiled frame with separately applied plumbing and traction motor cabling
• GE Hi-Ad trucks with separately applied brake cylinders, air plumbing, and rotating bearing caps 
• AEI tag mounted on right sidesill
• 5,300 gallon fuel tank with external waste retention tank
• Dual fuel fills per side with rear fill “blanked”
• Factory-applied wire grab irons, snowplow with grab irons, spare knuckles, trainline hoses with silver gladhands, 3-hose MU clusters with silver gladhands, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, mirrors, sunshades, air dryer, air tanks, fuel tank mounted electronic bell, and more
• Motor with 5-pole skew wound armature
• Dual flywheels
• All-wheel drive
• All-wheel electrical pick-up
• Directional LED-illuminated 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
• Two (2) cube-type speakers
• Accurate GEVO-12 prime mover and auxiliary sounds, horn, bell, and more
• ESU-designed PowerPack with two (2) super capacitors***
• Operates on both DC and DCC layouts

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

** In DC operation, both front ditch lights illuminate; rear ditch lights (if equipped) do not illuminate

*** Compatible with appropriately programmed ESU decoders while operating using DCC

Introduced in 2012, General Electric’s ET44 GEVO Series represents the latest in diesel-electric locomotive technology. The GE Tier 4 GEVO is designed to meet stringent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emissions regulations. The EPA “Tier” emissions standards are a series, or Tiers, of allowable emissions levels based upon a locomotives’ date of manufacture. The highest and most stringent tier level, Tier 4, sets maximum allowable NOx and hydrocarbon emissions levels for locomotives built for use in the United States from 2015 onward.

While similar in appearance to previous GE ES44 GEVO designs, the Tier 4 models featured a longer frame compared to their predecessors. This allows for a larger radiator “cab” (GE refers to the various sections of the long hood as “cabs”), and a “hump” over the engine cab for advanced exhaust treatment equipment.Initially, a boxy housing filled the entire roofline on the blue-painted field test/demonstrator units.

Due to changes in treatment equipment and clearance issues, the “hump” would decrease in size and shape into a boxy compartment around the exhaust on initial production units. This culminated in an angled compartment surrounding the exhaust manifold on locomotives produced since 2016. Despite boxier engine cab rooflines and a radically styled radiator cab, the basic Tier 4 design shares a family appearance with GE safety cab-equipped units going back to the DASH-9s of the 1990s. It even includes the same 12-cylinder GEVo-12 series prime mover and 4,400hp as its predecessor model.

In February of 2019, Wabtec purchased General Electric’s Transportation Division. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wabtec Corporation is a provider of equipment, operating systems, and services for freight and passenger rail systems all over the world. The company produces locomotives for customers both domestically and abroad, including the ET44 GEVO locomotives which are built in Wabtec’s plants in Fort Worth, Texas and Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Tier 4 units have proven to be popular with nearly all major U.S. and Canadian railroads. While GE has settled on a basic carbody design to keep production costs down, there are notable variations and detail differences due to customer specifications including antennas, dynamic brakes, trucks, and more. With over 1,000 units built, the ET44 is a common site on North American Class I Railroads.