Scaletrains SXT41713 Rivet Counter GE DASH 9-44CW, Norfolk Southern/Thoroughbred/Solid Sill Stripe #9274 - DCC & Sound N Scale

Scaletrains SXT41713 Rivet Counter GE DASH 9-44CW, Norfolk Southern/Thoroughbred/Solid Sill Stripe #9274 - DCC & Sound N Scale. Picture may show a different road number.

Road Number Specific ScaleTrains

• New road numbers
• Era: Mid 2000s – Late 2010s
• Series 9245 to 9394, built 1998-1999
• Road numbers 9274 and 9289 
  • Original NS Scheme with Solid Frame Stripe
• Fully-assembled
• Multiple road numbers
• Operating LED-illuminated front and rear deck-mounted alternating 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 snow plow 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 and rear anti climbers
• GE “nub” pattern walkway tread
• Wide profile end handrails
• Nose door without window
• Front LED-illuminated headlight with lenses on number board housing
• 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
• Dayton Phoenix (DPG) Model 280260 HVAC Unit
• Late (angled) engine cab profile 
• Late non-flanged exhaust stack housing
• “Bathtub” exhaust silencer
• Late radiator door grilles in alternating heights
• Low-mounted rear sand filler
• Late 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 lower mounting brackets
• Fuel tank mounted steel bell
• 5,000 gallon fuel tank
• Single 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 DCC & Sound decoder with “Full Throttle” functions
• One (1) cube-type speakers
• Turbocharged EMD 16-645 prime mover sounds
• Operates on both DC and DCC layouts

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

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.

NS was an important customer with over 1,000 DASH 9s on the roster. They preferred customized models in the form of 100 spartan-cab equipped, 4,000hp C40-9s (nicknamed “Top Hats”) and numerous examples of safety cab-equipped versions rated at 4,000hp, and designated as C40-9Ws. All C40-9/Ws would eventually be uprated to 4,400hp with their designations changed accordingly.

Over the years, the DASH 9s could be found in various assignments. Santa Fe’s C44-9Ws were delivered in the famed red and silver “Superfleet” scheme and could be found hurtling across the southwest with hot piggyback trailers and container trains in tow.

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.

Chicago & North Western’s units made their debut in flashy “lightning stripe” livery and handled numerous assignments during their brief tenure before being absorbed by Union Pacific.

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.

Originally built in the early 1990s, some of BNSF’s former Santa Fe fleet are also in the process of being rebuilt with AC traction to extend their service lives and improve their 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.