Description
Railroad Short Name: NS
As the 1980s began, and with the success of their DASH 7 series, introduced in 1976, locomotive builder General Electric sought to build upon their momentum with an improved line of locomotives. Based upon technological advances and customer feedback, GE debuted its “Dash 8” series in 1983. Featuring improvements to the FDL series prime mover and microprocessor controls, the DASH 8 line promised improved performance, as well as improved reliability and maintainability, over their DASH 7 predecessors. One of the first models to be unveiled was the C39-8, with a pair of testbed units built and painted for Norfolk Southern, numbered NS 8550-8551.
The year 1998 brought more change, as Norfolk Southern and CSX acquired Conrail. The eastern giant was split between the two carriers, including locomotives and rolling stock. NS received 13 former CR C39-8s, while the remaining 9 CR C39-8s went to CSX. While most kept their blue paint, gaining a “patch” renumber into the CSX fleet, four of them received CSX paint – two painted in YN2, and two receiving YN3. Norfolk Southern repainted several of their former Conrail C39-8s as well, exchanging their coats of Conrail Blue for NS black.
By the early 2000s, with many miles racked up by the C39-8s, and newer, more reliable and fuel-efficient locomotives coming online, the trailblazing GEs began to be set aside in deadlines, with many meeting the scrapper’s torch. Some were spared that fate, being exported to Central America, home to railroads with a healthy appetite for used US locomotives. A handful found new homes on US shortlines and lease operators, but their use was to be short-lived. As of this writing, the only examples in operation in the US are a pair of former Conrail (by way of NS) units in use by eastern shortline Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad. While no longer hustling along the high iron with long coal or hotshot intermodal trains in tow, the PNRR’s pair of units operates regularly, and represents the last of GE’s pioneering early DASH 8s.
Road Number Specific Features:
- Series 8200 to 8212; ex-Conrail 6000 to 6021 (broken), built 1986
- Road number 8204
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- Era: 2004 – 2010
- ‘patched’ Conrail unit
- Mixed Adirondack and GSC trucks with rotating Timken bearings; separate brake cylinders, center axle shock snubber, brake lines and handbrake chain detail; and separate sanding lines and brackets
Features:
- Fully-assembled
- Multiple road numbers
- Operating LED-illuminated ground lights on both sides of locomotive*
- Operating LED front, rear, and side walkway lights*
- Operating LED-illuminated tricolor front and rear class lights with lenses**
- Printed and LED-illuminated front and rear number boards*
- Small front and rear snowplows with wire grab irons
- Semi-scale coupler buffers equipped with durable metal semi-scale standard Type E knuckle couplers
- 3-hose multiple unit (MU) hose clusters with silver gladhands
- See-through round-hole stepwell steps
- Front and rear drop steps
- GE “nub” tread plate on walkways
- Short hood with blanked lower headlight housing
- Detailed cab interior with separate floor, rear wall, seats, and control stand
- Cab sunshades
- Sliding cab side windows
- Dual wind deflector with mirror mounted fore and aft of sliding cab windows on both sides
- Sunshades on both sides of cab
- Dual Motorola ASP-16 “Firecracker” antennas on cab roof (communication and End of Train EOT)
- Nathan P135R24 horn mounted on engine compartment roof
- See-through dynamic brake exhaust
- 24 individually applied etched metal see-through radiator intake and exhaust grilles on sides and top of radiator compartment
- Early 6-panel radiator exhaust grilles
- Exhaust silencer with extension
- Accurately profiled frame with separately applied plumbing and cabling
- GSC trucks with Hyatt bearing housings; separate brake cylinders, center axle shock snubber, brake lines and handbrake chain detail; and separate sanding lines and brackets
- Dual Graham-White (Prime) finned 075 air filters
- Highly-detailed 4,400 gallon fuel tank with fuel fillers, round and vertical fuel gauges
- Air reservoirs with separate plumbing
- Factory-applied wire grab irons, spare knuckles, trainline hoses with silver gladhands, MU cables, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, underframe bell, and more
- 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 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 with “Full Throttle”
- 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
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