Description
Railroad Short Name: UP
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 themselves to shakeup the locomotive world yet again less than a decade later. Entering the 1990s, GE completely revamped their locomotive lineup by utilizing customer feedback, learning from experience gained from previous locomotive series, and improvements in technology.
A single C44-9W demonstrator unit, numbered 8601, made its debut 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, Dash-9s also featured thicker radiator “wings” at the rear of the carbody. 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 conductors side), engine cab profile, radiator lifting lugs, hood end, trucks, fuel tank, stepwells, 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.
Locomotive Features:
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- Era: mid 1994 to early 2000s
- Series UP 9700-9739, built July-August 1994
- Road number 9701
- North Little Rock (NLR) Shop employee recognition plaque on right side of the nose
- 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 pilot face mounted ditch lights**
- LED-illuminated low-mount number boards*
- Tall snowplow with open doors and grab irons
- Semi-scale coupler buffer equipped with durable metal semi-scale Type E knuckle couplers
- 5-step stepwells with see-through steps
- Walkway with front anticlimber
- GE “nub” pattern walkway tread
- Narrow profile end handrails
- Front nose headlight
- Nose door with window
- Two-piece nose top grab irons
- Standard electrical cabinet access doors
- Battery cabinet access door with latch
- GE safety cab with three (3) side windows
- Cab interior with detailed back wall and front dash, high-back seats, conductor’s work station, and engineer’s desktop controls
- Tinted cab side windows
- Medium mirror mounted in front of sliding cab side windows on both sides; additional small mirror on right side
- Large Sinclair “ice skate” communication antenna, small Sinclair “ice skate” End of Train (EOT) telemetry antenna, and dual “Teardrop” antennas.
- Electrical cabinet with drop grab irons on rear
- Prime Manufacturing PM5191 HVAC unit
- Alternating reinforcement ribs under dynamic brake intake grilles
- Early dynamic brake exhaust
- Early curved engine cab profile with tri-fold power assembly access doors
- Lost-wax brass cast Leslie RS-3L horn mounted on engine cab
- Early flanged exhaust stack housing
- “Bathtub” exhaust silencer
- 26 individually-applied etched metal see-through radiator intake and exhaust grilles on sides and top of radiator compartment
- Early radiator door grille pattern (all the same height)
- Standard brake wheel
- Low-mounted rear sand fill
- Early lifting lugs on ends of radiator wings
- Accurately profiled frame with separately-applied plumbing and traction motor cabling
- Late Hi-Ad trucks with non-cantilevered struts on all four sideframes
- Rotating axle bearing caps
- Speed recorder on left side second axle
- Dual Graham-White (Prime) 975-075 Air Filters
- Graham-White 975-100 “Twin Tower” Air Filter Dryer
- 5,000-gallon fuel tank with vertical weld seams
- Single fuel fills per side
- Round and vertical analog fuel gauges, and digital fuel gauges
- Fuel tank mounted steel bell
- Separate air tanks with upper mounting brackets
- Early, square handbrake chain bracket
- Spare coupler knuckle holders on rear pilot face
- Factory-applied detail parts: wire grab irons, spare knuckles, trainline hoses with silver gladhands, 3-hose MU clusters with silver gladhands, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, mirrors, sunshades, and more
- Motor with 5-pole, skew-wound armature
- Dual flywheels
- All-wheel drive
- All-wheel electrical pick-up
- Directional LED 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 ready locomotives also feature:
- Operate on DC layouts
- DCC ready with 21-pin connector
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