Description
For the first six decades of the diesel era, the main goal of locomotive design was higher horsepower. Introduced in 1993, GE’s 4400 hp Dash 9 and its AC-motored sibling, the AC4400CW, were three times as powerful as a typical first-generation diesel and had 10% more horsepower than their immediate predecessor, the Dash 8. A couple years later, GE and then EMD introduced 6000 hp engines, the first single-unit diesels to equal the power of the last and best steamers.
But what was thought to be a breakthrough turned out to be a flop. By the late 1990s, North American railroads had rejected the 6000 hp concept and concluded that the 4300-4400 hp diesel was the Goldilocks locomotive – not too big, not too small, but a versatile, just-right building block for multiple-unit lashups. The horsepower race was over.
The Dash 9, accordingly, turned out to be a best-seller. with more than 3600 engines sold by the end of production in 2004. It was the last and best of GE’s third-generation diesels, the generation in which computers were integrated into nearly every locomotive function, from engine management to traction control to spotting and reporting maintenance issues. Instead of looking at dials and gauges, a modern engineer monitors computer screens. The Dash 9’s successor, today’s GE Evolution Series, helped usher in the diesel era’s fourth generation: still 4400 hp, but a 21st century “green machine” with a much smaller carbon footprint.
The Dash 9 exemplified the modern locomotive at the turn of the 20th century, with microprocessors ensuring that its 4400 horses were working as efficiently and as often as possible. It rode on GE’s brand-new HiAdTM trucks (for high adhesion), with computerized wheelslip control. Also new was a split cooling system that reduced temperatures and prolonged engine life. The Dash 9’s wide-nosed North American cab, an option on earlier diesels, was standard equipment, solidifying the new look in road diesels. It was also the first GE diesel not offered with four-wheel trucks, recognizing that 6-axle, 4400 hp freight power was the new normal. And its four-stoke, V-16 7FDL motor was the final refinement of the 2500 hp prime mover that had powered the U25B – General Electric’s landmark 1959 product that had launched GE back into the locomotive market and the diesel era into its second generation.
BNSF and the Norfolk Southern purchase the largest Dash 9 fleets, with more than 1000 units each, and both opted for not-quite-stock locomotives. Before its merger into BNSF in 1995, the Santa Fe specified a unique notch on the side of its Dash 9 cab roofs for clearance reasons, particularly at its York Canyon, New Mexico coal loadout. Known as a gull wing cab roof, this feature was carried over into subsequent BNSF Dash 9 orders, and is accurately rendered on our Santa Fe, transition period, and BNSF models.
Norfolk Southern Dash 9s have software that downrates their motors to 4000 hp in order to reduce engine wear and fuel consumption. If needed, however, the extra 400 horses can be accessed with the flip of a key switch. While NS also specified a unique (and somewhat retro) narrow-nosed cab on its first Dash 9 order, the federal railroad Administration soon required it to purchase the standard wide-nose model for greater safety. Our replicas of Norfolk Southern and all other non-Santa Fe/BNSF Dash 9s feature the correct standard cab roof.
While this new model is not the first HO replica of the Dash 9, we believe it is the best. From the shock absorbers and brake lines on its HiAd trucks, to its windshield wipers, MU hoses, and metal grilles, our Dash 9 is loaded with accurate, added-on detail parts. And with lighted ditch lights; smooth performance from our powerful 12-volt, 5-pole flywheel equipped motor; and a built-in NMRA 8-pin plug for DCC decoders, our DCC-Ready models are more fun to operate than any other dcc-ready HO locomotives.
Features:
Intricately Detailed ABS Body
Authentic Paint Scheme & Cab Numbers
Detailed Truck Sides, Pilots and Fuel Tank
Die-Cast Metal Chassis
Detachable Scale Snow Plow
(2) Cab Figures
Constant Voltage Bright LED Headlights
RP-25 Metal Wheels Mounted On Metal Axles
Powerful 12 Volt, Skew Wound 5-Pole Precision Flywheel Equipped Motor
Illuminated Number Boards
Operating Ditch Lights
(2) Scale Kadee Couplers
Built-In NMRA 8-pin plug for DCC
Operates On Code 70, 83, & 100 Rail Curves
Unit Measures:10 9/16″ x 1 7/16″ x 2 3/16″
Operates On 18″ Radius Curves
1:87 Scale Proportions
Proto-Sound 3.0 equipped locomotives can be controlled in command mode with any DCC compliant command control system. While the user won’t have access to all of the incredible features of Proto-Sound 3.0, independent control over the locomotive is possible. This means you can continue to use your existing DCC controller to independently control your other DCC equipped locomotives in addition to your Proto-Sound 3.0 locomotive on the same track at the same time.
When using a DCC controller, the following Proto-Sound 3.0 locomotive features are accessible:
F0 Head/Tail light
F1 Bell
F2 Horn
F3 Start-up/Shut-down
F4 PFA
F5 Lights (except head/tail)
F6 Master Volume
F7 Front Coupler
F8 Rear Coupler
F9 Forward Signal
F10 Reverse Signal
F11 Grade Crossing
F12 Clickety Clack (On/Off)
F13 Idle Sequence 4
F14 Idle Sequence 3
F15 Idle Sequence 2
F16 Idle Sequence 1
F17 Extended Start-up
F18 Extended Shut-down
F19 Rev Up
F20 Rev Down
F21 One Shot Doppler
F22 Coupler Slack
F23 Coupler Close
F24 Single Horn Blast
F25 Engine Sounds
F26 Brake Sounds
F27 Cab Chatter
F28 Feature Reset
Proto-Sound 3.0 With The Digital Command System Featuring: Freight Yard Proto-Effects
Unit Measures:10 9/16″ x 1 7/16″ x 2 3/16″