Museum Quality HO Scale EMD SDL39, Milwaukee Road/Billboard Lettering

Little locomotive, big features best describes the diminutive SDL39 locomotive. Developed by EMD for the Milwaukee Road in 1969, the 10 SDL39s were designed to service branchlines with light rail and bridges in the upper Midwest. Through mergers and acquisitions, the SDL39s were owned by Soo Line, Wisconsin Central, and eventually Fepasa in Chile.

Our Museum Quality model faithfully captures all of the nuances of this Legendary Locomotive. Be sure to review the “Prototype Details” tab to learn more about the numerous operating LEDs (as many as 30); frog clank and curve squeal sounds; and the railroad, road number, and the era specific details you have come to expect from the Museum Quality line.

Run: 2

Announced: Nov 12, 2022

Arrived: Nov 10, 2023

DCC & Sound Equipped Retail: $455.99 DC/DCC Ready Retail: $337.99

See below for your price

In stock

SKU

MQHOSDL39MILWBB-2

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Grouped product items
Item Number	Road Number	Control & Sound Options	Our Price	Availability	Quantity
SXT70061	583	DCC & Sound Equipped	$364.99	Limited Fewer than 24 in stock
SXT70062	583	DC/DCC Ready	$269.99	Sold Out	Notify Me If Available × *Please enter your email address to receive notification if stock becomes available. Inventory will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. This field is required Please enter a valid E-mail Submit
SXT70063	585	DCC & Sound Equipped	$364.99	Limited Fewer than 24 in stock
SXT70064	585	DC/DCC Ready	$269.99	Sold Out	Notify Me If Available × *Please enter your email address to receive notification if stock becomes available. Inventory will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. This field is required Please enter a valid E-mail Submit
SXT70065	587	DCC & Sound Equipped	$364.99	Limited Fewer than 24 in stock
SXT70066	587	DC/DCC Ready	$269.99	Sold Out	Notify Me If Available × *Please enter your email address to receive notification if stock becomes available. Inventory will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. This field is required Please enter a valid E-mail Submit
SXT70067	588	DCC & Sound Equipped	$364.99	Limited Fewer than 24 in stock
SXT70068	588	DC/DCC Ready	$269.99	Sold Out	Notify Me If Available × *Please enter your email address to receive notification if stock becomes available. Inventory will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. This field is required Please enter a valid E-mail Submit
SXT70069	589	DCC & Sound Equipped	$364.99	Limited Fewer than 24 in stock
SXT70070	589	DC/DCC Ready	$269.99	Sold Out	Notify Me If Available × *Please enter your email address to receive notification if stock becomes available. Inventory will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. This field is required Please enter a valid E-mail Submit

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ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

PRODUCT DETAILS

Road Number Specific ScaleTrains

Milwaukee 583
- Era: late 1970s-1985
- Series Milw 581 to 585, built March/April 1969
- Data label and placement variations
- 81” low short hood with blanked cab heater louvers
- “Whip” radio antenna mounted on cab roof
- Snow shield brackets on rear of cab roof
- Front EMD-style low pilot snowplow with uncoupling lever clearance corners, MU hose doors, and grab irons; rear weed cutter plow
- 35-Line” cab with standard front windshields and blanked cab heater louvers
- Standard jacking pads at bolsters and extra jacking pads next to steps; total four (4) jacking pads per side
- 1,200-gallon fuel tank with single fuel filler, dual vertical fuel gauges, and round fuel gauge on both tank sides

Milwaukee 585
- Era: late 1970s-1985
- Series Milw 581 to 585, built March/April 1969
- Data label and placement variations
- 81” low short hood with cab heater louvers
- Motorola ASP-16 “Firecracker” communications antenna mounted on cab roof
- Snow shield brackets removed
- Front EMD-style low pilot snowplow with uncoupling lever clearance corners, MU hose doors, and grab irons; rear weed cutter plow
- 35-Line” cab with standard front windshields and blanked cab heater louvers
- Standard jacking pads at bolsters and extra jacking pads next to steps; total four (4) jacking pads per side
- 1,200-gallon fuel tank with single fuel filler, dual vertical fuel gauges, and round fuel gauge on both tank sides

Milwaukee 587, 588
- Era: Late 70’s to 1985
- Milwaukee Series 587 to 590, built November 1972
- Data label and placement variations
- 81” low short hood without cab heater louvers
- “35-Line” cab with standard front windshields and no cab heater louvers
- Forward rectangular cab vents on right cab side
- “Whip” radio antenna mounted on cab roof
- Front EMD-style low pilot snowplow with uncoupling lever clearance corners, MU hose doors, and grab irons; rear weed cutter plow
- Standard jacking pads at bolsters; total two (2) per side
- External toilet drain
- 1,200-gallon fuel tank with single fuel filler, dual vertical fuel gauges, and round fuel gauge on right tank side

Milwaukee 589
- Era: Late 70s to 1985
- Milwaukee Series 587 to 590, built November 1972
- Data label and placement variations
- 81” low short hood without cab heater louvers
- “35-Line” cab with standard front windshields and no cab heater louvers
- Forward rectangular cab vents on right cab side
- “Whip” radio antenna mounted on cab roof
- Front EMD-style low pilot snowplow with MU hose doors and grab irons; rear weed cutter plow
- Standard jacking pads at bolsters; total two (2) per side
- External toilet drain
- 1,200-gallon fuel tank with single fuel filler, dual vertical fuel gauges, and round fuel gauge on right tank side
Fully assembled
Multiple road numbers
Directional LED headlights
Operating LED-lit Prime PM-8901 Stratolite Beacon*
Operating LED-lit tricolor (red, green, and white) flush-mounted class lights with raised gasket**
Operating LED-lit cab interior and control stand lights*
Operating LED-lit front, rear, and fireman’s side walkway lights*
Operating LED-lit ground lights on both sides of locomotive
Printed and LED-lighted number boards
Front and rear early small deck extension
No drop steps
Stepwells with see-through steps; front edges painted white
Scale sectioned “late” pattern walkway treadplate
Front and rear Multiple Unit (MU) stands
Latched battery box doors with narrow louvers
Latched cab sub-base doors with early hinges
Drop grabs and standard nut-bolt-washer (NBW) mounting on nose front and top
Standard EMD high headlight in numberboard housing
Detailed cab interior with separate floor, rear wall, seats, and standard AAR control stand
Sliding cab windows
All weather window on right cab side; short mirror mounted in front of window on left cab side
No sunshades
Standard EMD arm rests
Lost-wax brass Leslie S-3L-R three-chime horn; mounted center rear of number board housing
Ratchet brake with chain
Small ECAFB
Early (smooth) blower duct housing
Inertial air intake grilles without drip rails
Standard corrugated air filter screens
Separately applied dust bin and exhaust stack
Non-dynamic brake
“Chickenwire” radiator grilles
Standard-height fan housings with 9-blade radiator fans visible inside
Photoetched concentric ring fan grilles
Winterization hatch over first radiator fan housing
Front and rear straight uncoupling levers with loop handles; two inner and two outer mounting brackets
Handrail set with pilot face mounted outer end rail stanchions and solid railing
4-hose MU hose clusters with silver gladhands
Late deck-mounted MU receptacle
Pilot face bracing detail behind stepwells
Underbody frame rail with separate plumbing and traction motor cables
Sill-mounted EFCO button
Steel bell mounted high behind the cab on the left side
Air tanks with plumbing
Salem air filter (accordion style)
Detailed light weight EMD C-C export trucks with Hyatt bearing caps and separate brake cylinders and brake lines
Inboard and outboard sanding lines
Speed recorder mounted on the second axle, left side
Paint colors matched to Tru-Color Paint: TCP-111 Milwaukee Road Orange
Factory-applied wire grab irons, wire lift rings, windshield wipers, horns, coupler cut levers, trainline hoses with silver gladhands, sand hatch covers, and much more
Semi-scale coupler buffer equipped with durable metal semi-scale Type “E” knuckle couplers
All-wheel drive
All-wheel electrical pick-up
Motor with 5-pole skew-wound armature
Dual flywheels
Printing and lettering legible even under magnification
Operates on Code 70, 83 and 100 rail
Packaging safely stores model
Minimum radius: 18”

DCC & sound equipped locomotives also feature:
- ESU LokSound 5 DCC & Sound decoder with “Full Throttle” feature
- Dual cube-type speakers
- EMD 12-Cylinder 645E3 turbocharged prime mover sounds
- Curve squeal and frog clank sounds*
- ESU designed “PowerPack” with two super capacitors***
- Operates on both DC and DCC layouts
DC/DCC & sound ready locomotives also feature:

Operable using a DC power pack
DCC-ready with 21-pin connector

* These features only function with an ESU DCC decoder installed while operating in DCC

** During DC operation, class lights illuminate in white. Access to other colors and the ability to change colors requires an ESU DCC decoder while operating in DCC

***“PowerPack” feature only compatible with ESU decoders while operating on a DCC layout

PRODUCT VIDEOS

PROTOTYPE HISTORY

When EMD introduced its first road switcher models in 1952, there were two models. The first was the four-axle GP7, where GP was short for “General Purpose.” The second model was the six-axle SD7 and SD stood for “Special Duty.” There were two types of Special Duty.

The first and primary Special Duty was handling trains where raw tractive effort was more important than speed. This included working mountain grades, hauling large transfer runs between yards, and heavy loads like iron ore trains. This became the primary usage of the SD series of locomotives for the next twenty years.

The second Special Duty was handling trains on light rail and over bridges with limited capacities. The SD7 could weigh as little as 125 tons, just a bit more than a GP7. Spread over six axles, that gave an axle-loading of 21 tons, much less than the 30 tons typical for GP7s.

Milwaukee Road had a considerable network of branch lines in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota. Many of these branches had light rail and light bridges. Milwaukee purchased 24 SD7s and 14 SD9s plus similar six-axle locomotives from ALCo, Baldwin, and Fairbanks-Morse for those branch lines. By the late-1960s, these locomotives were aging and though mileage was reduced, Milwaukee still had branch lines that needed them. Milwaukee turned to EMD for a solution, the SDL39.

The SDL39 was 55 feet 2 inches long, shorter than a GP38 and weighed just 125 tons. Part of the weight reduction was the 12-cylinder turbocharged 645E diesel which produced 2,300 horsepower with four fewer cylinders than the non-turbocharged 645E engine in the GP38. The SDL39 rode on lightened export trucks and had a 1,700-gallon fuel tank.

The first five SDL39s were built on EMD Order Number 7135 as builder numbers 34272 through 34276 and delivered as Milwaukee Road numbers 581 through 585 in April 1969. The second order, Milwaukee Road numbers 586 through 590, was delivered in November 1972 on EMD order 7345 with builder numbers 7345-1 through 7345-5. All ten were Milwaukee Road class 23-ERS-6 (2,300 horsepower, EMD Road Switcher, 6 axle) and came in the standard orange and black paint scheme without Milwaukee Road lettering. Except for number 581 (which was always unique among the SDL39s), all eventually got the Milwaukee Road lettering.

The two orders differed in several ways. Between the two orders, EMD changed the pilot construction as well as the ECAFB. The first five units had four jacking pads on each side, while the second five had just two. The first order was delivered with snow shields over the air intakes, Prime PM-716 electronic bells, and no winterization hatch. The second order did not have the snow shields and were delivered with winterization hatches, Prime PM-733 electronic bells, and Stratolite rotary beacons.

In the 1970s, the first order lost their snow shields and gained winterization hatches and Stratolite beacons. All of the SDL39s came with all-weather windows on the engineer’s side and eventually lost the electronic bells in favor of standard bells mounted on the hood side just behind the cab.

SDL39 number 581 was wrecked in 1982 and scrapped two years later while the other nine units remained in service.

On February 19, 1985, Milwaukee Road merged into the Soo Line. All nine SDL39s became Soo Line units with at least numbers 582 through 585 getting the Soo “Bandit” paint with black patches covering the Milwaukee lettering and white Soo Line and numbers.

In 1986 and 1987, all nine were sold to the new Wisconsin Central. While working for Wisconsin Central, they would receive full WC paint as well as modifications like retention tanks and ditch lights.

When Canadian National took over WC, all nine were again sold, this time to Ferrocarril Del Pacifico, S.A. in Chile.

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