Rivet Counter HO Scale GE DASH-9, Chicago & NorthWestern/Operation Lifesaver

With railroad, road number, and era specific details, our Rivet Counter series DASH-9 is the definitive model of this popular GE locomotive. In our continuing effort to push the boundaries of realism in model railroading, the Rivet Counter DASH-9 features operating LED front, rear, and side walkway lights.

Run: 5

Announced: Sep 30, 2021

Arrived: Dec 22, 2022

DCC & Sound Equipped Retail: $361.99 DC/DCC Ready Retail: $243.99

See below for your price

In stock

SKU

parent-864

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Grouped product items
Item Number	Road Number	Control & Sound Options	Our Price	Availability	Quantity
SXT33474	8727	DCC & Sound Equipped	$289.99	Sold Out
SXT33475	8727	DC/DCC Ready	$194.99	Sold Out

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ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

PRODUCT DETAILS

Road Number-Specific ScaleTrains

Series Chicago & North Western 8601-8730, built November 1993 through May 1994
Era: late 1993 to 1995
Fully-assembled
“Operation Lifesaver” lettering and logos on long hood sides
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 cab 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
One-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
Tall 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 small “cone” antenna
Electrical cabinet with drop grab irons on rear
“Blanked” Prime PM5191 HVAC housing
Alternating reinforcement ribs under dynamic brake intake grilles
Early dynamic brake exhaust
Early curved engine cab profile
Lost-wax brass cast Nathan AirChime K5HAR24 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
Tall latched access door on long hood end (if applicable)
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 second axle both sides
Dual Graham-White (Salem) 824-100 Centrifugal Air Filters
No air dryer
5,000-gallon fuel tank with vertical weld seams
Dual fuel fills per side
Round and vertical analog fuel gauges
Fuel tank mounted steel bell
Separate air tanks with lower mounting brackets, connector pipe, and connector pipe cover
Early, square handbrake chain bracket
CNW-style 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
Colors matched to Tru-Color Paint:
TCP-109 CNW Green
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 FDL-16 prime mover and auxiliary sounds, horn, bell, and more
ESU-designed PowerPack with two (2) super capacitors***
Operates on both DC and DCC layouts

DCC & sound ready locomotives also feature:

Operate on DC layouts
DCC ready with 21-pin connector

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

** In DC operation, both front ditch lights illuminate; rear ditch lights (if equipped) do not illuminate

*** Compatible with appropriately programmed ESU decoders while operating using DCC

PRODUCT VIDEOS

PROTOTYPE HISTORY

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.

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 a variety of 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 trailer 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.

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