Rivet Counter HO Scale EMD SD40-2, Conrail/Small Quality Logo/Ditch Lights
Rivet Counter HO Scale EMD SD40-2, Conrail/Small Quality Logo/Ditch Lights
The Rivet Counter™ series SD40-2 is the definitive HO Scale model of EMD’s best-selling diesel locomotive. Our model combines smooth operating performance with unparalleled railroad, road number, and era specific details™. Even though the first SD40-2s were first built 50 years ago, many continue in revenue freight service today.
Lost-wax brass Leslie RS-5T-RRO horn with anti-debris covers
Standard Conrail “Quality” logos on hood
Standard bolted battery box door on left side with short louvers; bolted and latched Conrail-style “split” battery box door on right side to accommodate Automatic Train Control (ATC) box on top of battery box
Road numbers 6446, 6457, 6465, 6475:
Lost-wax brass Leslie RS-3L-R horn with anti-debris covers
Standard Conrail “Quality” logos on hood
Standard bolted battery box door on left side with short louvers; bolted and latched Conrail-style “split” battery box door on right side to accommodate Automatic Train Control (ATC) box on top of battery box
Fully-assembled
Multiple road numbers
No truck ground lights (prototype not equipped)
LED-illuminated front pilot face mounted ditch lights**
LED-Illuminated rectangular walkway lights mounted between front and rear sanding valve doors and round walkway light, aft of raised walkway duct*
LED-illuminated front and rear red marker lights***
Operating LED-illuminated tricolor front and rear flush-mounted class lights with raised gaskets***
Printed number boards with separately controlled backlit LED-illumination*
Flange lubrication cabinet
Two-strap Automatic Train Control (ATC) box
Front and rear EMD-style low pilot plow with multiple unit (MU) hose doors, 3rd rail notches, and grab irons
3-hose multiple unit (MU) hose clusters with silver gladhands
Semi-scale coupler buffer equipped with durable metal semi-scale Type E knuckle couplers
Front and rear straight uncoupling levers with loop handles; two inner and two outer mounting brackets
Notched pilot faces with high angled lifting slots
Pilot face mounted multiple unit (MU) receptacles
“Short” stepwells with see-through steps
Narrow “blunt” front anticlimber
End handrail set with anticlimber front railings, and outward-facing rear end stanchion mounting brackets with gangway safety chain on rear
Rear late “fixed” drop step
Scale sectioned treadplate detail on walkways
88” low short hood with wheel handbrake; nose top and side grab irons repositioned to opposed side for Automatic Train Control (ATC) box clearance.
Late cab sub-base doors with lift-off hinges
Standard EMD headlight in number board housing
Dash-2 cab with 13-bolt (top and bottom) side window panels
Rectangular vent on left cab side, towards rear of cab
Detailed cab interior with separate floor, rear wall, seats, and standard AAR control stand
Sliding cab side windows
Tall clear wind wings with mirror mounted fore of cab side window, on both sides of cab
No sunshades or sunshade tracks
Large Excalibur “ice skate” antenna (communications) and small Sinclair Excalibur “ice skate” (Locotrol/EOT) antenna mounted to cab roof
Accurate hood door and long hood detail
Early electrical cabinet "zig-zag" seam, further from rear of cab
Late welded ECAFB
Intermediate inertial air intake grills with top drip rail
Standard turbo exhaust stack
Accurately-profiled standard-range dynamic brakes without batten strip
See-through dynamic brake intakes with resistor grid detail
Corrugated radiator intake grilles
See-through low-profile 48” radiator fan housings with fan blades visible inside
Angled radiator fan grab iron
Underbody frame rail with separate plumbing and traction motor cables
Detailed Flexicoil-C sideframes with Hyatt bearing caps, high mounted brake cylinders, outer sanding lines and brackets, and D-77 traction motor and air brake duct details
Dimensionally accurate truck centers
GE type speed recorder mounted to center axle on left front
Forward-facing handbrake chain mount for Flexicoil-C trucks
Short jacking pads (late)
Flush-mount EFCO
Frame-mounted steel bell
Graham-White (Salem) brand 824-170 and 818-170 primary and secondary centrifugal air filters (accordion-style)
4,000-gallon fuel tank with fuel fillers, vertical gauges, round gauges in tank sides and vertical breather pipe
Factory-applied wire grab irons, wire lift rings, windshield wipers, trainline hoses with silver gladhands, sand hatch covers, 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 even under magnification
ESU designed “PowerPack” with two super capacitors***
Operates on both DC and DCC layouts
DC/DCC & sound ready locomotives also feature:
Operates 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
*** Class lights illuminate in white color only in DC operation. Access and changing colors an ESU decoder with appropriate programming while operating using DCC
**** “PowerPack” feature only compatible with appropriately programmed ESU decoders operating on a DCC layout
In January 1972, the Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of General Motors would build the first production models of a locomotive design that would prove to be legendary: the SD40-2. As the flagship of the “Dash-2” series, the SD40-2 would build upon the lessons learned from its predecessor, the SD40. While the sixteen-cylinder 645E3 turbocharged prime mover remained the same from its SD40 cousin, the SD40-2 boasted a modular, solid-state electrical system, which featured removable “cards” in place of troublesome relays in its high-voltage cabinet. These cards greatly simplified troubleshooting electrical problems and streamlined repairs. Externally, the biggest change was the use of the new HT-C three-axle truck in place of the Flexi-coil C of the SD40. The new truck promised greater adhesion, and was longer than the Flexi-coil C, necessitating an increase of the length of the SD40-2s frame to an overall length of 68’, 10” over the couplers. This also had the effect of giving the SD40-2 its characteristic long walkway “porches” at each end. Other small external improvements, such as longer battery box compartments, rear overhang on the cab roof, and drip rail over the front cab door, added to the list of external differences between it and the SD40. Domestic production of the SD40-2 continued until July 1984, making it one of EMDs most-popular locomotives of all time. Many remain in service today, both with original owners, as well as secondhand operators like regional railroads and shortlines. Within the past decade, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific have rebuilt hundreds of SD40-2s to extend their operating lives. This will ensure this venerable locomotive’s presence on U.S. rails for decades to come.
