Rivet Counter HO Scale EMD SD40-2B, Burlington Northern/As Rebuilt

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.

Run: 8

Announced: Apr 28, 2023

Arrived: Mar 19, 2024

DCC & Sound Equipped Retail: $374.99 DC/DCC Ready Retail: $249.99

See below for your price

In stock

SKU

RCHOSD40BNRB-8

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Grouped product items
Item Number	Road Number	Control & Sound Options	Our Price	Availability	Quantity
SXT38789	7502	DCC & Sound Equipped	$299.99	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
SXT38790	7502	DC/DCC Ready	$199.99	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

All-new model
Era: Early 1980s to Late 1980s, built 11/84
BN Series 7500-7502; ex 6340-6363 (1st); ex-BN 6812, ex-BN 6352(1st), built 3/1973
- Burlington Northern wreck-rebuild
- “B-Unit” high short hood with relocated dynamic brake housing
Fully-assembled
No truck ground lights (prototype not equipped)
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 tricolor stand-off class lights; flush-mounted rear class lights with raised gaskets***
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; four inner and two outer mounting brackets
Notched pilot faces with high angled lifting slots
Deck-mounted multiple unit (MU) receptacles
"Tall" stepwells with see-through steps
Front and rear early small deck extension
End handrails with inward-facing stanchion mounting brackets, and gangway chain
Front and rear standard drop steps
Scale sectioned treadplate detail on walkways
High front headlight
Accurate hood door and long hood detail
Early electrical cabinet "zig-zag" seam, further from rear of cab
Early “stand-off” ECAFB
Intermediate inertial air intake grills with top drip rail
Standard turbo exhaust stack
Accurately-profiled standard-range dynamic brakes without batten strip, relocated to front
See-through dynamic brake intakes with resistor grid detail
“Chicken-wire” radiator intake grilles
See-through standard 48” radiator fan housings with fan blades visible inside
Curved radiator fan grab iron
Underbody frame rail with separate plumbing and traction motor cables
Detailed HT-C trucks with Hyatt bearing caps, early center axle snubbers, sanding lines and brackets, and D-77 traction motor and air duct details
Dimensionally accurate truck centers
Rearward facing handbrake chain mount for HT-C trucks
Tall jacking pads with holes (early)
Spare knuckle holders on rear pilot face
Forward engineer’s side sidesill notch
Graham-White (Salem) brand 824-170 and 818-170 primary and secondary centrifugal air filters (“accordion” style)
4,000-gallon fuel tank with dual fuel fillers, vertical gauge, round gauge in tank (right side only), 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
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 & Sound decoder with “Full Throttle” functions
Two (2) cube-type speakers
Turbocharged EMD 16 Cylinder 645E3 prime mover
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

PRODUCT VIDEOS

PROTOTYPE HISTORY

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.

Rebuilt during Burlington Northern’s “B Unit” craze of the 1980s, the railroad rostered only three SD40-2Bs: road numbers 7500, 7501, and 7502. The three units started out as nos. 7221, 6337, and 6352, respectively. During this timeframe, Burlington Northern (BN) rebuilt a number of wrecked units as a cost-saving measure. Overall, these SD40-2s suffered from moderate damage including mangled cabs. The first SD40-2 to receive the B Unit treatment, no. 7221, was wrecked in Pasco, Washington in early 1981 (built in June 1980, and not even a year old when wrecked), and rebuilt by BN’s West Burlington Shops in July 1981 as BN 900B, a number it wore very briefly before being renumbered again to 7500.

Another wreck victim, no. 6914 (formerly no. 6337), a 1972-built SD40-2, was the next to be rebuilt minus its cab, becoming no. 7501 in October of 1983. BN 7502 was to be the last of the SD40-2Bs, starting out life as no. 6352 in March 1973, before being renumbered to 6812, and becoming SD40-2B 7502 in October 1984 following a wreck. While all have subtle detail differences, on account of their different build dates, and level of work needed from wreck damage, no. 7502 is the most distinctive SD40-2B, having its dynamic brake housing relocated to the front of the unit and away from the hot engine compartment, giving the unit a distinctive look, and “hammerhead” nickname by some railfans.

The SD40-2Bs would soldier on the BN roster, freely mixed in amongst their huge fleet of SD40-2s in a variety of assignments, lasting through the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Merger of 1995. In more recent years, with many newer, higher-horsepower units in the fleet taking on mainline duties, the BN, now BNSF SD40-2Bs would be consolidated to Galesburg, IL, where they currently work as RCL-equipped hump units.

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Rivet Counter HO Scale EMD SD40-2B, Burlington Northern/As Rebuilt

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