Rivet Counter N Scale GE AC4400CW, Southern Pacific/Speed Lettering
The Rivet Counter™ series AC4400CW is the definitive N Scale model of GE’s revolutionary six-axle alternating current traction locomotive. Our model combines smooth operating performance with unparalleled railroad, road number, and era specific™ details along with industry-leading LED lighting features. Aside from wreck victims, nearly all prototype AC4400s are still in revenue freight service. And with burgeoning rebuild programs, this powerhouse locomotive class will likely be in service for many years to come.
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Road Number Specific ScaleTrains
- All-new model
- Era: 1995-Late-90s
- Series 100 to 199; built 4-5/95
- Road numbers 100, 142 and 163
- Fully-assembled
- Multiple road numbers
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- Road number 146 features “SPSunset” logo on inverter cabinet
- LED-illuminated front deck-mounted ditch lights
- LED-illuminated high-mount cab number boards*
- Directional LED-illuminated headlights
- Painted and factory-applied detail parts: wire grab irons; trainline hoses with silver gladhands; 3-hose MU clusters with silver gladhands; MU cable, uncoupling levers; windshield wipers; mirrors; sunshades; brake wheel; and more
- Tall snowplow with open doors and grab irons
- Semi-scale Type E knuckle couplers – Micro-Trains® compatible
- Body mounted coupler box – accepts Micro-Trains® 1015/1016 type couplers without modification
- 5-step stepwells
- Walkway with front anticlimber
- GE “nub” pattern walkway tread
- Narrow profile end handrails
- Nose door with window
- Two-piece nose top grab irons
- Front LED-illuminated headlight with lenses on low short hood (low headlight)
- Battery cabinet access door without latch
- GE safety cab with three (3) side windows
- Right side cab under floor access doors: four screened louver sections per door
- Left side cab under floor access doors: dual latch door with grille forward of the HVAC unit
- Detailed cab interior with floor, rear wall, seats, and desktop
- Tinted cab side windows
- Large Sinclair “ice skate” communication antenna; small Sinclair “ice skate” End of Train (EOT) telemetry antenna
- Early: six (6) tall vertical rectangular bolted panels and three (3) horizontal short panels
- Continuous reinforcement rib under dynamic brake intake grilles
- Standard dynamic brake exhaust (2-port)
- Forward right-side air intake grille
- Left side auxiliary cab: three (3) tall doors with latches on the #2
- Right side auxiliary cab: four (4) doors with latches on #1 and #4 doors
- Early curved engine cab profile
- Lost-wax brass cast Nathan AirChime P3 (P24R1 configuration) horn mounted on engine cab
- “Bathtub” exhaust silencer
- 2 individually applied etched metal radiator exhaust grilles.
- Right side late radiator door grilles in alternating heights
- Standard brake wheel
- Left rear hood door grille arrangement: tall, short, short grilles
- Low-mounted rear sandfiller
- Early “box” lifting lugs on ends of radiator wings
- Rear LED-illuminated vertical headlight with lenses
- Accurately profiled frame with separately applied plumbing and traction motor cabling
- GE Hi-Ad trucks with separately applied brake cylinders and air plumbing
- Dual Graham-White (Prime) 975-075 air filters
- Graham-White 975-100 “twin tower” air filter dryer
- 5,000 gallon fuel tank
- Single fuel fills per side
- Round and vertical analog fuel gauges; digital 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
- SP-style spare coupler knuckle boxes on rear pilot face
- Motor with 5-pole skew wound armature
- Dual flywheels
- All-wheel drive
- All-wheel electrical pick-up
- Printing and lettering legible under magnification
- Operates on Code 55 and 80 rail
- Packaging safely stores model
- Minimum Radius: 9 ¾”
- Recommended Radius: 11”
- DCC & sound equipped locomotives also feature:
- ESU-LokSound 5 Nano DCC & sound decoder with “Full Throttle”
- Cube-type speaker
- Accurate FDL-16 prime mover and auxiliary sounds, horn, bell, and more
- Operates on both DC and DCC layouts
- DC/DCC ready locomotives also feature:
- Operates on DC layouts
- DCC ready with Nano 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
Throughout the history of rail transportation, there have been innovations that revolutionized the industry. From Andrew Beard’s patented designs in the late 1800s that resulted in the automatic couplers that are still used today, to the adoption of diesel technology for locomotive propulsion, these seemingly small developments would lead to massive changes in the industry. The adoption of AC traction in the 1990s could arguably be seen as another giant leap forward.
In the early 1900s, diesel-electric locomotives began to appear, initially in the form of “boxcab” design switchers built by the team of ALCO, GE, and Ingersoll-Rand (“ALGEIR”) in 1925. This new propulsion design proved promising. At its most basic definition, a diesel prime mover spins a generator that produces electricity which powers electric traction motors on the axles. Diesel-electric locomotives did not need the extensive and expensive infrastructure required for electric or steam locomotives. Maintenance was also far less intensive and expensive compared to the steam locomotives that ruled the rails of the day.
By the late 1930s, the writing was on the wall for steam locomotives. By the end of World War II, railroads in the U.S. started to “dieselize” en masse. Constrained by the production needs for defense materiel during the war, many of the longtime steam locomotive builders began to develop diesel-electric designs after peace was declared. The upstart Electro-Motive Division (EMD, by then a division of General Motors) turned heads shortly before the U.S. entered the war with its groundbreaking FT diesel-electric locomotive. Heavy industrial manufacturer General Electric (GE) continued to be involved with railroading, but mostly in a support role, providing electrical components such as traction motors to various builders.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, EMD would emerge as the number one builder of diesel locomotives with its successful line of E and F-units, along with GP and SD-series units, which were built by the thousands for railroads all over the country. In 1960, GE was to challenge EMDs dominance with their “Universal” series of locomotives, starting with the U25B. While EMDs continued to outsell these early GE efforts for the next three decades, GE steadily improved their product and increased their market share. In the 1980s, EMD stumbled with quality control issues, most notably with the 50-series. This opened the door for GE going into the 1990s, and they would become the leading locomotive builder in the U.S. thanks to their DASH 8 and DASH 9 series of units. Their next step in locomotive evolution was waiting in the wings.
EMD and GE would soon square off in the development of Alternating-Current, or A.C., traction for locomotives. Prior production models from both builders utilized Direct-Current (D.C.) traction motors for propulsion, as was done since the very first diesel-electric locomotives were produced. A.C. traction motors demonstrated significant advantages over their D.C. counterparts by allowing for much greater continuous tractive effort, as well as reduced maintenance. They were also much more resilient than D.C. motors, and were able to endure much higher short-time ratings (the ability of the traction motors to withstand high amperage at low speeds for a set period of time without incurring damage), giving them extraordinary lugging ability.
A.C. units showed their ability to replace their D.C. predecessors on a 3-to-5 basis, being able to walk away with heavy trains from a dead stop on an upgrade, in scenarios that were nearly impossible with an equivalent number of D.C. units. This wizardry required substantial changes to the locomotive’s electrical system, including a system of electrical inverters to “refine” the current being fed to the traction motors and an extensive microprocessor control system to manage it all. While these changes increased per-unit cost, most railroads found the benefits to be more than worth the expense. With that, EMD would introduce the SD70MAC, and GE the AC4400CW. The AC4400CW was based upon GE’s highly successful Dash 9-44CW design, and would become one of the hottest selling locomotives of the 1990s and beyond.
Initial AC4400CW customers utilized their units in applications best suited for their tremendous lugging ability. Based upon their satisfaction with the DASH 9 fleet and their desire for reliable power to move Powder River Basin coal, the Chicago & North Western (C&NW) was one of the first to purchase the newest A.C. power. Sets of AC4400s, painted in the attractive “Lightning Stripe” variation of their classic green and yellow paint scheme, could be seen all over the Powder River Basin moving seemingly endless strings of coal hoppers or gondolas.
CSX Transportation (CSXT) was another early customer and ordered a sizable fleet of ACs for service in the Appalachian coal fields. Delivered in the attractive yellow, blue, and gray “YN2” scheme, the new units quickly became crew favorites. The new AC4400CWs handily outperformed older locomotive models in their daunting assignment.
Western giant Southern Pacific (SP) stunned the industry with a massive order of 278 units. All were delivered in their longtime gray and scarlet, but with the Rio Grande Industries inspired “Speed Lettering” on their flanks. While SP struggled financially throughout the 1980s, by the 1990s they were seemingly on the rebound, ordering large numbers of high-horsepower, 4-axle units over the previous years, for use on high-speed, high-priority intermodal traffic. However, SP’s 6-axle heavy-haul fleet had languished over the years, and the ACs were a much-needed shot in the arm. A.C. power allowed SP to handle growing amounts of bulk traffic (coal, minerals, crude oil, and grain) across the system.
Enticed by the promises of improved train handling and reduced maintenance costs, more and more railroads took notice and joined the A.C. revolution. Eventually, as operating practices evolved, ACs would find themselves in services beyond the heavy-tonnage applications they were originally envisioned for. As piggyback traffic dwindled and heavier double-stack container trains became more prevalent, AC4400s started finding their way onto those trains, where again their performance characteristics proved their value. As older power was retired or cascaded down into more secondary duties, ACs were finding themselves on just about every service on the railroad.
By the time domestic AC4400 production ended in 2004, nearly every Class 1 railroad had ordered examples of AC4400s except for Norfolk Southern (NS). Ever the holdout, NS avoided safety cabs and AC-traction as long as possible. Instead, they would purchase standard-cab DASH 9s as well as large numbers of its safety-cab equipped version, the C40-9W. Into the 2000s however, NS would eventually acquire AC-traction locomotives, and were impressed with their performance. So much so, they would embark on a rebuilding and upgrading program for their older DASH 9 locomotives, dubbing them “AC44C6M” (AC traction, 4,400hp, C for six axles, the number 6 to signify the number of traction motors, and M for “Modified”). They would have their cabs replaced with the latest GE safety cab design, plus new electrical systems, and components upgraded to AC4400 standards.
In recent years, railroads such as Canadian Pacific, CSX, and Union Pacific have embarked on rebuilding programs for their AC4400 fleets. These programs replace worn out or obsolete components, plus upgrading various systems to improve performance. While examples of the competing EMD product have not been as fortunate. In fact, some have already been retired and scrapped. Aside from wreck victims, nearly all AC4400s are still in service. With rebuild and upgrade programs, they will likely be in service for many years to come.
Following several tumultuous decades, western icon Southern Pacific was poised for greatness entering the 1990s. It wasn’t an easy road; following years of poor leadership in the 1970s, along with the erosion of their cornerstone lumber traffic, and an economic recession in the early 1980s, SP was foundering, suffering from poor morale, declining traffic, a decrepit physical plant, and a weary locomotive fleet. The planned merger with western competitor Santa Fe in the mid-80s signaled a potential rebirth, but the denial of the merger by the ICC squashed any potential. In the aftermath of that merger attempt, SP was cast off by its holding company, and after a period of uncertainty was acquired in 1988 by Rio Grande Industries (parent company of the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad), owned by Denver billionaire Phillip Anschutz.
The combined Southern Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande created one of the largest western railroads at the time, stretching from the West Coast, across the Rockies, to the Midwest and Gulf Coast. Efforts were made to right the listing ship that was SP with an influx of cash to make needed infrastructure repairs across the system, as well as invest in new motive power. Entering the 90s, SP trains could be seen with new four-axle EMD GP60s and GE B39-8E and B40-8 locomotives, but curiously, the six-axle fleet hadn’t seen any upgrades since the last order of EMD SD40T-2s, delivered in 1980.
This would change in 1994, with the delivery of 101 GE Dash 9-44CW locomotives. These units were a huge leap forward for SP, with new features such as the North American safety cab with desktop controls. They were also the first new six-axle GEs for SP since the last orders for U33Cs in the early 1970s, which didn’t do much to endear SP to GE products. These new DASH 9s thoroughly impressed SP with their performance, and planted a seed that would germinate in the form of an order for the AC-traction variant, the AC4400, delivered the following year.
With an upswing in coal and other bulk commodity traffic, the AC4400s were the right locomotive, at the right time, for SP. A total of 279 units were delivered between April-October 1995, the biggest locomotive order in SP history. While similar at a glance to the predecessor DASH 9s, the AC4400s had a few external differences. For one, on the left-hand side, immediately behind the operator’s cab, it sported a large inverter cabinet that housed the electronics that made an AC an AC, in contrast to the HVAC equipment at that same location on the DASH 9. And interestingly, there were paint and lettering accents that distinguished them from their D.C.-traction cousins; the 21” sans-serif “SP” that adorned the nose was spaced closely together on the ACs, in comparison to the widely-spaced “S P” of the DASH 9s. They also wore a slightly different variation of the D&RGW-inspired “Speed Lettering” on their flanks, compared to the more standardized version worn by the DASH 9s and other new and repainted units.
The performance of the ACs thoroughly impressed SP crews, giving them the ability to lug seemingly limitless tonnage all over the SP system and its numerous grades. Heavy tonnage trains that previously required five or six SD40/45 variants to make it over the road could make do with two or three AC4400s, with improvements in overall speed, handling, and dynamic braking performance. Part of the AC4400 fleet was equipped with Harris Locotrol II remote control equipment, denoted by extra miniature “ice skate” antennas on the cab roof, and a small lightning bolt decal on the bottom “feather” on both sides of the red SP nose wings.
This new generation of Locotrol would prove to be far more reliable than the relatively primitive previous generation of Locotrol installed in older SP locomotives, allowing for improved train handling, and a forerunner of DPU operations in the 2000s. The ACs made their mark on some of the most grueling trains on the system, such as the coal trains originating on the D&RGW in Colorado and Utah. Trains that were once dominated by Rio Grande’s venerable SD40T-2 fleet soon saw shiny new SP AC4400s on the point, to the dismay of local fans, but delight of operating crews that appreciated their performance, as well as creature comforts such as cab air conditioning.
SP ACs would spread to other parts of the SP system, providing a much-needed boost for heavy grain trains, and the famed “TankTrain”, aka “Oilcans”, hauling crude oil from Bakersfield, CA to refineries near Long Beach, CA in specialized tank cars from GATX. Members of the SP AC4400 fleet would frequently wander offline as well, most notably as part of a coal and taconite ore movement operated with Wisconsin Central, which saw SP ACs run-through onto WC rails, and WC power working on SP trains as horsepower payback. And there was one curiosity in the SP AC44000 fleet, in the form of SP 146, which at some point gained a red and orange SP “Sunset” sticker (likely the same type used on SP MOW vehicles) on its inverter cabinet, and is believed to be the only one to get that decorative touch.
Despite the impressive showing the AC4400s made, they were to be the swan song of the mighty SP, which was acquired by Union Pacific on September 11 th , 1996. While the comeback that many fans and employees hoped for didn’t happen, the SP AC4400s helped SP go out with a roar, with most still operating today on Union Pacific, with a handful still wearing their gray and scarlet paint all these years later.