Road Number Specific ScaleTrains

• BNSF 7033 and 7035
  • 88” low short hood with brakewheel
  • Standard-range dynamic brake housing with batten strip
• BNSF 7135
  • 88” low short hood with ratchet handbrake
  • Standard-range dynamic brake housing without batten strip
  • LARS (Locomotive Analysis and Reporting System) equipment box
• BNSF 7165
  • 88” low short hood with ratchet handbrake
  • Standard-range dynamic brake housing without batten strip
• Era represented by configuration: Late 1990s – Early 2000s
• Phase IIc1 units built in February 1978
• Heritage I scheme repaints
• Former Burlington Northern units, same numbers
• Headlights relocated to low hood, and original upper headlight location blanked
• Blanked class lights
• Operating front ditch lights
• Late sub-base doors with lift-off hinges
• BN-style latched battery doors with lift-off hinges
• Front EMD-style low pilot plow
• Large anticlimber
• Cab with riveted side window panels and standard sunshades
• Tall and short (comm. and EOT) “Firecracker” antennas on cab roof
• Welded ECAFB (late)
• Nathan AirChime K3LA Horns relocated to the long hood roof
• Early electrical cabinet “zig-zag” seam
• Intermediate inertial intake grills
• “Chicken-wire” radiator intake grills
• See through standard 48” radiator fan housings with fan blades visible inside
• 3-hose MU hose clusters
• Rear MU hose catch pockets
• Straight uncoupling levers with “loop” handles
• Front notched pilot faces
• “Tall” stepwells
• Short jacking pads (late)
• Rearward engineer’s side sidesill notch
• Tab-style EFCO
• Frame-mounted bell
• Highly detailed 4,000 gallon fuel tank with fuel fillers, gauges, and angled waste retention tank
• Detailed HT-C trucks with brake plumbing and traction motor and air duct
• Late center axle snubbers
• Tru-Color paint matches: TCP-061 BNSF Orange and TCP-062 BNSF Green (BNSF)
• DCC & sound version includes ESU-LokSound V4.0 decoder with “Full Throttle”

• DCC & sound equipped locomotives also feature

•  
  • ESU V4.0 “Full Throttle” decoder
  • Dual cube-type speakers
  • ESU designed PowerPack with two super capacitors
  • Operates on both DC and DCC layouts

• DCC & sound ready (DC) locomotives also feature

•  
  • DCC ready with 21-pin connector

Rivet Counter SD40-2 Locomotive Features

• All-new model
• Fully assembled
• Four (4) different road numbers
• Dimensionally accurate truck centers
• Underbody frame rail with separate plumbing and traction motor cables
• Sectioned treadplate detail on the walkways
• Accurate hood door and long hood detail
• Accurately profiled dynamic brake housings 
• See-through dynamic brake intakes with resistor grid detail
• Factory-applied wire grab irons, wire lift rings, windshield wipers, snowplows, horns, coupler cut levers, and trainline hoses
• Semi-scale coupler buffer equipped with ScaleTrains.com durable metal semi-scale E Type knuckle couplers
• Directional LED headlights
• LED lighted number boards
• All-wheel drive
• All-wheel electrical pick-up
• Dual flywheel
• Motor with 5-pole skew wound armature.
• Printing and lettering legible even under magnification
• Color matched to Tru-Color Paint colors whenever possible
• Operates on Code 70, 83 and 100 rail
• Packaging safely stores model
• Minimum radius: 18”
• Recommended radius: 22”

History

In January 1972, 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. The flagship of the “Dash-2” series of 1972, 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, greatly simplifying electrical troubleshooting and 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 EMD’s most popular locomotives of all time. Many remain in service today, both with original owners as well as secondhand operators. Within the last five years, Norfolk Southern and CSX have rebuilt hundreds of SD40-2s to extend their operating life. This will ensure this venerable locomotive’s presence on U.S. rails for decades to come.