Introduced in 2012, General Electric’s ET44 GEVO Series represents the latest in diesel-electric locomotive technology—nearly every Class I railroad in the United States and Canada roster the GE Tier 4 GEVO.

Scale Trains Rivet Counter series model renders numerous variations of engine cab rooflines, antennas, dynamic brakes, trucks, and more. Scale Trains also incorporated LED lighting effects including front, rear, and side walkway lights; ground lights (when applicable); printed and lighted number boards; and ditch lights.

PROTOTYPE HISTORY

Introduced in 2012, General Electric’s ET44 GEVO Series represents the latest in diesel-electric locomotive technology. The GE Tier 4 GEVO is designed to meet stringent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emissions regulations. The EPA “Tier” emissions standards are a series, or Tiers, of allowable emissions levels based upon a locomotive’s date of manufacture. The highest and most stringent tier level, Tier 4, sets the maximum allowable NOx and hydrocarbon emissions levels for locomotives built for use in the United States from 2015 onward.

While similar in appearance to previous GE ES44 GEVO designs, the Tier 4 models featured a longer frame compared to their predecessors. This allows for a larger radiator “cab” (GE refers to the various sections of the long hood as “cabs”), and a “hump” over the engine cab for advanced exhaust treatment equipment. Initially, a boxy housing filled the entire roofline on the blue-painted field test/demonstrator units.

Due to changes in treatment equipment and clearance issues, the “hump” would decrease in size and shape into a boxy compartment around the exhaust on initial production units. This culminated in an angled compartment surrounding the exhaust manifold on locomotives produced since 2016. Despite boxier engine cab rooflines and a radically styled radiator cab, the basic Tier 4 design shares a family appearance with GE safety cab-equipped units going back to the DASH-9s of the 1990s. It even includes the same 12-cylinder GEVo-12 series prime mover and 4,400hp as its predecessor model.

In February of 2019, Wabtec purchased General Electric’s Transportation Division. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wabtec Corporation is a provider of equipment, operating systems, and services for freight and passenger rail systems worldwide. The company produces locomotives for customers both domestically and abroad, including the ET44 GEVO locomotives which are built in Wabtec’s plants in Fort Worth, Texas, and Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Tier 4 units have proven popular with nearly all major U.S. and Canadian railroads. While GE has settled on a basic carbody design to keep production costs down, there are notable variations and detail differences due to customer specifications including antennas, dynamic brakes, trucks, and more. With over 1,000 units built, the ET44 is a common site on North American Class I Railroads.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Road Number Specific ScaleTrains

• New road numbers
• Era: 2019 to Present
• Series 3243 to 3285; built 12:2019-2:2020
• Road numbers 3263 and 3280
  • White Cab Roof
  • CN Aboriginal Affairs logo
• Fully-assembled
• Multiple road numbers
• LED-illuminated ground lights on both sides of locomotive*
• LED-illuminated front, rear, and side walkway lights*
• LED-illuminated front and rear deck mounted ditch lights**
• Red LED-illuminated DPU marker lights*
• Printed and LED-illuminated number boards*
• Semi-scale coupler buffers equipped with durable metal semi-scale standard Type E knuckle couplers
• Multiple unit (MU) cable with attachment chain
• See-through Canadian-style “slotted” stepwell steps
• Walkway with front anticlimber and see-through grating
• GE “nub” pattern walkway tread
• Sand box clean out door with knuckle buster latch and hinge
• Wide profile end handrails
• Front nose headlight
• Nose door with window
• Cab without barrel bolt latches on subbase doors
• Detailed cab interior with separate floor, rear wall, seats, and control stand
• In cab grade crossing camera mounted on left side
• Tinted cab side windows
• Tall mirror mounted in front of sliding cab side windows on both sides; additional small mirror on right side
• Cab roof large square antenna dome; dual short STI-CO PTC Dual Track Antenna System with Radome covers; and tear drop antenna
• See-through dynamic brake exhaust
• Left side dynamic brake cab: X panel front and dual blower dynamic brake with flush exhaust
• Etched metal see-through dynamic brake intake grilles with blower motors visible inside
• Right side dynamic brake cab: X panel door, small grille, door with grille, and door with grille
• Current production engine cab (long hood) with angled exhaust compartment roofline
• Lost wax brass cast Nathan AirChime K5HLR2 horn mounted on engine cab roof with #1L chime reversed
• Separate exhaust stack
• 40 individually applied etched metal see-through radiator intake and exhaust grilles on sides and top of radiator compartment
• Standard production radiator door grilles
• Flat stamped brake wheel
• Accurately profiled frame with separately applied plumbing and traction motor cabling
• GE Hi-Ad trucks with separately applied brake cylinders, air plumbing, and rotating bearing caps
• Rust-color painted wheelsets
• Battery charging receptacle on right sidesill under battery box doors
• AEI tag mounted on right sidesill
• 5,300 gallon fuel tank with external waste retention tank
• Dual fuel fills per side with rear fill “blanked”
• End of train device (EOT) basket on left rear of tank
• Factory-applied wire grab irons, snowplow with grab irons, spare knuckles, trainline hoses with silver gladhands, 3-hose MU clusters with silver gladhands, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, mirrors, sunshades, air dryer, air tanks, fuel tank mounted electronic bell, and more
• Motor with 5-pole skew wound armature
• Dual flywheels
• All-wheel drive
• All-wheel electrical pick-up
• Directional LED-illuminated headlights
• Printing and lettering legible 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 and Sound decoder
• Two (2) cube-type speakers
• Accurate GEVO-12 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:

• 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

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

Order Due Date: February 5, 2024

Anticipated Delivery Date: November 2024