ATH SD40-2 Locomotive, WE #701

ATH SD40-2 Locomotive, WE #7015

Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company operates a fleet of SD40-2 locomotives over their 840-mile long system. Recently they painted one unit into a special scheme to commemorate the nation’s upcoming celebration of 250 years of independence. According to their Facebook page, “This one-of-a-kind unit was designed entirely in-house, drawing inspiration from the iconic Norfolk & Western bicentennial locomotive of 1976. But this is no replica — it features a bold Wheeling twist, including chevron striping and our signature flying letters. Every detail of the paint job was carefully considered and expertly applied, resulting in one of the most striking finishes on our roster. Shop personnel spent countless hours sanding and buffing the clearcoat to eliminate any blemishes, also adding a polished brass bell, vintage “raised letter” number boards, and a restored Leslie air horn, bringing back an audio-visual aesthetic largely vanished from the modern railroad scene.”

EMD SD40-2 DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE PROTOTYPE AND BACKGROUND INFO:
The SD40-2 was introduced in January 1972 as part of EMD’s Dash 2 series, responding to competing products from GE and ALCO. Reliability and versatility of the 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 made it the best-selling model in EMD’s history and the standard of the industry for several decades after its introduction. The SD40-2 was an improvement over the SD40, with modular electronic control systems similar to those of the experimental SD45X and DDA40X. The last SD40-2 delivered to a United States railroad was built in July 1984, with production continuing for railroads in Canada until 1988

SD40-2 LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES:
Flexible rubber MU hoses for durability
Flexible rubber trainline hose
See-through cab windows
Coupler cut levers
Wire grab irons
Exhaust stack
See-through dynamic brake and radiator fans
Frame mounted bell (unless noted)
Detailed fuel tank with fuel fillers, fuel gauges, & breather pipes
Separately applied air tanks
Fine-scale Celcon handrails for scale appearance
Photo-etched stainless steel windshield wipers
LED Illuminated front and rear headlights, ditch lights, and beacons (where applicable to the prototype)
DCC-ready Non-sound version features 21-pin NEM DCC plug
McHenry® operating scale knuckle couplers
All-wheel drive with precision gears for smooth & quiet operation
All-wheel electrical pickup provides reliable current flow
5-pole motor with precision-machined flywheels and multi-link drive train for trouble free operation
Wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track
Heavy die-cast frame for greater traction and more pulling power
Scaled from prototype resources including drawings, field measurements, photographs, and more
Accurately –painted and –printed paint schemes
Packaging securely holds model for safe storage
Fully-assembled and ready-to-run
Minimum radius: 18” Recommended radius 22”

SOUND-EQUIPPED MODELS ALSO FEATURE:
Onboard DCC decoder with SoundTraxx Econami sound
Single cube speaker for optimal sound quality
Sound units operate in both DC and DCC
Engine, horn, and bell sounds work in DC
Some functions are limited in DC
All functions NMRA compatible in DCC mode
Effect lighting (if applicable) using F5 and/or F6
Excellent low-speed operation
Program a multiple unit (MU) lashup with lead unit only horn, bell, and lights
Many functions can be altered via Configuration Value (CV) changes
CV chart included in the box

WE FEATURES:
Ditch Lights
Different exhaust stacks and dynamic brakes per road number
MU stands
Large plow on front pilot
Corrugated radiators