HO EMD SD9043MAC Locomotive, UP #8044

UP FEATURES:

• Leslie 3-chime horn
• Large EMD plow
• Front ditch lights

During the horsepower race of the 1990’s, EMD offered an “upgradable” SD90MAC. EMD’s 6000hp 256H prime mover was still being tested for reliability and issues at the time and UP needed power quickly. To combat this, EMD offered the SD90 with the 4300hp 710 prime mover in it’s place until the 256H prime mover was ready to be installed after successful testing. Unfortunately, the 256H was deemed too problematic and the conversion was never completed. UP classed these as SD9043MAC’s. Purchased in 1996, these big brutes were initially used in coal drag service before ultimately being used in other types of service. They were factory delivered with the “We Will Deliver” slogan. By the mid 2010’s, a large batch were sold to NS for rebuilding into SD70ACU’s.

SD90MAC SERIES LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES:

• Illuminated ground lights
• Illuminated number boards
• Etched, see-through walkway steps
• Dual Sugarcube speakers for optimal sound quality
• Minimum radius: 18” — Recommended radius: 22”

GENESIS DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES:

• Animated Roller Bearing Trucks
• Coupler cut levers
• Rubber MU hoses
• Trainline hose
• See through cab windows
• Full cab interior
• Walkway tread
• Windshield wipers
• Lift rings
• Wire grab irons
• Sander lines
• DCC-ready features Quick Plug™ plug-and-play technology with 21-pin NEM connector
• Fine-scale Celcon handrails for scale appearance
• Detailed fuel tank with fuel fillers, fuel gauges, and breather pipes
• Body-mounted McHenry® operating scale knuckle couplers
• Genesis driveline with 5-pole skew wound motor, precision machined flywheels, and multi-link drivetrain for trouble free operation
• Eight-wheel drive with precision gears for smooth and quiet operation
• All-wheel electrical pickup provides reliable current flow
• Wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track
• LED Lighting for trouble free operation
• 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
• Fully-assembled and ready-to-run
• Packaging securely holds the model for safe storage

SOUND-EQUIPPED MODELS ALSO FEATURE

• Onboard DCC decoder with SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound
• Dual cube speakers for optimal sound quality
• Sound units operate in both DC and DCC
• Full DCC functions available when operated in DCC mode
• Engine, horn, and bell sounds work in DC
• All functions NMRA compatible in DCC mode
• Precision slow speed control
• 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

PROTOTYPE SPECIFIC INFORMATION

Introduced in 1995, the EMD SD90MAC was intended to become that builder’s most-powerful single-engine diesel locomotive. The new locomotive was to use EMD’s newly developed 265H prime mover, featuring 6000 horsepower. However, this engine was experiencing technical problems in development, which led to the first groups of locomotives being delivered with the EMD 710G prime mover of 4300 horsepower (the intent being to retrofit these with the more powerful 265H later). Ironically, the technical problems with the 265H were never fully resolved, and no conversions were done. The 710G-engined SD90MACs outlasted their later 265H cousins in service by a wide margin, with some units only recently having been retired or sold by Union Pacific, and other railroads choosing to rebuild them for continued service.

The Athearn Genesis SD90MAC features all of the cutting-edge detail and operational features that are expected by discerning modelers: Working number boards and ground lights, see-through steps, numerous separately-applied details on the body and underframe, and a heavy die-cast frame for massive pulling power.