Introduction

ScaleTrains Rivet 40812 HO Scale EMD SD40-2 Union Pacific UP 1986 – DC (SD40N Rebuild 88″ Nose)

The Rivet Counter series SD40-2 is the definitive HO Scale model of EMDs best-selling diesel locomotive. This model combines smooth operating performance with unparalleled railroad, road number, and era specific details. Even though the first SD40-2s were built 50 years ago, many continue in revenue freight service today.

FEATURES:

• New road numbers
• Era: 2013 to present
• Series 1550 to 2052 (SD40N mixed from various sources); ex-UP 3123 to 3172, built 1-2/1972
• Road number 1986
  • Front angled and rear straight uncoupling levers with loop handles and four inner mounting brackets
  • 4,000-gallon fuel tank with fuel fillers, vertical gauge, round gauge in tank sides, vertical breather pipe, and waste retention tank on rear of tank
• Fully-assembled
• Multiple road numbers
• LED-illuminated ground lights on both sides of locomotive*
• LED-illuminated front and rear pilot face mounted ditch lights**
• LED-Illuminated rectangular walkway lights mounted between front and rear sanding valve doors and round walkway light, aft of raised walkway duct*
• Printed number boards with separately controlled backlit LED-illumination*
• Dayton-Phoenix 2807000 cab roof mounted HVAC
• Late SP/UP-style pilot plow with grab irons, Rear multiple unit (MU) hose catch baskets
• 3-hose multiple unit (MU) hose clusters with silver gladhands
• Semi-scale coupler buffer equipped with durable metal semi-scale Type E knuckle couplers
• Front angled and rear straight uncoupling levers with loop handles and four inner mounting brackets
• As-delivered pilot faces with reinforced lifting holes
• Deck mounted multiple unit (MU) receptacles
• “Tall” stepwells with see-through steps
• Front and rear early small deck extension
• Handrail set with outward facing end rail mounting brackets and chain
• Front and rear standard drop steps
• Scale sectioned treadplate detail on walkways
• 81 low short hood with ratchet handbrake and angled chain guard
• Round vent retrofitted to right side of low hood
• Latched battery box doors with narrow louvers and lift-off hinges
• Late cab sub-base doors with lift-off hinges
• Standard EMD headlight in number board housing
• Dash-2 cab with replacement UP SD40N side window panels
• Detailed cab interior with separate floor, rear wall, seats, and standard AAR control stand
• Sliding cab side windows
• Tall mirrors mounted fore of cab side windows on both sides of cab
• Standard EMD sunshades with long sunshade tracks
• Lost-wax brass cast Nathan AirChime K3HAR2 horn with shower caps on riser relocated to rear of dynamic brake housing
• Whip antenna and small Sinclair Excalibur ice skate (Locotrol/EOT) antenna mounted on right side of numberboard housing
• JEM Communications PTC antenna array cabinet mounted to rear of cab roof, Whip antenna mounted on right side of cab numberboard housing
• Accurate hood door and long hood detail
• Early electrical cabinet “zig-zag” seam, further from rear of cab
• Early stand-off ECAFB
• Intermediate inertial air intake grills with top drip rail
• Standard turbo exhaust stack
• Accurately-profiled extended-range dynamic brakes with batten strip
• See-through dynamic brake intakes with resistor grid detail
• Chicken-wire radiator intake grilles
• See-through standard 48 radiator fan housings with fan blades visible inside
• Curved radiator fan grab iron
• Underbody frame rail with separate plumbing and traction motor cables
• Detailed HT-C trucks with Hyatt bearing caps, late center axle snubbers, sanding lines and brackets, and D-77 traction motor and air duct details
• Rust-color painted wheelsets
• Dimensionally accurate truck centers
• Speed recorder mounted to first axle on left front
• Rearward facing handbrake chain mount for HTC trucks
• Tall jacking pads with holes (early)
• Spare knuckle holders on rear pilot face
• Forward engineers side sidesill notch
• Sill-mount EFCO
• Frame-mounted steel bell
• Graham-White 975-100 Twin-Tower air dryer assembly; retrofitted to rear of air reservoir on firemans side
• Graham-White (Salem) brand 824-170 primary centrifugal air filter (accordion-style)
• Factory-applied wire grab irons, wire lift rings, windshield wipers, trainline hoses with silver gladhands, sand hatch covers, and much more
• Motor with 5-pole skew wound armature
• Dual flywheels
• All-wheel drive
• All-wheel electrical pick-up
• Directional LED headlights
• Printing and lettering legible even under magnification
• Operates on Code 70, 83 and 100 rail
• Packaging safely stores model
• Minimum radius: 18
• Recommended radius: 22
• DC/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.
*** Class lights illuminate in white color only in DC operation. Access and change the colors with an appropriately programmed ESU decoder while operating using DCC.
**** PowerPack feature is only compatible with appropriately programmed ESU decoders operating on a DCC layout.

In January 1972, the Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of General Motors would build the first production models of a locomotive design that would prove legendary: the SD40-2. As the flagship of the Dash-2 series, 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 as 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. These cards greatly simplified troubleshooting electrical problems and streamlined repairs.

Externally, the biggest change was using new HT-C three-axle trucks instead of the Flexi-coil type C of the SD40s. 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 EMDs most popular locomotives of all time. Many remain in service today with original owners and secondhand operators like regional railroads and shortlines. Within the past decade, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific have rebuilt hundreds of SD40-2s to extend their operating lives. This will ensure this venerable locomotives presence on U.S. rails for decades.