ScaleTrains - SXT31152 - Locomotive, Diesel, GE C39-8 - Norfolk Southern - 8656

Specific Item Information: Series: NS 8614-8638, NS 8639-8663

• Era: As-built (1986) through Early 90s
• “GE Style” NS logos and lettering
• Phase III carbody with brakewheel and early radiator exhaust grilles (6-panel)
• GSC Trucks
• Separately applied details include brake cylinders, air piping, and handbrake chain
• Large front and rear snowplows
• Drop steps, front and rear
• Sunshades
• Motorola ASP-16 “Firecracker” cab roof antennas (Comm. and EOT)
• Nathan P135R24 horn mounted on engine compartment roof
• Exhaust silencer with extension

Model Information: Features:

• Directional LED headlights
• Printed LED lighted number boards
• Phase Ib, II, and III carbodies with correct panels and grilles per variant
• Standard (2-vent) or high-capacity (3-vent) dynamic brakes per prototype
• Early (6-panel) or late (4-panel) radiator exhaust grilles
• Wheel handbrakes
• GSC truck sideframes
• GE “nub” tread plate on walkways
• Highly-detailed 4,400 gallon fuel tank with fuel fillers and gauges
• Air reservoirs with separate plumbing
• Accurately profiled frame with separately applied plumbing and cabling
• Cab interior
• Factory-applied wire grab irons, snowplow, spare knuckles, trainline hoses, 3-hose MU clusters, MU cables, uncoupling levers, windshield wipers, mirrors, air reservoirs, underframe bell, brake wheel, and more.
• Body mounted ScaleTrains.com plastic semi-scale E Type knuckle coupler All-wheel drive
• All-wheel electrical pick-up
• Dual flywheels
• Motor with 5-pole skew wound armature
• Printing and lettering legible under magnification
• Operates on Code 55, and 80 rail
• Packaging safely stores model
• Minimum Radius: 9 ¾”
• Recommended Radius: 11”

Here is what ScaleTrains.com say about this model:

DCC Information: Available either DCC-ready (Next18 (NEM 662) interface) or factory-equipped with ESU LokSound.
DCC & sound equipped locomotives feature:
- ESU-LokSound Next18 Select Micro DCC and sound decoder with “Full Throttle”
- “Sugar cube” type speaker
- Accurate GE V16 7FDL-16 prime mover and auxiliary sounds, horn, bell, and more
- Operates on both DC and DCC layouts

Prototype History: The GE C39-8 is a six-axle, 3,900hp diesel locomotive built from 1984 to 1987 with a total of 161 (including a coal-powered prototype) built. The C39-8 (originally, yet unofficially designated as the "C39-S7") was the first type of six-axle diesel locomotive produced by GE since the C30-7 and C36-7 diesel locomotives from GE's "Dash 7" line.

Conrail and Norfolk Southern were the only two railroads who originally ordered the model. CSX later inherited from a small fleet of former Conrail units. All of the surviving C39-8 units currently remain in service on various shortline, leasing, and rebuilding companies, most notably NREX and the Pennsylvania Northeastern shortline (subsidiary of the New Hope And Ivyland Railroad), as well as on South American railroads.

The GE C39-8 was essentially the six-axle equivalent of the four-axle, B39-8. Both featured nearly identical, updated carbody. Perhaps the most noticeable exterior difference with the model (and all "Dash 8s") was the roughly 10-foot "bulge" directly behind the cab that gave the roof-line a very irregular shape. This new featured simply housed the dynamic brakes with the radiators located in the rear of the carbody.

Read more on:
- Wikipedia
- American-Rails.com
- Trains And Locomotives Wiki
- Locomotives Wiki

Road Name History: The Norfolk Southern Railway (reporting mark NS) is a Class I railroad in the United States; began in 1982 and 1990. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 36,200 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia, and has rights in Canada from Buffalo to Toronto and over the Albany to Montreal route. NS is responsible for maintaining 29,000 miles, with the remainder being operated under trackage rights from other parties responsible for maintenance. The common commodity hauled on the railroad is coal from mines in Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The railroad also offers the most intermodal network in eastern North America.

NS is a major transporter of domestic and export coal. The railroad's major sources of the mineral are located in: Pennsylvania's Cambria and Indiana counties, as well as the Monongahela Valley; West Virginia; and the Appalachia regions of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. In Pennsylvania, NS also receives coal through interchange with R.J. Corman Railroad/Pennsylvania Lines at Cresson, Pennsylvania, originating in the "Clearfield Cluster". NS's export of West Virginia bituminous coal, begins transport on portions of the well-engineered former Virginian Railway and the former N&W double-tracked line in Eastern Virginia to its Lambert's Point coal pier on Hampton Roads at Norfolk. Coal transported by NS is thus exported to steel mills and power plants around the world. The company is also a major transporter of auto parts and completed vehicles. It operates intermodal container and TOFC (trailer on flat car) trains, some in conjunction with other railroads. NS was the first railway to employ roadrailers, which are highway truck trailers with interchangeable wheel sets.

The Norfolk Southern Railway's parent Norfolk Southern Corporation is a Norfolk, Virginia-based parent company. Norfolk Southern Corporation was incorporated on July 23, 1980 in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbols NSC. The primary business function of Norfolk Southern Corporation is the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods across the Southeast, East, and Midwest United States. The corporation further facilitates transport to the remainder of the United States through interchange with other rail carriers while also serving overseas transport needs by serving several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. As of October 1, 2014 Norfolk Southern Corporation's total public stock value was slightly over $34.5 billion.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: ScaleTrains.com, Inc. is an upstart HO and N Scale model manufacturer that was founded by a team with more than 125 years of accumulated experience in the model railroad hobby and industry.

ScaleTrains is specifically focused on the tiny details in the printing and quality of the construction. The four friends who founded the company are all avid modelers themselves. Their factory is located in Tennessee. Unlike most other companies, they offer a range of different levels of complexity in their offerings so as to be able to provide products for both the budget-conscious collector as well as the detail-focused model enthusiast without compromising on quality for either.

They range covers the following, by increasing level of detailing:

1. Operator™ trains are built for modelers who enjoy running high-quality, realistic trains at an affordable price. Designed from builder’s drawings and photographs, Operator models have fewer factory-applied parts and simplified printing. For added versatility, super-detail parts are available separately.
2. The Rivet Counter™ line strives to create the most accurately detailed models imaginable. The real-world counterpart is meticulously researched to ensure prototype fidelity. Each model features numerous factory applied parts including roadname and road number specific details whenever possible.
3. Museum Quality™ models are historically accurate replicas of the most famous locomotives in North American railroading history. Exhaustive research and a commitment to perfection combine to create the ultimate scale model. Museum Quality trains establish new standards which make them just as legendary as the original.