Atlas - 48641 - Locomotive, Diesel, EMD GP40-2 - Norfolk Southern

Model Information: This model was introduced in 1997 with a DCC-ready chassis, and was also offered with a pre-installed Lenz decoder.
The same mechanism is used for the GP38, GP38-2, GP40 and GP40-2 since 1997. The earlier version of 1996 of the GP-40 was not yet DCC-Ready.
All versions use a dual-flywheel, split frame chassis with a 5-Pole skew-wound motor.

The current model features:

• Golden-white LEDs;
• Separately-applied roof detail;
• Painted safety rails;
• Directional lighting;
• Blackened metal wheels;
• Scale Speed motor;
• Separately-applied coupler cut levers;
• Non-Dynamic, Dynamic, and Extended Range Dynamic Brakes used where appropriate;
• Pilot: Standard or with Snow Plow;
• Low short hood and High short hood versions available.

DCC Information: DCC-Ready model, accepting a 1 Amp N Scale Mobile Decoder for Atlas N-Scale GP40-2, U25B, SD35, Trainmaster, B23-7 and others (DN163A0) from digitrax.com.

Prototype History: The EMD GP40-2 is a 4-axle diesel road switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division as part of its Dash 2 line between April 1972 and December 1986. The locomotive's power is provided by an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder engine which generates 3,000 horsepower (2.24 MW).

Standard GP40-2 production totalled 861 units, with 817 built for U.S. railroads, and 44 for Mexican railroads. In addition, three GP40P-2s, passenger versions of the GP40-2, were built for Southern Pacific in 1974, and 279 GP40-2L(W) and GP40-2(W) units, equipped with wide-nosed cabs, were built by General Motors Diesel (GMD), for Canadian National and GO Transit between 1974 and 1976. Of the CN units, 233 were built with a taller and lighter frame to allow for a larger fuel tank. These units were officially classified GP40-2L but are commonly referred to as GP40-2L(W). The balance of CN's fleet, 35 units, and the 11 unit GO Transit fleet, used standard frames and smaller fuel tanks; they are often referred to as GP40-2(W) but are classified as GP40-2. Total production of the GP40-2 and its variations totalled 1,143 units.

The external spotting differences between the GP40 and the GP40-2 are very minor, as the main improvements reside on the engine and electronic control. A noticeable one is the water-level sight gauge on the right (engineer) side below the first radiator fan.

Although the GP40-2 was a sales success, it sold fewer units than the earlier GP40 and the contemporary GP38-2 and SD40-2 models. The popularity of high-horsepower 4-axle diesels began to decline with the GP40-2, with 6-axle models gaining in popularity for their superior low-speed lugging performance

From Wikipedia

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: In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.