Description
Key Features
- High short hood
- Walkway lights
- Front and rear snowplows
- Notched anticlimbers
- Bolted battery box door with
center stiffener - Small sunshades
- Fore and aft mirrors/windwings
- Interior setup for long hood
forward operation - Long hood mounted bell
- Stepped sill
- Phase I blower housing
- Dual vertical fuel gauges
- Rearward exhaust
- Drop grab iron instead of
standard fan grab iron - 3 firecracker antennas and
conduit for Locotrol - White numberboard with black
numbers - Fully assembled and ready-to-run
out of the box - Accurately painted and printed
- DCC-ready featuring Quick Plug
plug-and-play technology with both 8- and 9-pin connector - Highly detailed, injection molded
plastic body - Pilot details including Multi
unit (MU) and Trainline hoses - Blomberg M trucks
- Sliding cab side windows
- See-through cab windows
- Full cab interior
- Walkway tread
- Fine Celcon handrails for scale
appearance - See-through radiator fans
- See-through dynamic brake fans
where appropriate - Numerous photo-etched metal parts
for scale realism including windshield wipers and lift rings - Separately applied wire grab
irons - Underframe details including
sander lines and air filter - Detailed 3600-gallon fuel tank
with fuel fillers, fuel gauges, breather pipes - McHenryî operating scale knuckle
couplers, Kadeeî compatible - Genesisî driveline with 5-pole
skew wound motor with precision machined flywheels and multi-link drivetrain
for trouble-free operation - Incandescent bulbs for realistic
appearance - Bidirectional constant lighting
so headlight brightness remains consistent - Heavy die-cast frame for greater
traction and more pulling power - All-wheel drive with precision
gears for smooth and quiet operation - All-wheel electrical pickup
provides reliable current flow - Wheels with RP25 contours operate
on Code 70, 83 and 100 rail - Packaging securely holds the
model for safe storage - Onboard DCC decoder with
SoundTraxxî Tsunami î Sound - Sound units operate in both DC
and DCC (some functions limited in DC) - Engine, horn and bell sounds work
in DC - Using DCC, program a multiple
unit (MU) lashup with lead unit only horn, bell and lights - All functions NMRA compatible in
DCC mode - Special lighting effects
including operating beacons when using DCC - Many DCC functions can be altered
via Configuration Values (CV) utilizing the included chart
Detailed Information
Overview
In 1980, EMD released the GP50, one of the final models using the 645-model
diesel engine. The GP50 used the new 16-cylinder 645F-series engine producing
3500 horsepower through the new AR-15 alternator. The AC electrical current from
the alternator was rectified to DC current to power the four new D87 traction
motors.
The first GP50s were fifty units built for Chicago & NorthWestern starting in
May 1980. Seventy units for Southern, ten units for Missouri Pacific and ten
units for Burlington Northern completed the first years production. Twenty more
GP50s for Southern, an additional twenty for Missouri Pacific and thirty for
Santa Fe were built in 1981.
In 1985, fifteen units went to the Santa Fe and 53 to Burlington Northern. These
were Phase II versions with straight-sill frame and free-flow or laundry chute
traction motor blower bulge. They were the last GP50s built, bringing the
production total to 278 units.
Until the early 1990s, the GP50s on all five railroads could be found on almost
any kind of mainline train and were mixed with that roads other power. However,
GP50s were often assigned in three or four unit sets to hotshot piggyback
trains. Santa Fe and Southern also had GP50s equipped as masters for
remote-control operations (distributed power in todays terms). Santa Fe used
theirs on coal trains out of New Mexico, while Southern used theirs on manifest
trains on the CNO&TP between Cincinnati, Ohio and Chattanooga, Tennessee. In
later years the GP50s migrated to general service including locals.
