G'day folks... N00b here so forgive if I use that for an excuse not to do a search. Could some one give me information or references (web link) to spotting features for NS Dash 9-40C locos? I'm interested in doing a bit of kitbashing in HO scale and was gonna use the old Rail Power Products Dash 9-40CW for a basis... and aside from the cab, wanted to know the dif... Thanks!
One way that I can tell a Dash9-40C from a Dash8-40C is the trucks. The trucks on a Dash8 are usually curved up in 3 places on the sideframe. The trucks on a Dash9 are usually just straight across. Go to railpictures.net and search for pictures of a Dash9-40C if you want to see the details that are on one or better yet just go to your local NS track and wait for one of these locomotives to come rolling by so you can take some pictures of it and the details on it.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I did go to railpictures.net... and was overwhelmed! Certainly a lot of renditions, but I'll admit that I'm not the sharpest tack in the box when it comes to verifying some of the details (reading the designations stencil'd on some of the cabs helped). I guess I need to pop some of those images into a pic file browser to compare and contrast. True too, that we've got NS through my home town, but most of their traffic passes through at night. Still, I've got a fair number of shots of NS equipment... a few of them, I think, are both the focus of my current modelling... the C39-8s and the Dash 9 40Cs. I'll just have to slog through them and perhaps, identify them by their numbers. I try to get a few detail shots when out and about, but about half the time I can catch them, these units are on the move. I guess folks have written books based just on the changes in this family of locos, from the beginnings in Dash 7 through to the present... I'm sure there are enough phases and types to keep true researchers busy... which is why I want them to do all the work for me!
nice pic of "tophat" dash-9 40-c by chessie on another thread 40-c's are the spartan cab with a air conditioning condenser atop the cab (looks kinda like a gentlemans' hat atop the head) these were the first dash 9's NS acquired, and numbered well into the 88xx series 40-cw's are the "wide cab" version of the dash9 40-c's GE no longer offers the spartan cab, so NS was forced into the wide cab realm on later orders. Robbman can fill in the blanks as far as dates, but I believe the 40-c's are nearing 10 years of service hope this helps spotting the cab differences
