HO G2 AC4400CW w/DCC & Sound, C&NW #8831 Overview
An earlier purchaser of the AC4400CW, the units purchased by Chicago & Northwestern were again dressed in the attractive âLighting Stripeâ paint scheme, but now with the addition of an Operation Lifesaver decoration on the long hood. The AC traction paired well with the long heavy coal trains CNW was pulling out of the Powder River Basin. Many of these units lasted well after the UP acquisition of CNW in their original paint or with minor patching. These early versions rode on the first iteration of the Hi-Adhesion trucks with struts on all four corners of each trucks that were both shorter and inboard of the brake cylinders compared to later variations.
Introduced by GE in 1993 and built until 2004, when it was replaced by the Evolution Series Tier II compliant model, the AC4400CW is a staple of modern railroading. 2,834 examples were built with many still plying the rails in their as delivered configurations or as rebuilt variations. Many Class 1, regional, and foreign railroads purchased the AC4400CWs. Ownership spanned the North American Continent and with their long lives, have seen numerous paint scheme variations and ownership changes through the years. The AC4400CW went through many changes during its production. Some are easily noticeable; early units being delivered with GE's Hi-Adhesion Trucks, while later units that had the option for newly developed GE Steerable Truck. Other details are smaller and takes a careful eye to see; the addition of a door stop, how the step wells are reinforced, or the number and positioning of panels and doors.
Athearn has captured all these details thorough research and precision tooling to reproduce dozens of variations. The newly tooled Genesis AC4400CW takes its reign as the new flagship model for Athearn.