History. In the early 1990s, General Electric and its archrival, Electro-Motive Division, started offering AC locomotive transmissions that are more complex and expensive than conventional DC systems but can’t be beat for sheer down-and-dirty lugging power.
Although railroads still favor conventional DC drives, hundreds of AC locomotives have been purchased, and the best-selling AC locomotive of them all is GE’s AC4400CW with 2,958 units. The designation translates as AC drive, 4400 hp, on “C” trucks (three powered axles) and a wide-nose “North American” cab. Union Pacific alone owns about 1,000 of these heavy-haul locomotives, which it prefers to call “C44ACs.” No matter what the name, the AC4400 is likely to rank solidly among the top five best-selling diesel locomotives of all time when its production run ends.
The main spotting feature of an AC4400 is the DC-to-AC inverter cabinet on the left side of the locomotive behind the cab. Directly above it are the dynamic brake grids – three square grids on the early AC4400s and two on locomotives made after April 1995.
The model is evenly painted and crisply lettered, and it closely matches prototype dimensions in the April 1996 Model Railroader.
A variety of user-installed details are packaged with the model, including magnetic coupler trip pins, printed number boards, nose-mounted hand grabs, and rear multiple-unit cables. All the details press-fit from the outside, which means the locomotive shell doesn’t have to be removed. I used sprue nippers to clip the parts from their sprues and small tweezers to place them on the model. The details stay put without the need for cement. Installing these parts was an easy 20-minute job.
Federal regulations require locomotives to have step railings that are painted in a contrasting color, white in the case of UP. If you want to model this detail, I recommend using radio-control car paints for acetal plastic bodies to finish the railings before installing them on the model.
AC4400s have a window in the nose door, which is represented on this model by a raised square outline painted the same base color as the nose. You might consider painting this square window with gloss black.
The model weighs a respectable 4.1 ounces but manages only .8 ounce of pulling power – about enough to handle 20 free-rolling cars on straight and level track. However, the drivers have a smoothly plated tire surface that commonly wears off over time to provide better adhesion.
Surprisingly for such a large locomotive – it measures a scale 73′-2″ – the model had no problem rounding 9.75″ curves, although it looked quite unrealistic on those tight bends. If you want anything to stay coupled to your AC4400 on those curves, you’ll need to install the long-shank knuckle couplers included with the model.
The Kato AC4400 is likely to prove as popular with modern-era modelers as the real locomotive has been with modern railroads.
Price: $105 (CSX, undecorated), $110 (UP, C&NW)
Manufacturer:
Kato USA
100 Remington Rd.
Schaumburg, IL 60173
www.katousa.com
Description:
Plastic-and-metal locomotive
Road names:
Chicago & North Western (nos. 8819 and 8835); CSX, bright future scheme (18 and 37); Union Pacific, (9997); UP, Operation Lifesaver (6736); and undecorated (C&NW or UP type bodies)
Features:
Direction headlights and ditch lights
Drawbar pull: .8 ounce
Kato magnetic knuckle couplers mounted at the proper height
Lighted number boards
Minimum radius: 9.75″
Nickel-silver RP-25 wheels (in gauge)
User-installed detail parts
Weight: 4.1 ounces
