Athearn Genesis #ATHG65923 HO EMD GP50, Tsunami2 DCC Sound, Norfolk Southern #7085

Athearn Genesis #ATHG65923 HO EMD GP50, Tsunami2 DCC Sound, Norfolk Southern #7085

• NS FEATURES:
  Phase I Body with rounded blower housing
  Long hood forward setup with high short hood
  Southern style 5-chime horns on both ends
  Long hood mounted bell
  Dual Firecracker antennas
  Timkin bearing trucks
  Hood mounted walkway lights (non-operational)
  Large EMD style plows and ditch lights on both ends
  Built in 1980 for the Southern Railway, these distinct high nose long hood forward locomotives were painted into Norfolk Southern colors after the Southern / Norfolk Western merger of 1982. They retained most of the as built features other than ditch lights added in the 1990’s.

  ROAD NUMBER SPECIFIC FEATURES:
  #7037
  Earlier NS scheme with dashed frame stripes
  #7054
  Newer NS “horse-head” logo with solid frame stripes
  #7085
  Earlier NS scheme with solid frame stripes
  GP50 LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES:
  Full cab interior
  Wire grab irons
  Coupler cut levers
  See-through cab windows
  Flexible rubber trainline hose
  Flexible rubber MU hoses
  Etched see-through steps
  Walkway tread
  Lift rings
  Sander lines
  Windshield wipers
  McHenry® scale knuckle couplers - Kadee compatible
  Accurately-painted and –printed paint schemes
  Fully-assembled and ready-to-run
  DCC-ready features Quick Plug™ plug-and-play technology with 21-pin NEM connector
  Scaled from prototype resources including drawings, field measurements, photographs, and more
  Fine-scale Celcon handrails for scale appearance
  Detailed fuel tank with fuel fillers, fuel gauges, & breather pipes
  Genesis driveline with 5-pole skew wound motor, precision machined flywheels, and multi-link drivetrain
  All-wheel drive with precision gears for smooth & quiet operation
  All-wheel electrical pickup provides reliable current flow
  Wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track
  Heavy die-cast frame for greater traction and more pulling power
  Packaging securely holds model for safe storage
  Minimum radius: 18” — Recommended radius: 22”
  PRIMED FOR GRIME MODELS FEATURE
  Duplicated look and feel of “In Service” equipment
  Faded base colors matched to the prototype
  Perfect starting point for adding grime and rust
  SOUND-EQUPPED MODELS ALSO FEATURE
  Onboard DCC decoder with SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound
  Dual cube speakers for optimal sound quality
  Sound units operate in both DC and DCC
  Full DCC functions available when operated in DCC mode
  Engine, horn, and bell sounds work in DC
  All functions NMRA compatible in DCC mode
  Precision slow speed control
  PROTOTYPE SPECIFIC INFORMATION
  The EMD GP50 is a 4-axle diesel road switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1980 and 1985. It is powered by a 16-cylinder EMD 645F3B diesel engine, which can produce between 3,500 and 3,600 hp.

  A total of 278 examples of this locomotive were built. The GP50 retains the same overall length of 59 feet 2 inches as the other GP dash-2 series locomotives built in the same era. It utilized GM’s D87 traction motor enabling it to produce a starting tractive effort of 65,000 pounds, with a continuous rating of 62,400 pounds.

  The most significant difference in the GP50 from earlier designs like the GP40 was upgraded components (like a turbocharger silencer and new type of blower housing) and increased horsepower. The locomotive also introduced a new “anti-wheel-slip” technology where the locomotive horsepower output was reduced if a wheel slip condition was introduced. It also included features already common on earlier models such as dynamic braking (a system for temporarily employing traction motors as generators and using the resulting electromotive force to slow the train), and an airtight hood that kept out dust, dirt and other particles from reaching internal components.

  All the companies that purchased the GP50 have now been absorbed into other systems. However, a few of their successors continue to operate the units. A number GP50s have rebuilt for better fuel economy and continue in service today.

  This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article “EMD GP50” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_GP50); it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.