Athearn Genesis CSX AC4400CW

Athearn Genesis HO Scale AC4400CW CSX #17 & #420 Unboxing YN2 scheme locomotive
CSX FEATURES:
Front ditch lights
Prime air dryer
Low number boards
Equipped with a CSX standard ‘tow-chain’
CSX purchased more AC4400CWs than any other railroad, spanning almost the entire production period. This includes three of the first six produced which have distinctive spotting features compared to all other units. A lightning bolt graphic was applied under the road number making these easy to identify as AC traction motors. Unique to CSX, all these units are equipped with hooks to carry a length of chain under the walkway.
ROAD NUMBER SPECIFIC FEATURES:
#17
K5LAR24 horn
PTC antenna array
early body features
central air intake in forward position
early no-notch fuel tank
bolted on fuel tank
unevenly spaced rear grab irons
vertical handrail behind inverter cabinet
lipped Exhaust tub
extended dynamic brakes
GE Hi-Adhesion trucks
struts on all 4 corners of each truck
delivered with inside struts but modified to outside braced struts. This model represents the later modified version.
#420
K5LAR24 horn
late body features
central air intake moved rearward
late fuel tank with notch
fuel tank welded to frame
evenly spaced rear grab iron
handrail behind invertor cabinet jogged for capacitor box
two handrails above inverter cabinet
late antenna package
GE steerable trucks.
AC4400CW SERIES LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES:
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
Accurately -painted and -printed paint schemes
LED lighting adjusted to lifelike settings.
Illuminated number boards
Illuminated ground lighting above the front truck (per prototype)
Illuminated front and rear walkway lights
Illuminated marker lights (where applicable)
Etched, see-through walkway steps
Animated roller bearing caps
Coupler cut levers
Flexible rubber MU hoses for durability
Flexible rubber trainline hose
See-through cab windows
Full cab interior
Walkway tread
Fine-scale Celcon handrails for scale appearance
Windshield wipers
Lift rings
Wire grab irons
Detailed fuel tank with fuel fillers, fuel gauges, & breather pipes
Sander lines
Brass horns correct to the prototype
McHenry® scale knuckle couplers - Kadee compatible
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
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-EQUIPPED 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
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.

[@randydobson1863]

Hi Engineer Hall & it's is Randy and i like yours video is Cool & Thanks Engineer Hall & Friends Randy & Athearn Genesis CSX AC4400CW Super Cool Engineer Hall & Good Friends Randy

[@thomasavensjr.2790]

Very impressive and incredible ac4400cw models from Athearn Genesis, CSX owns a large fleet of these ac4400 engines and these new Athearn models are impressive. These locomotives are decent competition for the Scaletrains Rivet Counter series models of the ac4400 and Athearn has really improved their locomotive detail features over the past 5 years from my judgement- Tom.

[@richardcolemanjr3749]

I hope the manufacturers continue to make Locomotives and freightcars we see everyday. Scale Trains just announced the NS C44C6M's. Now that's GREAT! Now if somebody will make the Greenville Steel Car BulkHead flat cars used by Southern and are still in service today. The 50 foot 116100 number series has the extended couplers and the 60 foot 114200 number cars have the skrits on the trucks.

[@EricSmith-ve7qi]

Awesome Video EH! Great Review and comparisons! They look and sound Great! Thanks for the review!

[@Dakman]

Really nice review and comparison to the real thing. I bought the Scale Trains AC4400CW because they made the one road number that's in the CSX YN3 paint scheme. I started off buying Scale Trains so I got spoiled by the realistic momentum setting they have. For the Athearn Genesis locomotives I change the momentum settings in the Tsunami 2 so it has a nice realistic start motion speed like the Scale Trains. Since I'm also into O Gauge and like crew talk I noticed that crew talk dialog settings are set way down on volume so you never hear it. I set the volume almost to max on the crew talk dialog. So those are the two changes that I make in the CV settings for Tsunami 2. Unfortunately Loksounds does not have crew talk dialog.

[@scotabot7826]

Nice work EH! Thanks for the cool Vid!!

[@ronaldjoyce7374]

Excellent comparison video, great job, Ron

[@engineerhall5887]

Thanks 👍

[@deeprunrailroad_Mike]

Nice video. I appreciate your description and identification of the components. Did you use your discount? Lol. Mike

[@DarkTerritory71]

I like the way you did this! Very nice sir!

[@engineerhall5887]

Glad you like it!

[@DJHProductions]

Where’s DJ!?

[@jeramyclay4541]

How much you want for your locomotive CSX

[@user-ku5wk1yy9x]

IT WOULD BE NICE FOR ATHEARN TO MAKE THESE LOCOMOTIVES AFFORDABLE FOR ALL MODELERS TO BE ABLE TO BUY THEM! ITS A REAL SHAME THAT THEY ARE COMPETING WITH Other MANUFACTURERS, AND ARE TOTALLY DISREGARDING THE MODELERS BY RAISING THE PRICES! MOST MODELERS ARE NOT GOING TO BUY THE HIGH PRICED INITS, THEY ARE GOING AFTER THE MUCH LOWER PRICE MODELS INSTEAD. IF ATHEARN WOULD Lower THE PRICES ON THEIR MODELS
, THEY WOULD SALE A LOT OF THEM!