Model Railroading > What UP SD9043ACs does the Kato model represent?

I have a Kato SD9043AC numbered for UP 8146, but would like to renumber it for UP 8209, a unit that ran on my prototype.  Are there any detail differences between the various UP orders that would preclude me from doing so?  Assuming that Kato was correct in choosing 8146 as a match for the details they represented on their model, it looks like that unit was from the third UP order, while 8209 was from the fourth.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

Hi Joe,

...the SD90MAC, as its most commonly known, only came in two variants, the '9043MAC', and the '90MAC-H'. The 'H' version had the 6000 HP motor that didn't work out as originally conceived and all of the 'H' variants have been scrapped. The Kato represents the standard production version that was purchased by both UP and CP and has the 4300 HP prime mover, thus the Kato is a very accurate model of the UP SD90MAC. UP still has quite a number of SD90's that are seen regularly in service along the Columbia Gorge hauling unit trains of potash and grain, and can also be seen pulling mixed freights. There was a problem with cracks in the frames but UP had them repaired and put back into service, which must say something about the value of these units or they would have been scrapped.
I have three of the Kato's and they're gorgeous models. They're one of my favorite EMD locomotives, typical Kato's in that they pull well, run smoothly and reliably, and I think the details are superb on these models.
For your purposes, the Kato model is the only game in town as nobody else makes it, but the bonus is its also very accurate...

cheers,

Lorne Miller

NS has purchased 100 of the UP SD9043MAC's. They intend on rebuilding them into SD70ACe units starting this fall. For now they are in service in patched UP paint.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/15 07:49 by EH49.

---

Joe,

Structurally the units are about the same.  The differences come in things like the cab roof antennae and a few of the underframe details.  Steve Orth did an article years ago about detailing them.  I can't remember right off the top of my head, but I did some detailing on my pair using his article and my photos. 

Gary B.
Waverly, NE

The Steve Orth article was in the November 2002 Rail Model Journal.  I just skimmed my copy and it looks like all the variation was in units numbered below 8075.  I think the Kato model is pretty close to 8075 and up.  When I detailed my 8146, I remember adding the lollipop antenna, adding the big sunshades, switching the ugly Kato horn for a DW 253 K3 horn and painting the grabs yellow, most of which are modifications Orth also made to his model of 8105, except he used a P3 horn instead of a K3 horn.

The cover of that RMJ is still on Trainlife:
http://trainlife.com/magazines/pages/197/14351/november-2002-page-1

And you can still read the article if you go to page 28 and click on "Show Page Text," although I think the "Page Text" view only works on certain browsers.  It never worked when I tried it with IE, but it works for Chrome.
http://trainlife.com/magazines/pages/197/14378/november-2002-page-28

Gary, if I recall correctly, the big spotting feature to tell them apart was the roof line over the engine compartment. The SD9043MAC has square corners at the roofline, while the 6000 hp 90MAC had a large bevel along the edge of the roofline.

Dave

EH49 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NS has purchased 100 of the UP SD9043MAC's. They
> intend on rebuilding them into SD70ACe units
> starting this fall. For now they are in service in
> patched UP paint.

...these units had been sold/traded back to Progress Rail/EMD by UP a while back before NS picked them up. They're being rebuilt by NS with SD70Ace innards but will still look like SD90's in outward appearance. The remaining UP units, numbers 8000 through 8308 have been upgraded and had any neccessary repairs completed and are all back in service...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/15 09:45 by Espeenut.

Thanks very much for all the responses.  I appreciate all the info.

Just to clarify, while I'm aware of the SD9043AC/SD90MAC differences, I was concerned with possible phase differences between the various SD9043AC orders.  According to http://utahrails.net/up-diesel-roster/up-diesel-roster-66.php , assuming the EMD order number is the prefix of the Builder Number, UP had four SD9043AC orders.  I just wanted to be sure that the details of the phase on which the Kato model was based lined up with the unit I planned to model.

Neil wrote:
>I just skimmed my copy and it looks like all the variation was in units numbered below 8075.  I think the Kato model is pretty close to 8075 and up.

Perfect!  Thanks Neil!

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

Espeenut Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...these units had been sold/traded back to
> Progress Rail/EMD by UP a while back before NS
> picked them up.

Not really. Last summer, UP worked a deal to trade-in 100 of the units toward their purchase of 100 SD70ACe's that were for delivery this year.  EMD was able to work a deal to sell the traded units to NS, with EMD first doing any needed basic repairs, frame repairs, and adding additional fuel tank mounting brackets.  UP did not immediately round-up all 100 units and ship them off.  They have been forwarding them to the EMD shop at Marshalltown, IA, where EMD is doing the repairs and NS patch-renumbering, before deliveriing them to NS.  The first units arrived on NS in September 2014 and currently there are still 14 units to be delivered to NS. Here is the roster for the 100 units NS acquired:

NS SD90MAC Roster

> They're being rebuilt by NS with SD70Ace innards but will still look like SD90's in
> outward appearance.

As part of the rebuilding, the cabs will be replaced with the current EMD SD70ACe isolated cab/nose, so that will be one very noticeable external change for sure.


Chris Toth
NSDash9.com

NSDash9 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> As part of the rebuilding, the cabs will be
> replaced with the current EMD SD70ACe isolated
> cab/nose, so that will be one very noticeable
> external change for sure.
>


That's cool. Gotta use for that Ace cab I've had kicking around for a while. Now I just gotta pick up another donor 90mac...

Mr. MRL

MrMRL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NSDash9 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > As part of the rebuilding, the cabs will be
> > replaced with the current EMD SD70ACe isolated
> > cab/nose, so that will be one very noticeable
> > external change for sure.
> >
>
>
> That's cool. Gotta use for that Ace cab I've had
> kicking around for a while. Now I just gotta pick
> up another donor 90mac...
>
> Mr. MRL

They will be receiving a completely new electrical cabinet has well, so everything ahead of the inertial room will be gone from these units and replaced with new SD70ACe style cab and electrical cabinet that has been designed by EMD to fit onto the SD90MAC frame.

...anyway Joe, now you're fully aware of all the latest nitty gritty about the future of the ones NS picked up, but as for your original question, you're good to go with the Kato, basically right out of the box with the help of a few decals for the road number you want to do...

Thanks Lorne. It's really interesting seeing the way NS is buying up so many used EMDs lately. Those SD9043ACs are going to look great in fresh NS paint.

I had an unusual stretch of free time today and now have my model renumbered as UP 8209. Weathering on this and stable-mate UP C44ACCTE 5903 should be done tomorrow.

Posted from iPhone

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

Looking forward to seeing these and your Intermountain 40-2's finished up, Joe. I have a future Kato SD90 project in CP and it'll be good inspiration to get off my butt on it.

-MB

Let's not forget that UP recently renumbered their SD90MACs into the 3600 and 3700 series to avoid numbering conflicts.  If you are modeling current UP roster engines, the 9-Macs have been renumbered into that new series.  

> Looking forward to seeing these and your Intermountain 40-2's finished up, Joe.

Me too!  I'm still waiting on decoders and supplies to arrive to allow those SD40-2s to be finished, but the more modern power should be done tomorrow.  I also just finished a grungy SP C44AC based on a unit that was on one of the UP manifest detours on IAIS, and I hope to wrap up a UP MP15AC this weekend as well.  Not sure what's gotten into me with all this yellow power recently. :-)

> Let's not forget that UP recently renumbered their SD90MACs into the 3600 and 3700 series to avoid numbering conflicts.  If you are modeling current
> UP roster engines, the 9-Macs have been renumbered into that new series.  

Thanks for the heads up, but I'm safe there, since my layout's set in May 2005.  

This exercise has been interesting for me.  One of the fun things I've recently realized about prototype modeling is being able to capture a snapshot in time that can later serve as a reference point when compared to all the changes that have taken place since.  SD9043ACs in their first incarnation were still semi-regular coal and manifest power back in 2005.  SD70ACes and ES44ACs had just begun to arrive, and yellow frame stripes were a relatively rare novelty, as was BNSF's then-new logo.  To me, 2005 doesn't seem like that long ago, but it's amazing how much things have changed in that decade.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

...interesting to read about your cut off period, along with SP stuff I model BNSF and predecessors and the UP, basically the roads that operate where I grew up. For the UP my cut off date is what I call 'pre flag', and for the BNSF I only model what they call the  "H1", or heritage one scheme. So for me, like you, stuff like the SD70Ace and EC44AC hadn't appeared yet, or was just starting to show up...

I'm interested to hear of the cab rebuild plans for these units.

Most surprising to me is that NS would use a new EMD SD70ACe-style cab on their rebuilds, as they seem to have really embraced their own cab design (the 'Crescent Cab') that has appeared on so many of the SD60 rebuild projects.  Here's a shot from Altoonaworks.com that shows NS's two current cab styles for rebuilds at Juniata Shops in Altoona, PA, with the spartan-style 'Admiral' cab to the left, and the Crescent design to the right: http://www.altoonaworks.info/graphics/110913_27.jpg

I, for one, like the EMD style better, and prefer a spartan cab to all of them, but in any case it's interesting that NS is using EMD cabs this time,

Chris Toth, any insight into how that decision was made?

Thanks,
~RGDave

Dave:

NS has been very happy with the performance of its SD70ACe locomotives. Thus, the main attraction to purchasing the SD90MAC's was EMD designing a reasonably priced package for upgrading them electrically to SD70ACe standards. The SD70ACe isolated cab, control stand, and electrical cabinet were part of that package. NS originally only wanted 50 of the SD90MAC's, but was persuaded to take all 100 of the traded-in UP units.


Chris Toth
NSDash9.com

Chris wrote:
> NS has been very happy with the performance of its SD70ACe locomotives.

Is that a relatively recent change Chris?  I was under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that the early SD70ACes weren't a big hit, at least with the crews (prior to the addition of the isolated cabs).  Have they always been solid from a performance and reliability standpoint, or is that something that's come about with more recent improvements?

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd