Model Railroading > DD35A aka Athearn DD40 "?"

I\'ve got a question. How close is the Athearn DD40 (HO scale) to the actual DD35A? Looking at a few actual photos from "Fallen Flags and Short Line Railroad Photos" http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ the only difference I could find is a different sized fan after the dynamic brake section. Could anyone find any more differences?

NOTE: Cross post between Model RR Discussion board and Western RR Discussion board.

Cass Telles
"Slow-Approach-Slow" - \'Go by way of the B&O\'
Railroads of NW Ohio
http://www.trainweb.org/rrnwoh

The DD35A has dynamic brake blisters, while the Athearn DD40 has "flaired" dynamic brakes. There is probably a difference in the overall length of the locomotive, too.

Actually, I know the DD40 did not exist. I was comparing the model\'s resembelance to the actual DD35A.

I would point out that Athearn had a history of mislabeling units. For example: the SW1500 which was an actual SW7.

IMHO the DD40 seams to be an almost a dead ringer for the actual DD35A.

Cass Telles
"Slow-Approach-Slow" - \'Go by way of the B&O\'
Railroads of NW Ohio
http://www.trainweb.org/rrnwoh

Did this mislabling of an SW7 occur some time in the past? For as long as I have been buying Athearn their SW1500 is an SW1500 and their SW7 is an SW7.

From Giants of the West
George R. Cockle
Overland Publications
ISBN 0-916160-12-2

Length over the couplers
DD35A 88\' 2"
DDA40X 98\' 5"

Length between truck centers
DD35A 55\' 0"
DDA40X 65\' 0"

Fuel tank
DD35 5,200 Gal
DDA40X 8,200 Gal

There are some detail differences like air tanks, hand rails, horn placement

The DD35A has sort of a "hump" roof for the engine radiator fans. The DDA40X roof is flat.

jb

SW1500spf wrote:

> Did this mislabling of an SW7 occur some time in the past?
> For as long as I have been buying Athearn their SW1500 is an
> SW1500 and their SW7 is an SW7.
>
> [%sig%]

Actually, the SW1500 (really an SW7) happened before Athearn made a true SW1500.

Cass Telles
"Slow-Approach-Slow" - \'Go by way of the B&O\'
Railroads of NW Ohio
http://www.trainweb.org/rrnwoh

I can only find one photo of an Athearn DD40 in a Walthers catalog and the roof line looks like (to me) that it is closer to the DD35. With the exception of the fans.

There are drawings in the Giants of the West that show the radiator fans of the DD35 as:
48" 36" 48" 48" 36" 48"

Overhead photos of the engines in operation look like:
36" 48" 48" 48" 48" 36"

The DD40 is all 48"

And you had better pick your photo for the location of horn, antenna, strobe......

jb

jdb wrote:

> I can only find one photo of an Athearn DD40 in a Walthers
> catalog and the roof line looks like (to me) that it is closer
> to the DD35. With the exception of the fans.
>
> There are drawings in the Giants of the West that show the
> radiator fans of the DD35 as:
> 48" 36" 48" 48" 36" 48"
>
> Overhead photos of the engines in operation look like:
> 36" 48" 48" 48" 48" 36"
>
> The DD40 is all 48"
>
> And you had better pick your photo for the location of horn,
> antenna, strobe......
>
> jb
>
> [%sig%]

Thanks, also. Between the Western and Modeler\'s board, the mystery seems to clear itself up.

Cass Telles
"Slow-Approach-Slow" - \'Go by way of the B&O\'
Railroads of NW Ohio
http://www.trainweb.org/rrnwoh

For reference, here\'s Athearn\'s DD40...

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BTW, 3rdswitch posted a A_B_B_A lashup of UP DD35\'s in the image gallery.

is the bachmann model any closer.....i have always wanted one of those since i saw it ina model book......i have an athearn, would the bachmann model be any closer to the real thing
stuart in iowa

Here\'s a pretty good roster shot of UP DD35A 75.
dnuck

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Let me try to further clarify some things here:

The DD35 was originally designed by EMD as a cabless booster unit to be coupled between two GP35\'s. This locomotive was essentially two GP35 carbodies mounted back to back on a long frame. These units had standard radiators, fan placement and dynamic brake blisters like the GP35. These units utilized a pair of fuel tanks. Here is a link to a photo:

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/tr_up73b.jpg

The DD35A was designed at the request of Union Pacific with the standard EMD hood unit cab on one end. These locomotives had the same hood door arrangement as the DD35, but they had larger core radiators which necessitated the use of a flared radiator/dynamic brake section on the hood. These units utilized a pair of fuel tanks. Here is a link to a photo:

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/tr_up84.jpg

The DDA40X was specially built for Union Pacific and these became known as the "Centennials". These locomotives had a cab with full width nose similar to the cowl carbody F45 and FP45 units (among others). These locomotives were 10\' 3" longer than the DD35A due to the longer radiator sectioned required for the six 48" cooling fans and larger capacity radiators required to cool the larger engines. This locomotive also had a flared radiator/dynamic brake section. These units had a single huge fuel tank. Here is a link to a photo:

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/tr_up6904.jpg

As has been mentioned, the Athearn DD40 model is a fictitious model based on a model cataloged by EMD but never produced. It\'s cab and carbody dimensions are accurate for the DD35A, except that the carbody is too wide to accommodate the wide Athearn motors of years past. Two other differences with the Athearn model when compared to the DD35A are that the Athearn model has six 48" cooling fans instead of four 48" and two 36" cooling fans used on the DD35A, and the trucks on the model are spaced too far apart. They should be closer to the fuel tanks.

The Bachmann DDA40X model is a relatively accurate rendition of a Union Pacific "Centennial" and should not be confused with the Athearn DD40 or a DD35A.

The original Athearn SW1500 cow and calf models were also made utilizing preliminary EMD information which showed that the new models would use the same carbody as the SW7. Athearn chose not to correct the SW1500 designation on their models until they actually produced a correct SW1500 around 1990.

Chris Toth

Okay, now that we have that all settled... :-O

The UP I have is a single-motor and although it runs ok those metal sideframes on the trucks won\'t stay tight. They don\'t fall off, mind you, just rattle a lot.

I also have the SP unit which is a two-motor model and it runs a lot better.

Both units are fairly noisy however, and I\'m wondering if the Bachmann runs smoother and quieter.

Ya gotta love those monster engines!

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The Bachmann model is better looking and better running than the Athearn model. How long they will run better is a matter of opinion and time. Both models suffer from cosmetic truck problems. The Athearn\'s sideframes are the early metal versions suffering from previously mentioned problems besides lack of detail by todays standards. The Bachmann truck sideframes are plastic and suffer from lack of detail. The Bachmann model also suffers from thick plastic side steps and lack of detail on the fans along with other plastic and paint defects. No one I believe (with the exception of Overland) ever made a decent sideframe for these models. The Overland sideframes were made for the Overland models and may be adaptable to the Bachmann or Athearn trucks. I have 2 pair of the Overland sideframes that I was going to see if they would be adaptable farther down the road. The Bachmann model has 2 motors by the way and does run very smooth. If I had to make a choice, I\'d go with the Bachmann unless you had enough money to pop for a brass version.

Chris,

Which type fans were used for the Dynamic grid cooling? Were these the same 48" fans as on the radiator cooling? Thanks.

All of the units utilized a single 48" dynamic cooling fan over each bank of resistor grids. Interestingly, from what I have seen in photos of these units, the 48" dynamic fan grilles were taller than the 48" radiator fan grilles. Normally, on EMD units it is the other way around. Here is a top photo of a DDA40X from the Fallen Flags Railroad Photo site:

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/up/up6900ctl.jpg

Internally, dynamic brake fans are powered by a DC motor, while the radiator fans are operated by AC motors.

Chris Toth

I\'ve considered getting one of these models, sticking a high hood on it, and painting it for Southern. Now that would be interesting seeing one of those run long hood forward.