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Atlas - 40 003 597 - Locomotive, Diesel, EMD GP38-2 - Indiana Harbor Belt - 3801

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N Scale - Atlas - 40 003 597 - Locomotive, Diesel, EMD GP38-2 - Indiana Harbor Belt - 3801 Image Courtesy of Atlas Model Railroad
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Stock Number40 003 597
Secondary Stock Number40003597
Original Retail Price$124.95
BrandAtlas
ManufacturerAtlas
Body StyleAtlas Diesel Engine GP38-2
Image Provider's WebsiteLink
Prototype VehicleLocomotive, Diesel, EMD GP38-2 (Details)
Road or Company NameIndiana Harbor Belt (Details)
Road or Reporting Number3801
Paint Color(s)Black with Orange Stripe
Print Color(s)Orange
Coupler TypeAccuMate Magnetic Knuckle
Wheel TypeChemically Blackened Metal
Wheel ProfileSmall Flange (Low Profile)
DCC ReadinessReady
Announcement Date2019-12-01
Release Date2020-02-07
Item CategoryLocomotives
Model TypeDiesel
Model SubtypeEMD
Model VarietyGP38-2, Phase 2
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era IV: 2nd Gen Diesel (1958 - 1978)
Scale1/160



Specific Item Information: FEATURES: • Golden-white LEDs • Painted safety rails • Directional lighting • Blackened metal wheels • Scale Speed™ motor • Factory-installed AccuMate® magnetic knuckle couplers • Separately-applied coupler cut levers • DCC Equipped models feature NCE Decoders Additional Features : • Non-Dynamic, Dynamic, and Extended Range Dynamic Brakes used where appropriate • Pilot: Standard or with Snow Plow • Low short hood and High short hood versions availalble
Model Information: The same mechanism is used for the GP38, GP38-2, GP40 and GP40-2. Production of the GP38-2 was started in China in 1996. It was later revised with a DCC-Ready chassis in 2003.

Both of the Chinese mechanisms run fine but the first releases (1996) do not support drop in decoders. Both versions use a dual-flywheel, split frame chassis with a 5-Pole skew-wound motor.

The current model features: Golden-white LEDs; Separately-applied roof detail; Painted safety rails; Directional lighting; Blackened metal wheels; Scale Speed motor; Separately-applied coupler cut levers; Non-Dynamic, Dynamic, and Extended Range Dynamic Brakes used where appropriate; Pilot: Standard or with Snow Plow; Low short hood and High short hood versions available.
DCC Information: Early Chinese versions are DCC-friendly requiring a complicated split-board DCC install.

Later versions are DCC-Ready accepting the following plug-in decoders (non-sound):
- Digitrax DN163A0: 1 Amp N Scale Mobile Decoder for Atlas N-Scale GP40-2, U25B, SD35, Trainmaster, B23-7 and others,
- TCS AMD4 : 4 function BEMF decoder for Atlas N Scale engines,
- NCE N12A0: Plug and play decoder for N-Scale Atlas GP40-2, U25B, U23B, B23-7, 30-7, 36-7, GP38, SD25, TRAINMASTER, etc.

Unfortunately, the only way to tell which kind you have is to remove the shell and check the chassis. If it has two small lightboards, you have an old one in your hand. A single long lightboard indicates a DCC-Ready chassis.
Prototype History:
The EMD GP38-2 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive of the road switcher type built by General Motors, Electro-Motive Division. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP38-2 was an upgraded version of the earlier GP38. Power is provided by an EMD 645E 16-cylinder engine, which generates 2000 horsepower (1.5 MW). Most built still remain in service in the modern era due to ease of maintenance and exceptional reliability.

The GP38-2 differs externally from the earlier GP38 only in minor details. Its most distinctive identifying feature is the cooling water level sight glass on the right side of the long hood. The battery box covers of the Dash 2s are bolted down instead of hinged. It can be distinguished from the contemporary GP39-2 and GP40-2 in that its Roots blown engine had two exhaust stacks, one on each side of the dynamic brake fan, if equipped, while the turbocharged GP39-2 and GP40-2 has a single stack. The GP39-2 has two radiator fans on the rear of the long hood like the GP38-2, while the GP40-2 has three. It was also available with either a high-short-hood, common on Norfolk Southern units, or a low-short-hood, which is found on most other railroads.

From Wikipedia
Road Name History:
The IHB is an independent railroad which is jointly owned by Conrail Shared Assets Operations (51%) and Canadian Pacific Railway (49%). These shareholders trace their ownership stake in IHB to previous mergers and acquisitions in the railroad industry. This came from Conrail, which had owned a 51% controlling interest. Conrail's ownership is traced back to the Penn Central Transportation Company and prior to that, the New York Central Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad. Canadian Pacific's ownership is through its subsidiary, the Soo Line Railroad, which had inherited it from the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.

The line comprises 320 miles (510 km) of track?30 miles of single mainline track, 24 miles (39 km) of double-main track and 266 miles (428 km) of additional yard and side track?starting northwest of Chicago in Franklin Park, Illinois, traveling southeast around the city to its headquarters in Hammond, Indiana.

The line's largest yard, [Blue Island] is located in Riverdale, Illinois with other yards in Burnham, Calumet City, Alsip, Argo, LaGrange, Rose and Franklin Park. In [Indiana] Whiting, Hammond, Michigan Ave, Lake Front in East Chicago. The Gibson Yard located in [Hammond], is arguably the largest auto-switching operation in the United States.

Throughout the 1970s and 1990s to the present, Indiana Harbor Belt operated an extensive interlocking tower system including: East End, Osbourne, Calumet, State Line, Gibson, Stewart Avenue, Graselli, 55th Street and Argo towers with switch tenders at North Harvey and Columbia Avenue in Hammond. They later took over State Line tower from the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad.

From Wikipedia
Brand/Importer Information:
In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.
Item created by: CNW400 on 2020-02-08 16:26:55. Last edited by Alain LM on 2020-05-22 13:00:01

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