A Limited Edition ScaleTrains EMD SD38-2 Locomotive painted for freelance model railroad Mascoutin Valley!
This Mascoutin Valley HO-Scale EMD SD38-2 by ScaleTrains in their Rivet Counter line was manufactured exclusively for Home Shops. It is an inspiring piece of Andy Dorsch's Wisconsin-based freight hauler. Many know the name Andy Dorsch from his creation, the "Second Section Podcast" and we are excited to offer his freelance creation, the Mascoutin Valley!
The iron roads of the Great Lakes region are often correlated with heavy haul power and the EMD SD38-2 is a perfect example of this! As seen with prototype railroads the Mascoutin Valley mimicked these fine examples with their own taconite ore traffic hauling pellets from mines across the state of Wisconsin.
The dark green paint on the body bares stark contrast to the white ends creating a simplistic yet elegant scheme. Adorned with the large MV logo on the long hood, this beautiful model is ready to tackle the demands from customers across the vast forests and hills of the Badger State.
About the Prototype:
Following the success of the “1966-Line” of that same year, in January 1972 EMD was to give its product catalog a refresh, introducing what it dubbed the “Dash 2” line. Based upon customer feedback, EMD retained the basics of the previous 1966-Line, adding various improvements aimed at increasing reliability and performance. The Flexicoil-C truck used under the 1966-Line, its original iteration dating back to the SD7 of 1951, was replaced by a new truck design, called the HT-C, which offered greater adhesion, and was slightly longer than the Flexicoil-C. The frames of the six-axle Dash 2 units were lengthened slightly to accommodate the new truck design, and internally, all sported a new main electrical control cabinet featuring modular, solid-state components in the form of “cards” controlling various locomotive functions that could be pulled and replaced as needed, greatly simplifying the troubleshooting and repair process. The new models received a “-2” suffix, with the SD38 of 1966 being revised into the SD38-2.
Much like its SD38 predecessor, the SD38-2 was envisioned as a medium horsepower, high tractive effort machine, designed to haul heavy tonnage at relatively lower speeds. In contrast to its SD40-2 and SD45-2 brethren, which were optimized for hauling tonnage at higher speeds across all types of operating profiles, the SD38-2 was more at home lugging heavy commodity trains at low speed, or shuffling long cuts of cars in yards. While it wasn’t the ideal choice for blasting high-priority TOFC trains across the country, it would be right at home dragging a heavy ironore train up a 2% grade. Powered by the same basic 16-645 prime mover that drove the SD40-2, the SD38-2 lacked turbocharging, which kept its horsepower (HP) at 2,000, as opposed to the 3,000 of the 40-series.
The ScaleTrains EMD SD38-2 Locomotive features:
- Fully-assembled
- Multiple road numbers
- Directional LED-illuminated headlights
- LED-illuminated ground lights on both sides of locomotive
- LED-Illuminated walkway lights
- LED-illuminated front tricolor stand-off class lights
- Printed number boards with separately controlled backlit LED-illumination*
- Front and rear full width multiple unit (MU) hose catch tray
- 3-hose multiple unit (MU) hose clusters with silver gladhands
- Semi-scale coupler buffer equipped with durable metal semi-scale Type E knuckle couplers
- Front and rear straight uncoupling levers with loop handles
- Notched pilot faces with high angled lifting slots
- Scale sectioned treadplate detail on walkways
- Detailed HT-C trucks with Hyatt bearing caps, early center axle snubbers, sanding lines and brackets, and D-77 traction motor and air duct details, triple clasp brake shoes, and third brake cylinder
- Rust-color painted wheelsets
- Dimensionally accurate truck centers
- Factory-applied wire grab irons, wire lift rings, windshield wipers, trainline hoses with silver gladhands, sand hatch covers, and more