Hello people,out of boredom :-) , I decided to search in Ebay for a model of the UP'Centennial? locomotive.I discovered, to my surprise, that there seem to be approximate versionsfrom Bachmann and Athearn (the most obvious difference to my eyes is thenose, which seems to have come from the DD35).Why isn't there a 'correct' DDA40X as they ran in UP colours?(I have seen that there's an Overland Models version, which I guess isaccurate to the last detail, but I am interested in a mass-producedversion).Cheers,N.F.

EMD built 30 DD35Bs for both UP and SP, and 15 DD35As all for UP. The DD40X was built only for UP, 47 copies in all between April 1969 and September 1971. All are now scrapped.The Athearn model was based on blueprints of the proposed DD40 model before it was actually built. But the actual DD40s built for UP were different, as you know. Because of the differences between the Athearn model and the actual locomotives, rebuilding the Athearn model would be difficult. The Athearn model has not been made in years. I have one, but I'm not parting with it, despite its inaccuracies. :-) It's in blue and white demonstrator livery and looks good to me. It also hauls like a team of elephants. Actually, it's close to the DD35A in appearance, which is not surprising, as it was planned to be an upgrade of the DD35.The Bachmann loco is a DD35. It is no longer listed in their catalogue.HTH

Is there a 'right' model of UP Centennial locomotive? (DDA40X)

Dec 02, 2007 22 Replies

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newyorkcentralfan 18 years ago

I'd start with the Bachmann because there are alot of differences between the Athearn DD40 and the prototype. A DD40 and a DDA40X are very different locomotives. The main thing being the DD40 was never built.

I'd replace unacceptable details with detail parts and see about repowering it.

Modeling the Centennials - Union Pacific's famous 6900's Railroad Model Craftsman, November 1994 page 77 ( "CARTER, BRIAN", "CARTER, CHARLES", DD35, DDA40X, DIESEL, EMD, KITBASH, UP, CONSTRUCTION, ENGINE, LOCOMOTIVE, RMC )

Nick Fotis wrote:

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Nick Fotis 18 years ago

Well, Marklin/Trix engineers have managed to create a Big Boy that happily passes thru R1 curves and very short turnouts (R1 is nearly *ten* inches radius!). It looks ridiculous doing that, though.

And if they can build an SD90MAC that works nicely (I even have one, built by Kato), I feel it would be technically possible to make one dual-motored DDA40X that works well without too many modeling compromises. After all, there *are* already two mass-produced D-D locomotives, designed and built decades ago.

I repeat publicly: if a company builds a DDA40X (UP6936) in mass-produced plastic, I am going to buy it. I would even give 200 USD for it as retail price (as long as it's got dual motors, is a really heavy puller and has detail and quality of the Kato SD9043MAC I own).

Any company interested in getting my money? :-) ;-) (and no, I want to run this beast, so 1.000 USD brass Overland models don't count).

And heck, I am not even a UP fan!

Regards, N.F.

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P. Roehling 18 years ago

"Nick Fotis" wrote

I don't know who built the other one, but Athern's has been out of production for quite some time now, which tells you something.

And BTW: they came in two different versions; one dual-motored and one not.

Pete

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