EMD SD9 Sound Value Equipped Locomotive - Rio Grande #5307 - N Scale
Introducing the all-new Trains.com Forum! Become a part of our Community! >>VISIT NOW News & Reviews Product Reviews Staff Reviews WalthersProto HO EMD SD9 Six-axle road locomotive features railroad-specific details A new run of the WalthersProto HO EMD SD9 was recently released. Join Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he provides a brief history of Great Northern No. 595, points out the many freestanding details on the six-axle road switcher, and demonstrates the various light and sound functions on the ESU LokSound 5-equipped model. Then see the SD9 in action is it leads a short train and spots cars at an elevator on our Wisconsin & Southern staff layout. In addition to Great Northern ( Empire Builder scheme), the WalthersProto HO EMD SD9 is decorated for Chicago & Illinois Midland (green); Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (black and gray); Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range (as-delivered and arrowhead schemes); and Southern Pacific (“black widow,” gray and scarlet 1965 renumbering, and gray and scarlet 1970s SD9E rebuild and renumber). Each paint scheme is offered in four road numbers; an undecorated model is also available. The Electro-Motive Division SD9 is equipped with a five-pole, skew-wound motor and features all-wheel drive and electrical pickup, helical gears with a 14:1 ratio, and Proto-Max metal couplers. The WalthersProto model has era- and railroad-specific details, early Flexicoil truck sideframes with brake cylinders and piping, a die-cast metal underframe, a cab interior with two painted crew figures, formed wire grab irons, etched-metal lift rings, and warm white light-emitting-diode lighting. Direct-current models with a 21-pin DCC plug retail for $219.98. Versions with an ESU LokSound 5 sound decoder are priced at $319.98. Trains.com Product Review videos showcase the latest new items from manufacturers of products in Z, N, HO, S, O, and large scales. In the videos, you can watch locomotives in action, take a close-up look at details on freight cars, see kit components, and much more. If you are a manufacturer and have products you would like reviewed, please email Senior Editor Cody Grivno at cody.grivno@firecrown.com (mailto:cody.grivno@firecrown.com) for more information. House bill would update tax credit for short lines News & Products for the week of January 21st 2025 Amtrak Midwest cancellations continue, now extend into Thursday Reading & Northern achieves record freight revenues in 2024 Members enjoy 15% off any purchase in our store. Join Today (/why-join) ! Designing & Operating Yards Learn about prototype railroad yards, how they function, and build them for your layout. Model Railroader 2025 Calendar Be inspired all year long with Model Railroader’s all-new 2025 calendar! Model Railroad Planning 2025 Back for 2025 with all-new stories! Get design ideas, plus detailed track plans. Acrylic Inspection Car - HO Scale Get visibility into your model railroad track with this clear acrylic inspection car. Get updates and special offers via email from Trains.com brands! Introducing the all-new Trains.com Forum! Become a part of our Community! >>VISIT NOW News & Reviews Product Reviews Staff Reviews Walthers HO scale EMD SD9 This Proto-series model has railroad-specific details Wm. K. Walthers Inc. has released a new run of its Proto-series Electro-Motive Division (EMD) SD9 road switcher. The HO scale model features an injection-molded plastic body; die-cast metal chassis; and a mix of plastic, etched-metal, formed wire, and cast brass detail parts. Electro-Motive Division produced the SD9 from January 1954 to June 1959, constructing 471 units for railroads in the United States of America. The 1,750hp diesel was equipped with a 16-cylinder, 567C diesel engine. The sample we received is decorated as Great Northern 595 . The full-size unit was built in April 1958 under order number 5564-6. The six-axle road switcher was part of GN’s 573 through 599 series. Following the March 1970 merger that created Burlington Northern, GN 595 became BN 6122 . In 1995, the unit joined the BNSF Ry. fleet following BN’s merger with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. The SD9 was renumbered BNSF 6122 on July 29, 1999. The engine was retired on Jan. 16, 2003. The Walthers HO scale EMD SD9 has a multi-piece plastic shell consisting of the short hood, cab, long hood, dynamic or non-dynamic brake blister (as appropriate), and the combined sills, pilots, and stepwells. Factory-installed and painted formed-wire grab irons are used throughout the model. The eyebolts on top of the long hood are etched metal. The models in this production run all have railroad-specific details. Among those on the GN unit are a brass Leslie RS-3L air horn, a large winterization hatch with a photo-etched metal grill and GN-style walkway, fuel tank breather pipes, and a 48″ long hood fan. Our sample is decorated in GN’s Empire Builder scheme with solid sill stripes, correct for April 1958 through the late-1960s. Photos from Sept. 1969 show the 595 with white reflectorized rectangles on the sills. The orange and green paint is smooth and evenly applied, and the yellow stripes and lettering are opaque. The edges of the long hood around the handbrake should be green, not orange. I compared the model to drawings in the 1956 Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice . The dimensions closely follow published data. The Great Northern SD9 we received features an ESU LokSound 5 sound decoder. I did the initial testing at the workbench using an NCE Power Cab. At step 1, the model crawled at less than 1 scale mph. At step 28 the SD9 was hustling down the test track at 69 scale mph. The full-size engine had a speed range of 55 to 89 mph depending on the gear ratio. Then I took the SD9 to our layouts for more testing. The SD9 ran without issue pulling a short freight train and doing industrial switching on the Wisconsin & Southern. It muscled 14 50-foot insulated boxcars up the 3 percent grade between Bay Junction and Skyridge on the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. With railroad-specific details, authentic sounds, and metal couplers, the WalthersProto EMD SD9 has come a long way since it was first introduced by Life-Like back in the 1990s. The HO scale six-axle road unit is plenty capable of handling yard switching, transfer runs, and mainline freights on a model railroad. See a video of the Walthers HO scale EMD SD9 in action on Trains.com. Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin DCC plug, $219.98; with dual-mode ESU LokSound 5 sound decoder, $319.98 Manufacturer Wm. K. Walthers Inc. 5601 W. Florist Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53218 walthers.com Era: April 1958 to late 1960s (as decorated) Road names: Great Northern; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Chicago & Illinois Midland; Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range; and Southern Pacific. Also available undecorated. Features House bill would update tax credit for short lines News & Products for the week of January 21st 2025 Amtrak Midwest cancellations continue, now extend into Thursday Reading & Northern achieves record freight revenues in 2024 Members enjoy 15% off any purchase in our store. Join Today (/why-join) ! Designing & Operating Yards Learn about prototype railroad yards, how they function, and build them for your layout. Model Railroader 2025 Calendar Be inspired all year long with Model Railroader’s all-new 2025 calendar! Model Railroad Planning 2025 Back for 2025 with all-new stories! Get design ideas, plus detailed track plans. Acrylic Inspection Car - HO Scale Get visibility into your model railroad track with this clear acrylic inspection car. Get updates and special offers via email from Trains.com brands!