Athearn’s SD45-2
BACKGROUND:
An EMD SD45-2 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division beginning in 1972. Power was provided by an EMD 645E3 20-cylinder engine which generated 3600 horsepower (2.7 MW). Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the SD45-2 was an upgraded SD45.The main spotting difference between an SD45 and a SD45-2 was the long hood configuration and the rear radiator assembly. On the SD45 the long hood is flared whereas on the SD45-2 it is vertical and the rear cooling fans and more spread out over the top of the rear of the long hood. This unit shared the same common frame with the EMD SD40-2 and EMD SD38-2.
In 1972 to 1974 Santa Fe bought a total of 90 SD45-2 and came painted in the classic blue pin-stripe. The very first SD45-2 that came in the yellow Warbonnet was 5687 in 1974 during that year’s deliver from EMD. During the following years Santa Fe started painting their freight engines in the blue and yellow Warbonnet colors. In 1976 Santa Fe painted five of this SD45-2 to celebrate the bicentennial starting with 5700 to 5705. Eventually by 1978 all five engines were painted back to the blue Warbonnet color.
The Santa Fe units were assigned to the Chicago/Kansas City and West Coast freight pools. As one of the highest horsepower locomotives in the fleet of the time, these units ran the fastest and hottest trains on the mainline. These engines would run on the Super-C, piggyback (TOFC) and other high priority trains. Today only a handful of SD45-2 BNSF trains remain in service almost 35 years after they were delivered to Santa Fe.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
Out of the box these engines are impressive and for the first time come with MU hoses and wait until you see the cut levers and the screens over the radiator fans. This is the first time I’ve seen plastic come very close to brass quality product. The paint job is also done very well on both bicentennial and blue/yellow Warbonnet. And all the engines come in the standard Genesis yellow box.
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ON THE TRACK:
The rocket launch speed start is only on the sound equipped models because of the higher starting voltage required for the sound decoder. The non-sound units have a much better starting speed, similar to other Athearn genesis locos. So, the first task was to change the 3 main CV’s 2, 5 & 6. But for some strange reason MRC does not follow NMRA standards for the values from 0-255 but they use values from 0-32. And CV 6 for midrange speed is for a speed curve setting. The other interesting setting is CV21 which offers the user the ability to have the engine functions follow the function of the lead unit.
Once on the track each engine needs to “started-up” by pushing any number on a key pad except for 8 as it would shut the engine down. The engine goes through a very cool start up procedure and runs very nice. I did change CV 3 & 4 to a value of 3 to have a nice engine whine.
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DCC System:
Once I got all 4 units consisted together using the Digitrax system all 4 engines ran great until someone in the club shorted out the district I was running on. These engines, unlike the F unit genesis do not start back up! Each engine has to be re-acquired, re-started up and then re-consisted together. I contacted Athearn which had no idea what I was talking about and asked that I speak with Frank at MRC. After one week of trying to reach Frank he indicated that this was the way the engines chips were designed and if power was turned of or shorts occurred then each engine would have to be re-started. After further consultation this seems to be a huge flaw in the design of their systems. Several of the club members who own these units are very discouraged and most are going to remove the DCC system and put in a standard decoder.
The only way around this whole problem is to assign the same number to 3 out of the 4 the engines and adjust the direction using CV29. Then if a short occurs only two numbers need to have be acquired and the engines re-started
Second, MRC decoders are duel-decoder and there is no read back feature. So programming can be a challenge using on the track or JMRI. To date the MRC decoders are the only decoders at this time that do not have a read-back feature and does not meet NMRA standards.
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SOUND:
(On a rating from 1-10)
The sound systems are getting much better than in the past, as they should with new developments. Out of the box the sound levels are very high and have to be turned down to a setting of 1 out of 3.
F1 - Bell - Excellent. 9
F2 - Horn - Excellent. 9
F3 – Light feature (turns on accessory lights) this is nice feature - 10
F4 - Uncouple.- Excellent 9
F5 – Brake squeal - Excellent 9
F6 – Dynamic Brakes - Excellent 9
F7 – Air hose firing – Ok -7
F8 – Engine shut down – Nice 9
F9 – Engine cooling fan – Excellent 9
F10 – Rail wheel clack – Excellent 10
F11 – Traction air compressor – Excellent 10
F12 – Turns off sound – works.
F13- F19 only works on MRC prodigy system.
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OVERALL:
These are beautifully done engines with incredible detail that rivals brass. But, the rush to put out a DCC sound decoder on the market that has not been adequately tested and does not meet NMRA standards makes gives this model a rating of 5 out of 10. To bad as these engines are beautifully done and consumers are better of with a non-DCC version.
