BNSF ES44AC4 A-1-A

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

As those reading the locomotive forum already know, BNSF is going to sample 25 ES44AC’s with only 4 traction motors, giving them an A-1-A arrangement with the middle axle an idler. Overland models already has photos of this loco even before GE releases them to BNSF later this year. It looks like a standard ES44AC with one pair of traction motors missing. I don’t think it would be too much trouble for a model maker who has tooling for the Gevo to come out with this. Overland’s already going to offer it in brass. The same will probably be true for Athearn when they come out with Genesis HO/former T55 Gevos at some point.

http://www.overlandmodels.com/showroom.php?model_name_id=642

2

Since they appear to be identical to normal GEVO’s, just the road numbers will be the only change. I doubt if any model manufacturer is going to ‘dummy’ the center axles! My understanding is that they will have all of the normal wiring, just 2 less traction motors & inverters. If the experiment does not work out, they can be converted to ‘normal’ GEVO’s…

Jim