PRE-ORDER: Athearn 3412 - EMD SD40 (DC Silent) Undecorated - HO Scale

Pre-Order Due Date:  April 04 2026

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Pre-Order FAQ

Most manufacturers give an ETA on when they expect to release the pre-order which can be seen near the "add to cart" button on the product page. They also give an order due date (found in the product description) which is indicative of when the product is expected to go into production.

There is a 5% NON-refundable deposit for preorders, this amount will be deducted from the price of the product when it arrives. You will see how much downpayment is required after adding the item to your cart. We do not store your payment information and it is not charged by us when the product arrives.

For any pre-order submitted after the due date, we will try our best to fulfill your pre-order, but are at the mercy of the manufacturer and if they produce more than were preordered by their dealers. If we cannot fulfill your pre-order we will credit the 5% deposit to you.

When the pre-ordered product(s) are available to ship, you will receive an email requesting the remaining 95% payment that will take you to your cart. It is at this point you are asked for shipping address and method OR in-store pickup.. We will never charge your payment method without you checking out. At this time you are also able to add other in-stock items if you wish.

Please note that Estimated Arrival Dates can change at any point. Midwest Model Railroad is not responsible for manufacturers delaying production. Visit midwestmodelrr.com/pre-orders/ for more information.

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With the split-up of Conrail, NS acquired several SD40 locomotives that had been rebuilt by Conrail. Conrail so loved their SD40-2’s that in 1993 they decided to rebuild 40 units to ‘Dash 2’ specifications. For this project Conrail chose 30 of their own units and purchased an additional 10 former-Kansas City Southern SD40’s from PAC Rail leasing. Conrail placed these rebuilt SD40-2R’s into the series CR 6960-6999 (Source: “EMD SD40-2R Prototype Information”, http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/emd/sd402r/ sd402rproto.html).

In 1981, SP instituted a GRIP rebuild of their SD40s, resulting in the SD40R. A workhorse locomotive for SP, they could be seen pulling freights all over the system.

#7342 was painted in a series of experimental schemes, featuring prominent usage of “Daylight” orange, the last of which is depicted on our model.

The SD40Rs remained in service into the 1990s. Deferred maintenance took its toll on the appearance of the units, as depicted by our other 3 offerings.

ROAD NUMBER SPECIFIC FEATURES:
• #7342 Unique Daylight paint, full light packages
• #7329 / #7344 / #7383 Faded paint colors, blanked front and rear gyralights, Prime beacon

UP FEATURES:
• RS3L horn
• Strobe on cab roof (flash effect on DCC/sound version)
• Plain pilots
• Flexicoil low-brake trucks
• FARR radiator grills

Union Pacific made many changes to the painting and lettering of its locomotives throughout the years. These changes were made for a variety of reasons: to decrease cost, facilitate locomotive identification, or increase safety. A major change came in 1984, when the aluminum color that had been specified for locomotive trucks since 1953 was changed to Harbor Mist Grey. This was done because the cost to paint the entire merged MP locomotive fleet was deemed to be too high. These SD40s are decked out with their grey trucks, white handrail verticals, and large cab numbers, making them ideal mid-1980s power.

WSOR FEATURES:
• RS3L horn
• Front and rear ditch lights
• Standard EMD plow
• Removed class lights
• Hood-side-mounted bell
• Special verbiage honoring Robert Hoesly on unit 4078

Wisconsin Southern is a Class II railroad operating in Illinois and Wisconsin over former CNW and MILW trackage. The roster included a variety of EMD units, including some rebuilt SD40 units of mixed heritage. The units originally wore 40XX numbers but were re-numbered into the 41XX-42XX series in 2015. They could be found in any type of service.

MRL FEATURES:
• Different horn types and beacon placement per road number
• Standard EMD plow or plain pilot per road number
• Prime Stratolight beacon (flash effect on DCC/sound version)
• Blanked upper headlights

MRL rostered several SD40s, some of C&S heritage as depicted by our models. Later in life, some were rebuilt and received new road numbers. They were most often used in multiple on heavy freights.

NdeM FEATURES:
• Different paint masking per road number
• RS3L horn
• Footboards
• Pilot grabs
• Early cut levers

Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México was Mexico’s state-owned railway from 1938 to 1998. The road owned a relatively large group of SD40s; units 8503-8521 were delivered in 1968. Paint and decoration varied on the units, with some having green stepwells, and some yellow. Both versions are on offer in this release.

EMDX FEATURES:
• Former Conrail units
• RS3L horn
• EMD standard plow
• Cab-side vent

EMDX leasing SD40s in the 64XX series came from a variety of sources, including Conrail. They were common lease power from the mid1990s through the 2000s, and could be seen throughout the US from Washington to New York and anywhere in between.

CNW FEATURES:
• RS3L horn
• Western-Cullen beacon (flash effect on DCC/sound version)
• EMD standard plow
• No dynamic brakes

CNW 867-896 were built in 1966 and were the only SD40 units bough new by the road. Typical CNW features included a rooftop beacon and lack of dynamic brakes, although these units did not feature the prominent gong bells on the nose. Some carried their as-delivered paint into the 1980s.

Pan Am Railways, formerly Guilford Transportation Industries, operates trains over former BM, MEC, and Portland Terminal Railway, among others. They operated several SD40 units of mixed heritage. They could be found working in multiple throughout the system with almost any other class.

ROAD NUMBER SPECIFIC FEATURES:
• #602 K3LA horn, dynamic brakes, EMD standard plow, ditch lights
• #604 K5LA horn, no dynamic brakes, plain pilots, ditch lights

Athearn has answered the call for more undecorated units with this SD40 offering. Perfect for customizing with aftermarket parts for a
specific prototype, or use them for your freelance road or leasing service.

Undecorated FEATURES:
• Nose brake or rear brake wheel
• Cab side vent
• RS3L horn
• Front snowplow
• Front ditch lights
• Extended-range dynamic brakes

SOUND-EQUIPPED MODELS ALSO FEATURE
• Onboard DCC decoder with SoundTraxx Econami sound
• Single cube speaker for optimal sound quality
• Sound units operate in both DC and DCC
• Engine, horn, and bell sounds work in DC
• Some functions are limited in DC
• All functions NMRA compatible in DCC mode
• Effect lighting (if applicable) using F5 and/or F6
• Excellent low-speed operation
• Program a multiple unit (MU) lashup with lead unit only horn, bell, and lights
• Many functions can be altered via Configuration Value (CV) changes
• CV chart included in the box

PROTOTYPE AND BACKGROUND INFO:

Pan Am Railways, formerly Guilford Transportation Industries, operates trains over former BM, MEC, and Portland Terminal Railway, among others. They operated several SD40 units of mixed heritage. They could be found working in multiple throughout the system with almost any other class.

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article “EMD SD40”; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.

SD40 LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES:
• Photo-etched stainless steel windshield wipers
• Fully assembled and ready-to-run
• Separately applied wire grab irons
• Separately applied air tanks
• Coupler cut levers
• Rubber MU hoses
• Fine scale handrails molded in engineering plastic
• Non-sound version features 21-pin NEM DCC plug
• See-through dynamic brake and radiator fans
• Curved radiator fan grab iron
• Exhaust stack
• Frame mounted bell (unless noted)
• Detailed 4,000 gallon fuel tank (unless different capacity is noted)
• Flexicoil-C trucks with high or low brake cylinders (per prototype)
• McHenry scale knuckle spring couplers
• See through cab windows
• Bi-directional LED lighting
• All-wheel drive with precision gears for smooth and quiet operation
• All-wheel electrical pickup
• 5-pole motor with flywheels and multi-link drivetrain for trouble-free operation
• Wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track
• Window packaging for easy viewing
• Highly-detailed, injection molded body
• Painted and printed for realistic decoration
• Fully assembled and ready-to-run
• Minimum radius: 18”
• Recommended radius: 22”