Entering service in 1989, the Dash 8-40CW was the first General Electric road diesel to feature the North American Safety Cab (also known as the wide-cab design), now a standard feature on modern freight locomotives. Between this revolutionary new cab style and other spotting features, the Dash 8 would pave the way for General Electric to become the most successful freight locomotive manufacturer of the 1990s and 2000s, with all subsequent GE locomotives adopting a similar appearance. Today, Dash 8-40CWs can still be found operating on road freights, while a number have been rebuilt to extend their service lives for years to come. The Bachmann Dash 8 40-CW features newly added operating ditch lights, a TCS Sound Value® DCC package, and road-specific configurations.
Features include:
- DCC Sound Value-equipped for sound, speed direction, and lighting control
- Keep-Alive® device to maintain running during brief power interruptions or on dirty track
- Dual-mode NMRA-compliant decoder for use on digital (DCC) and analog (DC) systems
- Prototype-specific headlight placement
- Conrail-style nose-mounted marker lights on CSX® and Norfolk Southern units
- Operating ditch lights
- Lighted number boards
- Painted crew figures
- Prototypical "Gull Wing" cab on Santa Fe unit
- Magnetically operated E-Z Mate® Mark II couplers
- Blackened machined metal wheels with RP25 contours
