PREORDER Rapido HO 42608 GE C36-7, Conrail #6639 (DCC and Sound) | 341.95

The Rapido Trains HO Scale C36-7 is based on General Electric'shigher-horsepower six-axle Dash-7 offering, with a 16-cylinder 3,600horsepower or 3,750 hp rating (compared to the C30-7's 3,000 hp.). Builtbetween July 1979 and February 1989, over 599 total units were produced. Ofthose, 129 were domestic orders for Conrail, Missouri Pacific, Norfolk &Western, and Norfolk Southern. Another 40 were made for Ferrocarril delPacifico and National de Mexico. Lastly, 422 were made for China with manysignificant export differences, and the final units produced were 8 forComilog in Gabon. Despite smaller production numbers, the C36-7 was orderedat key moments that resulted in it representing the evolution of GE sDash-7 line more than the popular C30-7s. When GE launched "1977 SeriesLocomotives" (Dash-7s) in, they cataloged a C30-7, C33-7, and C36-7.Railroads immediately ordered C30-7's for booming coal service. The C33-7was never ordered. The C36-7 was ignored until 1979, when National deMexico and Ferrocarril del Pacifico placed orders. These export C36-7s forMexico were essentially identical externally to C30-7s, which were beingbuilt by the hundreds at the time. Ferrocarril del Pacifico's units wererepainted into striking two-tone blue FNM paint and worked both freight andpassenger service. Of the 40 C36-7s built for Mexico, only one is still inservice in 2024 - Ferromex 9336. Incredibly, despite being the lastoperating C36-7 (among few remaining operating C30-7's) 9336 was repaintedin Ferromex's classy "Diet Coke" scheme in 2023. The Rapido model featuresrailroad and era-specific details, etched-metal grilles and details,roadname-appropriate lighting packages and Rapido semi-scale knucklecouplers on both ends. The smooth-running drive features a five-pole motorwith dual flywheels, backed up with the MoPower capacitor system foruninterrupted operation. This GE C36-7 is equipped with a full-featured ESULokSound and DCC decoder for realistic sound and control. The C36-7 is partof the line of Rapido Trains HOScale locomotives.