Who knows how long it was in the box, Harrison. I'm sure you will need to change oil and grease. Wheels probably have that patina build up from sitting. Now you're gonna have to change a piece of track so the horn works. A new 9 volt battery and fresh AAAs may make a difference with the sound as you really don't know how much voltage you were providing with the Tyco transformer. I'm sure it made kids' eyes pop back in the day. Thanks for sharing. 👍 👍 👍

At first I thought u were saying uve never seen a DDA40X and I was like “what railfanning rock have u been under”

I have one I bought in the late 70's, it's put away with 400 engines and cars, my father had a huge HO model RR, when he died my brothers and I divided up his collection. Most of what we have are from the 70's, I haven't touched them since he died in 1983. My grandsons will inherit my collection.

Man, UP has got the strongest, single frame locomotives for both steam and D.E. under its belt. Crazy to think

I had a Bachman F7. Ran it until it died. I was blown away by how much better the Athrean Bluebox model was.

At Kenefick Park in Omaha there's one of these sitting next to a Big Boy. Awesome sight to see

The horn is no more complicated than remote control cars of the era, it's just that in this case they applied it to a train. By the way, loved the red green reference.

I remember seeing something very similar to this at a local toy store when I was a kid and I wanted it so bad. I'm almost certain it was this, so this was a bit of nostalgia for me. I don't collect trains or anything, but I knew I had to click on this.

A Centinnial! I had one growing up. It was the center piece of my train set growing up. For a kid, I had an amazing HO trainset. It was 6 meters by 2 meters. I would still have it today if the basement had not flooded and destroyed my hard work. I got a paper route at 12 to be able to build that set. I think about it a lot.

This is something you would see in this Sears Christmas catalog in the 80s

I always wanted this loco...but even more I wanted a layout big enough to run it on!

8 axles. I don’t see those often. She’s a beast. Nice review of an old item. I don’t see those often either. You say Red Green, I saw MacGyver. Must be a generational thing.

Nice layout!

Nice. A legendary UP loco

I still think the Union Pacific U50 is weirder. Great video 👍

I have two very old Gilbert that don't run with drive shafts... This channel has sparked my interest again.

That was so cool. I really enjoyed watching. Thank you for sharing with us all. ♥😺♥

Love this !

Pretty interesting! I'm kind of reminded of how in the 60s Lionel had an HO-scale Santa Fe A-B-A diesel locomotive set that also used a battery-powered horn. Though of course Bachmann could pull it off with the DD40AX due to its' large body, just like how decades later the DD40AX would become Bachmann's first sound-equipped DCC locomotive. (A lot of older Bachmann products from the 70s and 80s are still being made today, in many cases as new and improved versions, like the aforementioned DD40AX.)

Always loved the DD40X, I remember this being in every Bachmann Ad in the late 80's early 90's

I had purchased the model you have. The DD40X in 1987. However it didn't have the speaker sound , batteries & the controller. I have the updated models as well they're pretty well.. very genius with the substitute when the 9 volt failed to work. I was 100% impressed. Loved the video..☺🚥

Wow very nice locomotive

That is so cool, you are very lucky to receive this engine.

Very nicely put together video and very entertaining as well. Thanks for posting this.

The horn system is like the old Lionel Postwar horn system. Battery in the loco and a special button to activate it.. That tyco controller is good for one thing, rifle target....

Interesting loco

I've actually been in one of those before! It's at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola CA. Pretty cool!

Very cool SMT keep up the great work

This was forty years ago. As someone who has been at it for over fifty years, I can't say they were great runners. You can upgrade the pancake motors, but most entry level HO locomotives used some cheap motor. I personally prefer the earlier single motor all wheel drive Bachmann locos. Very noisy drive trains, but they pulled. Many locos of that era still had a single powered truck. And I remember my first flywheel loco. It was an Atlas GP-38, about 1975. With a skew wound five pole motor. This is about the same time Athearn change to flywheels. But my earliest locos had three pole Pittman motors with rubber band drive. It smoothed out the pulses because few locos ran well at low speeds, and whoa be to those who ran pulse dc. We've come a long ways, baby!

"For use with all H0 equipment" Both Märklin and every narrow-ish turn radius disagrees.

The first real one of those ever built 6900 is here in Omaha Nebraska. I have a video here on YT of me washing it along with Bigboy 4023!

I believe it was 1984 when I received the Bachmann Centennial train set. It was the first train for my layout, 4x8. I had to go to my library to confirm the DD40x was a real engine. I have never seen a DD40X in person. It is my favorite engine after the F7 and F9. I prefer Bachmann for as a teen, and due to limited hobbies stores in my area, I found that Bachmann served me better than Tyco. My DD40X from childhood is long gone so I assembled a replacement set and, bought another DD40X engine while I was in the hospital, it was a panic buy . I enjoy your videos. Keep going with them

Z to G must have set those up just for you. That is something special.

really liking your videos during lockdown. good entertainment and learning. cheers for sharing

That’s awesome Harrison and awesome video and very awesome even more awesome Vary interesting they did back then and very generous of him to give the locomotive to youAnd have an awesome day Harrison

I bought an athern DD40X in about 1978-79. I got it in black. I was going to custom.paint it. That never happened. It's barely been out of the box. You could get them with one or two motors. I got it with one. I regret not getting it with two. It would be more rare today. I'll have to check mine but I'm pretty sure all the axles are powered. I was never a bachmman fan. At least not their engines.

The shell is the structural strength on these models. Back in the 80's I did an article in RMC on how to convert an Athearn drive with 2 can motors if you want to upgrade the power.

Nice job again SMT

I would suggest that the loco liveries were different on each model because in reality they were repainted after overhauls over time. Thus, perhaps they demonstrate the evolution of the locomotive livery fleet over the time they were in service.

Nice to see you working on that. I have two of those in the original boxes since I no longer model in HO. I believe I got them in 1980 or so. I bought the extra one to paint in a fantasy scheme. Mine don't have the horn option but they are nice models if you don't look too closely at them.

Awesome video liked 🚄🚄👍

I am 70 years old. I remember seeing this locomotive running on the rails of the Union Pacific back in the 1970s.

This locomotive blew me away on n scale and converted me to run American locomotives on my uk Layout? I’m a newbie to model rail road ,however a beautiful and and detailed locomotive as well a great pulling motor drew me in. Great review and thanks for sharing 👍 I’m surprised it’s running on tight radius fantastic

We’re a great big rollin railroad one that everybody knows.we were born of gold and silver spikes 100 years ago. We’re a million miles of history a-shinin in the sun. We’re the Union Pacific and our stories just begun.

The first time when you ran the train and honking the horn was hilarious I replayed it a lot of times

That's a nice locomotive, SMT, With some real interesting and ahead of its time features. But, you can't say that you made a Red Green solution, because you didn't use the handyman's secret weapon!

Yay!! Smt mainline uploads and I get my first heritage unit on the same day of my birthday!

I have seen that you have come up with alot of strange locomotives. Keep them coming

Haha good ol Bachman, they always ran like that even when they were new, always looked good though!

just bought one myself at a local show, the last owner had already upgraded and converted it to DCC, cant wait to run it at my local club! ☺☺

This brought me back to the hobby shop at the mall when I was a kid. It when bankrupt in the early 90s. I bought a Riverossi NYC streamlined4-6-4 and a med. Pacific that was from the seventies covered with dust. No one wanted to pay half a months rent for a toy. I still have then over 30 years later. Got them for $45 and $35 dollars.

They were strange however, I still have one in my train room. Not on the layout. Great video

I've got the newer Bachmann Sound DD40AX. I love the thing. it's a great puller. Very cool little piece of vintage gear you have there. I'll bet it runs pretty well once you get the electrical issue rsolved. Probably just some oxidation on the pick up bars. I've got a few old Life-Like engines with those pancake motors and they're silly fast. When I was a kid I may have suffered many "unintentional" derailments due to the speed. ;)

Thumbs up if you get the Red Green. Good time's !

DD40AX 6901 sits less than 5 minutes away from my house! To see this loco in person is pretty cool. It's bigger than you'd expect if you've never seen one IRL. Also, 6922 is in North Platte, Nebraska, and 6915 is in Pomona, California

Nice comparison.

Video crashed when you put on the track while watching....would not restart....must have been an awesome power draw 😊. Anthony

He is almost at 40k congratulations you earned it

In the 1980s as a kid this was my Dream locomotive and could never afford it to add to my 4x8 layout. The hobbyshop at the mall had one in their display in a diorama. Thought it was Awesome.

The horn is iconic like the smoke and choo choo and the air chime whistle in the post war american flyer trains

I bought 1 of these last year at a train show in N scale.

UP 6900 (The engine there) Has done some hauls with 4014 and 844, As of 2020 It has been sitting in Omaha NE, It is nice to see UP taking care of older units and doesn't completely scrap them all.

Holy cow, it's like Chernobyl in the cab once the headlights kick in!

this was a loco built for the union pacific only. I worked for the Union Pacific Rail Road from 1990 thru 2004 at the engine house at Hinkle Oregon and was able to get on one of these monsters. This was 2 sd 40s on the same frame. I have the 6919 on my n-scale lay out.

I can't believe you have 3 now and I have a older bachmann centennial

Well that’s a first for me a model locomotive with a battery compartment

Like watching the Canadian version of Sam's trains ! Love the Red Green reference !

I lived in Las Vegas from 1975 until 1981 and was lucky enough to ride in a DD40AX twice. First was in 6932, and the second time was in 6922. They were on a lot of trains heading to LA from Vegas and so I saw them a lot at 50-60MPH getting a run at the climb in and out of Vegas.

Nice Union Pacific, I have a Southern pacific Gp40/Gp-38 Diesal Locomotive. Hope you enjoy The Locomotive You Have!

I'll just throw this challenge out there, somebody get one of these, install a DCC decoder, and hook up one of the functions to the horn...

That is cool that it even has the instructions with it

that's really cool i had a dd 35a about the same length as that but unmarked silver and it had twin engines

Cool video, that's wild that it takes a battery to run the rear drive, although I like the fact that it allows for the walkway in the middle to be more realistic!

A bit late to the video, that's me. . . In 1971 (I think) I was transferred from California to Florida. Had a buddy that was going in the same direction to share driving. We had stopped in Cheyenne (Wyo) to look at the Big Boy that was behind a fence there. While we were walking around gawking, a westbound freight changed crews. Two DD-40s (DD-35A?? wide cabs) never stopped, they rolled at a walking pace as each relief crewman went aboard and the offgoing crewman stepped off. When the crews finished chamging, the four diesels wound up and went on their way. We watched the whole operation. I have seen this video several times in the past. I just happened to be thinking about the transfer and stopping in Cheyenne when I saw the listing. Bi11 Hudson

Love the Spectrum version of this with dual motors and all axles powered.

Practically every bachmann locomotive in that style of packaging has a higher chance of it having the pancake motor and the smaller chance is that the owner or the person selling switch boxes opon selling

I have this locomotive, and it actually has 2 motors in it to give it 2 truck pulling power. Also, the battery holder is designed for 2 “AA” batteries, not “AAA” batteries. If you like oddball Bachmann locomotives, you should look up a 2-10-4 Texas Chugger by Bachmann. I bought this steam locomotive back in 1979, and it has “Electronic Chugging Sounds” that come out of the tender. The tender has a plug you plug into the the rear of the locomotive to receive its power. No push button controller required. Both of my locomotives still run after all of these years, and still provide their electronic sounds.

I want the Bachmenn gs4 that was shown in the back of the box. But the thing is, it has horn hook couplers.

I had one of these in pennsy paint. I strung a wire to make the motor’s share connections and it worked a lot better :)

I used to want one of those growing up in the 80s. Glad I didn't get one because that thing is massive!

I don’t have a balcmann centennial but I’m saving my money for a balcmann gs4

Love the DD40X. Have 1 in O scale, 2 in HO, 3 in N scale.

I had that exact same transformer as a kid. I got some old reel to reel tape motors that I took apart and made a crazy powerful electromagnet.

I have seen that UP train in Illinois. AND I LOVE TRAIN TRAIN...

I've wanted one for years .

man last time i saw prongs like that they were on my old TV antenna.

Put AA batteries in the loco to make horn work!

SMT - Maybe you should experiment with adding weight over the non-powered truck? Adding weight may help the locomotive track better & make the headlight flicker less.

A model of one of the most powerful diesel-electric locomotives ever built. Really great looking model although I would think it would require wide-radius curves in your track layout due to it's length.

Who knew that DD40s had squeaky dog toys for horns

I always wanted this. But it would only run on 22" radius track and all I had was 18. Also, my first set was from Bachman and came with the red/silver Sante Fe Uboat on the back of the box!

I really want one of these!

THAT IS A VERY GENEROUS GIFT

Most of us that have been in model railroading know this is basically a toy but, it does provide a good start if you want to improve its detail level with aftermarket parts or parts harvested off of out of action units. And since you sound younger, you can do this easily, when you get older, the hands aren't as steady, lol. Same goes with the current Bachmann unit they call a DD40A I think? If you lash a nice Athearn DDA40X with an up-detailed unit shown in this video, it should be a nice looking unit. I run my Athearn DDA40X with a "fast 40" which is one of the many units lashed together for trains. The fast 40 is handy for running my Scaletrains Big Blow as well. Oh, keep an eye on the Athearn DDA40X as it can misbehave and cause the motors to sort of fight each other since there's two individual sound cards and motors inside. This will cause obvious damage and premature damage to the gears. And using proper lubricant is also important, I use silicone grease that you can find at any Autozone for a couple bucks.

I have one of these centennials. It works beautifully still, though it is missing all of the hand rails unfortunately.

Bachmann had some in the 70's & 80's that the lights wouldnt work unless they were full throttle ...defective bulb......my Baltimore and ohio F7 was like that when I was 10 or 11....or younger...made me mad...couldn't get a hold of the companies like u can now....magazine's or friend is how we got ahold of a company....lol I had Tyco slot cars do that also....

I have that same train and it runs like a beast

They were called Centennials (or 6900s) because the first, UP 6900, was delivered in time for the May 1969 centennial celebration of the golden spike near Ogden Utah. They were geared for 89 mph and I can personally attest that they could do that.

Mabey you should connect 6922 and the other one together for more power! So you can Move More Carts!

I have the modern one but it has issues with jerkiness when it starts but after a few minutes it smooths out, do you have any advice on how I can fix this I’ve heard on forums that it is a common problem with bachmann split frame locos.