Beginning in 1986, the Santa Fe rebuilt 50 GP39-2s, designating them as GP39-2u’s. The upgrading process manifested itself externally with new “swing-out” style number boards, a new style exhaust stack and the fuel tank shifted to the rear, and other enhancements.

Never before offered in any scale are these GP39-2u’s, available now as part of Athearn’s latest release of HO scale Genesis GP39-2s. Liveries for GP39-2u’s include Santa Fe, BNSF (Heritage I), and Portland and Western. Conventional GP39-2s in this production also include CSX (yn3) and Delaware & Hudson (solid blue).  As with many recent Genesis locomotive releases, these GP39-2s now feature illuminated numberboards and where applicable, lit classification lights.  DC/DCC-ready silent models retail for $229.99 each, while DC+DCC+Sound locomotives equipped with Soundtraxx Tsunami2 decoders are $329.99. Available now while supplies last.

Athearn Trains, athearn.com

Part of the GP39-2 upgrade process was to shift the fuel tank rearward to improve weight distribution and traction. Athearn has correctly echoed this feature on its Genesis-series replicas of these Santa Fe GP39-2us.  GP39-2us operate today on the BNSF and on the Portland & Western.  Athearn also offers GP39-2us in additional road numbers for Santa Fe, BNSF and the Portland & Western.