Rapido C36-7 42105 (DC/Silent) Conrail #6621 HO Scale

Note: Pictures are sometimes representations, exact road numbers may not be shown.

The Rapido HO Scale C36-7 Locomotive features:

•  Headlights and rear lights
• Class lights, marker lights, or ditch lights, where applicable
• Step lights
• Lit number boards
• Full traction motor casing details
• Metal brake chain on engineer’s side
• Detailed underbody piping and conduit
• Separate grab irons
• Rapido’s innovative dead straight metal side handrails with plastic stanchions
• Detailed cab interior
• Lighted control stand
• Heavy, die-cast weight for heavy hauling
• 5-pole skew-wound motor with dual flywheels
• Sound-equipped units feature ESU Loksound V5 decoders
• Many road specific details 
  

The C36-7 was General Electric’s higher-horsepower six-axle Dash-7 offering, with a 16-cylinder 3,600 horsepower or 3,750 hp rating (compared to the C30-7's 3,000 hp.) Built between July 1979 and February 1989, over 599 total units were produced. Of those, 129 were domestic orders for Conrail, Missouri Pacific, Norfolk & Western, and Norfolk Southern. Another 40 were made for Ferrocarril del Pacifico and National de Mexico. Lastly, 422 were made for China with many significant export differences, and the final units produced were 8 for Comilog in Gabon.  

Despite smaller production numbers, the C36-7 was ordered at key moments that resulted in it representing the evolution of GE’s Dash-7 line more than the popular C30-7's. When GE launched “1977 Series Locomotives” (Dash-7's) in, they cataloged a C30-7, C33-7, and C36-7. Railroads immediately ordered C30-7's for booming coal service. The C33-7 was never ordered. The C36-7 was ignored until 1979, when National de Mexico and Ferrocarril del Pacifico placed orders.  

These export C36-7's for Mexico were essentially identical externally to C30-7's, which were being built by the hundreds at the time. Ferrocarril del Pacifico’s units were repainted into striking two-tone blue FNM paint and worked both freight and passenger service. Of the 40 C36-7's built for Mexico, only one is still in service - Ferromex 9336. Incredibly, despite being the last operating C36-7 (among few remaining operating C30-7's) 9336 was repainted in Ferromex’s classy “Diet Coke” scheme in 2023.