I pre-ordered both NS AC4400s 4000/4001 from Steve Nelson aka Mr. Muffin's Trains who delivered them in Jan 2017. Both are nice looking engines. For me personally, both had quality issues right out of the box. Bad PS-3 board in one engine, loose wire plugs in the other that were caught up in the rear truck, a missing wiper decoration leaving a visible hole in one cab, and a loose walkway behind one cab. I fixed the minor stuff on one engine and the bad board engine is still at MTH for warranty repairs. Steve wanted MTH to see and fix the out-of-the-box problems. Unfortunately, MTH would not just swap the bad new engine for a good new one as I stood at their Service window.
The other functioning engine sounds good and I particularly like the extended horn play after holding down the remote's whistle button for a short bit. The Doppler sounds are very good. The engine does not have rear ditch lighting although wired for it (these were the loose wire plugs I had to tuck away). The color and crisp lines are very nice. The gray is a little lighter than I expected but pictures of the real thing vary so I'm still happy with the overall paint scheme. Standard PS 3.0 functionality and sounds. The PFA freight sounds are a little canned and don't sound like radio transmissions I've heard in other PS 3.0 engines, meaning they seem to lack the crackle and buzz of a radio transmit/receive. No big deal though.
I hope MTH makes the 4002 and 4004 or 4003 and 4005 with the black manes with Tuscan and Blue trims. Albeit with better quality assurance...
Here's a picture for you. Note the missing wiper light hole under the left-hand number board.
Credit: Norfolk Southern.
Credit: Tishia R. Boggs
