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I said I was way behind, so here is what arrived two weeks ago. Put 1 cent down on a pre-order price. Rapido Alco PAB set, and then a single A unit to make an ABA combination. Had them certified for museum operation and took them out onto the layout yesterday (Saturday October 1). Photo belows shows the set stopping on the main at Quartz mountain to wait for the facing City of San Francisco.
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The details are really good. Two loose parts out of the box, both a simple fix to put them back on. As you can see all the number boards light up, a be it a bit too bright. I could not get the marker lamps to light, but these are ESU decoders that I am unfamiliar with the function keys. The marker lamps are probably on f26 or something like that. Finally figured out that F6 is the Mars light in the top lens. The horns are also on different function keys than I am used to. F5 blows a complete grade crossing sequence on the horn, while F2 turns the horn on. I mean it stays on until F2 is pressed again. The workings of a German mind.
Both the A units have a funny little mark on the nose, where I am guessing some unit grabs it in the manufacturing process. The trailing unit also has a funny mark on the yellow stripe on the noise. Almost looks like a decal that didn't suck onto the paint properly.
The units just glide down the track silky smooth and quiet, but the front trucks on all three the units are really loose and do some duck walking down the track. The trailing A unit is so bad it makes the entire unit duck waddle. For the price I paid for these things (yes even the pre-order discount price was high), iInstead of trying to figure it out, I think I am just going to contact the vendor and ask about a replacement. This is especially since this is the same unit with the nose paint/decal issue. The B unit is listing to the left, going to have to figure out how the body is attached and see if that is a simple correction or not.
Reasons for obtaining the item or items
One cannot model the Santa Fe in the transition era and NOT have the Alco PAs on your "most wanted" list. Here is why. Released in 1946 the locomotive made an initial big hit with the Santa Fe on their maiden run with all the railroad brass on the train. The train left Trinidad up Raton Pass without any helper engines. Unfamiliar with the locos, the engineer was surprised when all the motors of all 3 (12 powered axles) transitioned at the same time, and it stalled to a dead stop. At the time Raton Pass was about 3.3% grade so being stopped dead with a 1182 ton train, which was Santa Fe's pride and joy, everyone was petrified that they were stranded until a helper could arrive. #51 in throttle notch 3 dug in with 108,000 lbs on the drawbar and got the train moving, greatly impressing all the brass on board. Full story is in
Santa Fe's Early Diesel Days by McCall page 167. Initially assigned to the Chief the PAs eventually saw service on about every train on the line other than the El Capitain and the Super Chief (both of which already had brand new locos). They were comfortable on the point of streamliners, heavyweights, and later in life fast freight. They served from San Diego to the Gulf of Mexico to, of course, Chicago. I will be using them on my 27 car San Francisco Chief and on a heavy weight California Limited.
A panned shot headed toward Sprague.