Product Description
Announced Date:
Oct 2023
Released Date:
Aug 2024
Individually Boxed:
No - 2 to a case
Road Name: Erie Lackawanna
Road Number: 859
Product Line: Premier
Scale: O Scale
Features:
Intricately Detailed, Durable ABS Body
Die-Cast Truck Sides, Pilots and Fuel Tank
Metal Chassis
Metal Handrails and Horn
Moveable Roof Fans
Metal Body Side Grilles
(2) Handpainted Engineer Cab Figures In Each A Unit
Authentic Paint Scheme
Metal Wheels, Axles and Gears
(2) Remote-Controlled Proto-Couplers
O Scale Kadee-Compatible Coupler Mounting Pads
Prototypical Rule 17 Lighting
Directionally Controlled Constant Voltage LED Headlight
Lighted LED Cab Interior Light
Illuminated LED Number Boards
Lighted LED Marker Lights
Operating LED MARS Light
(2) Precision Flywheel-Equipped Motors
Operating ProtoSmoke Diesel Exhaust
Onboard DCC/DCS Decoder
Locomotive Speed Control In Scale MPH Increments
1:48 Scale Proportions
Proto-Sound 3.0 With The Digital Command System Featuring Passenger Station Proto-Effects
Unit Measures: 16 3/4” x 2 5/8” x 3 3/4”
Operates On O-31 Curves
Diesel DCC Features
F0 Head/Tail light
F1 Bell
F2 Horn
F3 Start-up/Shut-down
F4 PFA
F5 Lights (except head/tail)
F6 Master Volume
F7 Front Coupler
F8 Rear Coupler
F9 Forward Signal
F10 Reverse Signal
F11 Grade Crossing
F12 Smoke On/Off
F13 Smoke Volume
F14 Idle Sequence 3
F15 Idle Sequence 2
F16 Idle Sequence 1
F17 Extended Start-up
F18 Extended Shut-down
F19 Rev Up
F20 Rev Down
F21 One Shot Doppler
F22 Coupler Slack
F23 Coupler Close
F24 Single Horn Blast
F25 Engine Sounds
F26 Brake Sounds
F27 Cab Chatter
F28 Feature Reset
Overview:
The PA was Alco's glamour girl. While Electro-Motive's E-units easily beat Alco's passenger engine in terms of popularity, the PA is widely regarded as the most beautiful first-generation diesel - period. Perhaps no other locomotive looked so right at the head of the streamlined trains of the late forties and fifties that were the last hurrah of American long-distance passenger service. The 294 PA's and cabless PB's built between 1946 and 1953 powered some of America's most famous name trains, from the Pennsylvania's Broadway Limited to the New Haven's Merchants' Limited.
The muscular PA profile and its elegant nose, with the characteristic grille around the headlight, were designed by Ray Patten, General Electric's head of industrial design. At the time, GE and Alco were partners in the locomotive business, with GE making the electrical equipment for all Alco diesels. Patten's design was described as "a locomotive so distinctive and so powerful looking that it actually helps railroads sell their services to passengers and shippers."
Under the hood of the PA beat a 16-cylinder model 244 prime mover that developed 2000 hp. Depending on their gearing, PA's could hustle a passenger consist along at up to 100 mph.
Long after all other PA's had gone to scrap, four restored ex-Santa Fe units remained in service on the Delaware & Hudson into the late 1970's. Sold to the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico (FNM) in 1978, most of the units eventually deteriorated to junk status, although one remained operational. But in April of 2000, Doyle McCormack - who also happens to be the engineer of 4449, the restored Southern Pacific Daylight - and the Smithsonian Institution repatriated two of the junked units for rebuilding.
Recreate the excitement of first-class passenger travel with Premier Alco PA locomotives and matching Premier passenger sets. Our ProtoSound 3.0 sound and control system brings you the authentic sounds of an Alco prime mover and station announcements for name trains of the 1940s and '50s - along with the ability to start your train so gently you won't spill the water in the diner and then accelerate up to scale speeds of over 100 mph, just like the prototype.