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Southern Pacific HO Scale MTH HO 4-8-8-2 AC-6 Cab Forward Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 3.0 (Modern Cab)

80-3183-1
List Price:
$599.95
Roadname:
Southern Pacific
Scale:
HO Scale
Product Type:
Steam Locomotive
Product Line:
MTH HO
Delivery Status:
Delivered DEC. 2010

Overview

Part of the first transcontinental railroad, the Southern Pacific's passage over the Sierra Nevadas, from Sparks, Nevada to Roseville, California, has always been a challenge for man and machine. Grades in both directions approximate 2.5%. Thirty-nine tunnels and nearly 40 miles of snow sheds protect the track from snowdrifts and avalanches - Sierra Nevada, after all, is Spanish for "snow covered." Seeking more muscle for this route, the SP took delivery of two Baldwin articulated 2-8-8-2s in 1908. Initial trails, however, revealed that heat and exhaust gases in the tunnels and snowsheds made life nearly unbearable for the engine crew. Although cab forwards had been tried before in Italy and northern California, legend has it the SP cab forwards were inspired by an engineer who turned a Baldwin articulated around and ran it tender-first, putting the smoke behind him so he could breathe while he did his job.

The first true Southern Pacific Cab Forwards were delivered in March of 1910 and proved so successful that the SP eventually bought 254 more in various classes. Because the firebox and tender were at opposite ends of the locomotive, the cab forwards burned oil, piped under pressure from the tender to the firebox. The cab in front gave the engineer the best forward visibility of any steam locomotive.

The AC-6 Cab Forward returns to the rails offered for the first time in HO with Proto-Sound 3.0 in die-cast metal construction and outfitted with additional details, including legible builder's plates, painted backhead gauges, cab interior light, tender truck safety chains, and additional boiler details.* While many railfans are familiar with the AC-12 Cab Forward preserved at the California State Railroad Museum - the last new steam engine delivered to the Southern Pacific in 1944 - our model depicts the earlier AC-6 with its distinctive flat cab front and rounded Vanderbilt tender. Delivered in 1930-31, the AC-6 class set the pattern for all future Cab Forwards, with higher boiler pressure, more tractive effort, and the air compressors moved to the boiler front for better weight distribution. Several AC-6s were later modernized with a tapered cab front, and that version is also offered here for the first time.

Features

  • Die-Cast Boiler and Tender Body
  • Die-Cast Metal Chassis
  • Authentic Paint Scheme & Cab Numbers
  • RP-25 Metal Wheels Mounted On Metal Axles
  • Constant Voltage Headlight
  • Prototypical Rule 17 Lighting
  • Engineer and Fireman Figures
  • Detailed Truck Sides
  • Detailed Cab Interior
  • Powerful Balanced 12-Volt 5-Pole Precision Skewed Flywheel Equipped Motor
  • (2) Kadee Compatible Scale Couplers
  • Metal Handrails and Decorative Bell
  • Decorative Metal Whistle
  • Sprung Drive Wheels
  • Synchronized Puffing ProtoSmoker System
  • Locomotive Speed Control In Scale MPH Increments
  • Locomotive Cab To Tender Deck Plate
  • Detailed Tender Undercarriage
  • Interchangeable Traction Tire-Equipped Drive Wheels
  • On-Board DCC Receiver
  • Operates On Code 70, 83, & 100 Rail Curves

    Proto-Sound 3.0 equipped locomotives can be controlled in command mode with any DCC compliant command control system. While the user won't have access to all of the incredible features of Proto-Sound 3.0, independent control over the locomotive is possible. This means you can continue to use your existing DCC controller to independently control your other DCC equipped locomotives in addition to your Proto-Sound 3.0 locomotive on the same track at the same time.

    When using a DCC controller, the following Proto-Sound 3.0 locomotive features are accessible:

    • (F0) Headlight on/off
    • (F1) Bell on/off
    • (F2) Whistle/Horn on/off
    • (F3) Start-up/Shut-down
    • (F4) PFA initiate and advance
    • (F5) Cab Light on/off
    • (F6) Engine Sounds on/off
    • (F7) Volume low, med, high, off
    • (F8) Smoke on/off
    • (F9) Forward Signal Sound
    • (F10) Reverse Signal Sound
    • (F11) Coupler Slack Sound
    • (F12) Grade Crossing
    • (F13) One-Shot Doppler on/off
    • (F14) Extended Start Up
    • (F15) Extended Shut Down
    • (F16) Labor Chuff
    • (F17) Drift Chuff
    • (F18) Smoke Volume low, med, high
    • (F19) Single short whistle toot
    • (F20) Coupler Close
    • (F21) Feature Reset
    • (F22) Idle Sequence 1
    • (F23) Idle Sequence 2
    • (F24) Idle Sequence 3
    • (F25) Idle Sequence 4
    • (F26) Brakes auto/off
    • (F27) Cab Chatter auto/off
    • (F28) Clickety-Clack auto/off
    • Proto-Sound 3.0 With The Digital Command System Featuring: Quillable Whistle w/Freight Yard Proto-Effects
    • Unit Measures:16 3/4" x 1 1/2" x 2 5/16"
    • Operates On 18" Radius Curves

    • Support

    Manual:
    Document
    Parts:
    View:

    Available in Stores