Amtrak O Scale Premier AEM-7 Electric Locomotive With Proto-Sound 3.0

With the demise of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 and the near-death of American passenger trains around the same time, the market for electric engines dried up. Designing new electric locomotives became a lost art in the United States. Not so in Europe, however, where overhead wires were the dominant source of motive power, and virtually every country had a thriving national passenger carrier. It was no wonder, then, that Amtrak turned to Europe in 1977 for a replacement for its aging fleet of ex-Pennsy GG1 locomotives - after an earlier effort, the General Electric E60, had been a bust.

In a contest reminiscent of the 1934 competition between General Electric and Baldwin-Westinghouse designs that spawned the GG1, Amtrak imported a Swedish and a French electric to vie for the title of the G's successor. The four-axle Swedish design proved more suited to American track than its 6-axle French rival, and Amtrak placed an initial order for 30 locomotives. Trucks and electrical gear were made in Sweden by ASEA (Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Atkiebolaget), bodies came from the Budd Company, and American diesel-builder EMD did the final assembly. Officially named the AEM-7 ("A" for ASEA, "EM" for EMD, and "7" for 7,000 horsepower), the engines were soon affectionately dubbed "toasters" for the boxy silver appearance or "Swedish Meatballs." Flying Toasters might have been more appropriate; with nearly half again as much power as a GG1, they can do 125 mph and were the fastest thing on American rails until the Acela arrived. For more than two decades, the Toasters have been the backbone of service on the Northeast Corridor, and today nearly all of them are still in service alongside more modern HHP-8 engines and Acela trainsets.

The handwriting is on the wall, however, for the venerable AEM-7s, which collectively have logged more than 200 million miles. In mid-2013, Amtrak took delivery of the first of 70 Siemens-built ACS-64 Cities Sprinters, which will replace all AEM-7s and HHP-8s by 2016.

• Intricately Detailed ABS Body
• Die-Cast Truck Sides, Pilots and Fuel Tank
• Metal Chassis
• Metal Handrails and Horn
• Metal Body Side Grilles
• (2) Engineer Cab Figures
• Authentic Paint Scheme
• Metal Wheels, Axles and Gears
• Kadee Compatible Coupler Mounting Pads
• (2) Remote Controlled Proto-Couplers
• Prototypical Rule 17 Lighting
• Directionally Controlled Constant Voltage LED Headlights
• Lighted Cab Interior
• Simulated Stainless Steel Plated Finish
• Illuminated Number Boards
• Lighted Marker Lights
• Overhead Blinking Light
• (2) Precision Flywheel-Equipped Motors
• Mechanically Operating Pantographs
• Catenary/Track Power Selector Switch
• Onboard DCC Receiver
• 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:13 1/2 x 2 3/8 x 3 5/8
• Operates On O-42 Curves Diesel DCC Features
• Headlight/Taillights
• Bell On/Off
• Horn Blast
• Start-up/Shut-down Sounds
• Passenger Station/Freight Yard Sounds
• Lights (except head/tail lights)
• Master Volume UP/Down
• Front Coupler Open
• Rear Coupler Open
• Forward Horn Signal
• Reverse HOrn Signal
• Grade Crossing Signal
• Idle Sequences 2
• Idle Sequences 1
• Extended Start-up Sounds
• Extended Shut-down Sounds
• One Shot Doppler Effect
• Coupler Slack Sound
• Coupler Close Sound
• Single Horn Sound Blast
• Engine Sound On/Off
• Brake Sound On/Off
• Cab Chatter Sounds
• Feature Reset Activation
• Train Marker