Proto 2000 Ho Scale Alco PA/PB Locomotive Set - Union Pacific

ALCO PA refers to a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains built in Schenectady, New York in the United States by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and General Electric (GE) between June, 1946 and December, 1953. They were of a cab unit design, and both cab-equipped lead A unit PA and cabless booster B unit PB models were built.

The PAs, as well as their cousins, the ALCO FAs, were born as a result of Alco's development of a new diesel engine design, the Model 244. In early 1944, development started on the new design, and by early 1946, the first engines were beginning to undergo tests. This unusually short testing sequence was brought about by the decision of Alco's senior management that the engine and an associated line of road locomotives had to be introduced no later than the end of 1946. In preparation for this deadline, by January of 1946, the first 244 engines were being tested, and while a strike delayed work on the locomotives, the first two PA units were released for road tests in June 1946, for testing for one month on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. After these first tests were completed, the locomotives returned to the factory for refurbishment and engine replacement. In September 1946, the first production units, an A-B-A set of PA1s in Santa Fe colors were released from the factory, and sent to New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which had a private railroad siding, for exhibition before being launched into road service.

Two different models were offered: the 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW) PA-1/PB-1 (built between September, 1946 and June, 1950); the 2,250 horsepower (1,680 kW) PA-2/PB-2 (built between April, 1950 and December, 1953)

Models popularly termed the PA-3/PB-3 were in fact only an upgrade of the PA-2/PB-2. The true PA-3/PB-3 model would have boasted 2,400 horsepower (1,800 kW), though none were ever built. Aside from the small power increase between the PA-1 and the PA-2, differences between the models were minor. Externally, PA-3s could be distinguished by the absence of the "eyebrow" trim piece on the grille behind the cab and the porthole window behind the radiator shutters. Internally, later PA-2 and PB-2 production featured a water-cooled turbocharger and other engine compartment changes, but these were frequently added to older models undergoing major repairs and/or overhauls.

Like its smaller cousin, the ALCO FA, the PA had distinctive styling, with a long, straight nose tipped by a headlight in a square, slitted grille, raked windshields, and trim pieces behind the cab windows that lengthened and sleekened the lines. The overall design owed something to the Fairbanks-Morse Erie-built design, which had been constructed by ALCO's electrical equipment partner General Electric at their Erie, Pennsylvania plant. The majority of PA components were compatible with the FA.

Fans deemed the PA one of the most beautiful diesels by design and an "Honorary Steam Locomotive", with the first being Professor George W. Hilton in a book review in the September, 1968, Trains Magazine,[2] because of a peculiarity of the ALCO 244 diesel prime mover when accelerating. Until the turbocharger came up to speed, thick clouds of black smoke would pour from the exhaust stacks, due to turbo lag. Photographing a moving PA while smoking became a prime objective of railfans.[3]

The ALCO 244 V16 diesel prime mover proved to be the undoing of the PA: The engine had been rushed into production, and proved to be unreliable in service. The PA locomotives failed to capture a marketplace dominated by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and their E-units. The original Santa Fe three unit set #51L, 51A and 51B was repowered in August 1954 with EMD 16-567C engines rated at 1,750 hp (1,305 kW). This EMD repowering of the PAs was economically unfeasible and the remaining Santa Fe PAs retained their 244 engines. The later 251-series engine, a vastly improved prime mover, was not available in time for ALCO to recover the loss of reputation caused by the unreliability of the 244. By the time the ALCO 251 engine was accepted into widespread use, General Electric (which ended the partnership with ALCO in 1953) had fielded their entries into the diesel-electric locomotive market. General Electric eventually supplanted ALCO as a manufacturer of locomotives. ALCO's loss of market share led to its demise in 1969.

See Union Pacific Model Trains: Athearn HO Scale C44-9W Locomotive - Union Pacific / Bachmann HO Scale Pacific Flyer Electric Train Set - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale GE AC4400 Locomotive - Union Pacific / Trainline HO Scale Alco FA-1 Locomotive - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale 4-8-4 Nothern "800" Locomotive - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale 50ft Combo Door Box Car - Union Pacific

Union Pacific News Articles: The Union Pacific Invests $5.7 Million To Improve Washington State Trackage / Railroad Photography - Saturday Afternoon At Oro Grande / Union Pacific To Sink $29 Million Into Improving Houston Infrastructure / The Union Pacific Increases Speed Through Malvern, Arkansas With Grade Crossing Improvements / Union Pacific Railroad Sets Monthly Record Moving Loaded Agricultural Unit Trains / Union Pacific Railroad's Pipeline Express Service Reaches 25,000 Rail Car Milestone / Railroad Photo Gallery - Union Pacific GP40-2 1368 (Ex Rio Grande) / The Diesel Railroad Locomotive - From Box Cabs And The SD40 To The SD70 And Gensets / The Cajon Pass Railroad Museum - The Birth Of A Dream

Athearn HO Scale 4-8-4 FEF-3 Locomotive - Union Pacific

Athearn HO Scale FEF-3 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive w/DCC & Sound, Union Pacific /Black #820

Product Features

HO Sound Equipped Steam
For use with your scale model railroad

Product Description

== Key Features == / / * Boiler backhead with full details and printed gauges / * Individually applied detail parts like piping, valves and generators / * Adjustable cab windows and opening doors / * Cab hatches can be opened and closed / * See-through running boards / * Blackened metal wheels / * 22" recommended minimum radius / * Pilot has opened and closed positions / * Factory installed DCC sound board with dual speakers / * Decoder automatically senses the power supply (works with both DC and DCC systems) / * Smoke unit ready with no soldering needed / * Includes hand-held remote control unit for DC operation / / == Specs == / / * DCC:Yes / * SOUND:Yes / * WHEEL CONFIGURATION:Northern / * COUPLER STYLE:Knuckle / * RTR/KIT:Ready To Run / * MIN. RADIUS:22" recommended

The FEF was a series of three types of 4-8-4 steam locomotives owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railway. The classes were: FEF-1; FEF-2; FEF-3. "FEF" was an acronym for the wheel arrangement, "four-eight-four."

During the late 1930s, the rising trainloads started to exceed the limits of the then in use 4-8-2's, which were the mainstay of the UP passenger operations. One day, in 1937, with UP President William Jeffer's business car in the rear, a "7000" Cass 4-8-2 demonstrated the lack of steaming power inherent in the type. Even when the train was waiting for rescue, dialog by telegram was sent to Alco in Schenectady, with a view of something better. The result was a superb class of forty-five locomotives.

The first twenty locomotives, numbered 800-819, were delivered by Alco in 1937. The "800"s as a whole followed - like Northumbrian 108 years earlier - the simplest possible arrangement of only having two outside cylinders. Fitting Alco's lateral motion devices to the leading coupled wheels eased the negotiation of curves. Complicated accessories often spoilt the basic simplicity of so many US locomotives, but UP resisted most of them, resulting in an elegant, uncluttered appearance. Despite frequently moving at speeds over 100 mph (161 km/h), the forces and stresses on the coupling and connecting rods were kept within acceptable limits. There were thus excellent results, and there were many reports of reaching the design limit of 110 mph (177 km/h).

The second batch of fifteen was delivered in 1939. Theses had several improvements, including larger cylinders, better tractive effort, taller driving wheels, and smoke deflectors on the sides of the smokebox. The greatest change, however, was the provision of a fourteen wheeled “pedestal” or “centipede” tender, in place of the twelve wheeled ones of the first twenty locomotives. Thus, the first locomotives became known as "FEF-1," whilst these were known as "FEF-2."

Except for the use of some substitute materials, the final batch of ten were nearly identical to the FEF-2. After World War II, coal supplies were affected by a series of strikes. In order to safeguard operations, UP converted the 800s to oil burning, and a 6,000 US gallons (23,000 l; 5,000 imp gal) tank was fitted in the bunker space. Otherwise, few modifications were needed to insure years of mainline service. These were the last steam locomotives delivered for the UP. 844, the last of the FEF-3 class, is the longest continuously operating 4-8-4 engine in the world, and the only one never retired by a Class I railroad. Like many of the "late era" steam locomotives, their final design was cut short by the advent of new monarchs of the rails, diesels. Although it is stated that the UP FEF series was designed to safely operate at 120 mph (190 km/h), no one really knows how fast the final 4-8-4 could go.

Other HO Scale 4-8-4 Northern Locomotives: Bachmann HO Scale 4-8-4 GS-4 Locomotive - American Freedom Train #4449 / Bachmann HO Scale 4-8-4 GS-4 Locomotive - Southern Pacific (War Baby) / Bachmann HO Scale 4-8-4 J Class Northern Locomotive - Norfolk & Western / Athearn HO Scale 4-8-4 Nothern "800" Locomotive - Union Pacific / Bachmann 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive - HO Scale - Santa Fe

Other Union Pacific HO Scale Items: Athearn HO Scale C44-9W Locomotive - Union Pacific / Bachmann HO Scale Pacific Flyer Electric Train Set - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale GE AC4400 Locomotive - Union Pacific / Trainline HO Scale Alco FA-1 Locomotive - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale 4-8-4 Nothern "800" Locomotive - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale 50ft Combo Door Box Car - Union Pacific

Union Pacific News Articles: The Union Pacific Increases Speed Through Malvern, Arkansas With Grade Crossing Improvements /Union Pacific Railroad Sets Monthly Record Moving Loaded Agricultural Unit Trains / Union Pacific Railroad's Pipeline Express Service Reaches 25,000 Rail Car Milestone / Railroad Photo Gallery - Union Pacific GP40-2 1368 (Ex Rio Grande) / The Diesel Railroad Locomotive - From Box Cabs And The SD40 To The SD70 And Gensets

Athearn HO Scale C44-9W Locomotive - Union Pacific

Athearn HO Scale Ready To Run C44-9W Locomotive, Union Pacific #9682

Product Features

Fully assembled and ready for your layout
Prototypically accurate horns
New window castings
Factory installed Celcon handrails

Product Description

== Key Features == / / * Fully assembled and ready for your layout / * Prototypically accurate horns / * New window castings / * Factory installed Celcon handrails / * DCC ready wiring harness installed / * Directional lighting / * Machined RP25 profile metal wheels / * Mchenry scale knuckle spring couplers installed / / == Specs == / / * DCC:Ready / * SOUND:No / * PROTOTYPE MANUFACTURER:General Electric / * COUPLER STYLE:McHenry Scale Knuckle / * RTR/KIT:Ready to Run / * ERA:1994 - Present / * MIN. RADIUS:18" / * Minimum Age Recommendation:8 years / * Is Assembly Required:No

DCC ready wiring harness installed

The GE C44-9W is a 4,390 hp (3,273 kW) diesel locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems of Erie, Pennsylvania. Keeping in tradition with GE's locomotive series nicknames beginning with the "Dash 7" of the 1970s, the C44-9W was dubbed the "Dash 9" upon its debut in 1993. The design has since proven popular with North American railroads. Because of more stringent emissions requirements that came into effect in the United States on January 1, 2005, the Dash 9-44CW has been replaced in production by the GE ES44DC.

Many North American railroads have ordered the C44-9W. They were originally ordered by Chicago & North Western Railway, Santa Fe, BNSF, CSX, Southern Pacific, Canadian National Railway, BC Rail, and Union Pacific Railroad. Norfolk Southern purchased the very similar Dash 9-40CWs.

Other C44-9W Locomotives In HO Scale: Athearn HO Scale C44-9W Locomotive - Southern Pacific / Athearn HO Scale C449W Locomotive - CSX

Other Union Pacific HO Scale Items: Bachmann HO Scale Pacific Flyer Electric Train Set - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale GE AC4400 Locomotive - Union Pacific / Trainline HO Scale Alco FA-1 Locomotive - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale 4-8-4 Nothern "800" Locomotive - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale 50ft Combo Door Box Car - Union Pacific

Union Pacific News Articles: Railroad Photo Gallery - Union Pacific GP40-2 1368 (Ex Rio Grande) / The Diesel Railroad Locomotive - From Box Cabs And The SD40 To The SD70 And Gensets

Bachmann HO Scale Pacific Flyer Electric Train Set - Union Pacific

Bachmann Trains Pacific Flyer Ready-to-Run HO Scale Train Set - Union Pacific

Product Features

0-6-0 steam locomotive and tender with operating headlight
2 Freight cars and off-center caboose
36" circle of snap-fit E-Z Track
Power pack and speed controller
Illustrated instruction manual

From the Manufacturer

Assembly and breakdown of trains in the railway yard is tough work, but this 0-6-0 steam switcher is ready to get the job done. Assemble your consist, clear the yard and move your freight to its final destination with the Pacific Flyer.

Product Description

NEAT GIFT: Pacific Flyer HO - scale Electric Train Set by Bachmann. SAVE BIG! Realistic 0-6-0 steam-type locomotive Train Set is ready to roll with everything you need to get going. Body-mount E-Z mate couplers; 11-Pcs. of steel E-Z Track creates a 36" circle; Curved plug-in terminal / rerailer; Locomotive and tender (9 1/2 x 2"h.); Boxcar (6 x 2 1/4"h.); Gondola (6 x 1 1/4"h.); Steel off-center caboose (5 1/4 x 2 1/4"h.); Power pack with speed dial. 120V, 60 Hz., 24W. 40" track leads. 6 1/2' AC plug-in cord. Set weighs 5 lbs., 2 ozs. For engineers 14 and up. Order this great gift today! Bachmann Pacific Flyer HO-scale Train Set

The Union Pacific Railroad was incorporated on July 1, 1862 in the wake of the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, the namesake of the city of Durant, Iowa, the first rails were laid in Omaha, Nebraska. The Union Pacific Railroad was joined together with the Central Pacific Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869 hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America. Subsequently, UP took over three Mormon-built roads: the Utah Central Rail Road extending south from Ogden, Utah, to Salt Lake City, the Utah Southern Railroad extending south from Salt Lake City into the Utah Valley, and the Utah Northern Railroad extending north from Ogden into Idaho; and it built or absorbed local lines that gave it access to Denver and to Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest. It acquired the Kansas Pacific (originally called the Union Pacific, Eastern Division, though in essence a separate railroad). It also owned narrow gauge trackage into the heart of the Colorado Rockies and a standard gauge line south from Denver across New Mexico into Texas (both parts of the Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway).

UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal of 1872. Its early troubles led to bankruptcy during the 1870s, the result of which was reorganization of the Union Pacific Railroad as the Union Pacific Railway on January 24, 1880, with its dominant stockholder being Jay Gould. The new company also declared bankruptcy, in 1893, but emerged on July 1, 1897, reverting to the original name, Union Pacific Railroad. Such minor changes in corporate titles were a common result of reorganization after bankruptcy among American railroads. This period saw the UP sell off some of its holdings; the Union Pacific Railway, Central Branch became the Central Branch of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Southern Branch was acquired by the newly-incorporated Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad in 1870. However, the UP soon recovered, and was strong enough to take control of Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1901 and then was ordered in 1913 by the U.S. Supreme Court to surrender control of the same. UP also founded the Sun Valley resort in Idaho in 1936, the UP engineering department in Omaha designed the first ski chairlift that summer. The MP and MKT both came back into the UP fold in the 1980s. In 1996, UP finally acquired SP in a transaction envisioned nearly a century earlier.

The headquarters of UP has been in Omaha, Nebraska since its inception. Currently they are housed in the Union Pacific Center, completed in 2003. Other important UP facilities in Omaha have included the Union Pacific Railroad Omaha Shops Facility and the Harriman Dispatch Center.

Other HO Scale Electric Train Sets: Bachmann HO Scale Rail King Electric Train Set - Santa Fe / Athearn HO Scale Iron Horse Express Electric Train Set - BNSF

Other Union Pacific HO Scale Items: Athearn HO Scale GE AC4400 Locomotive - Union Pacific / Trainline HO Scale Alco FA-1 Locomotive - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale 4-8-4 Nothern "800" Locomotive - Union Pacific / Athearn HO Scale 50ft Combo Door Box Car - Union Pacific /

Railroad Photo Gallery - Union Pacific GP40-2 1368 (Ex Rio Grande)

Photos & Story By: Ken Hulsey

One of the great things about the mega-mergers of the 1990's, is the fact that now railfans sometimes get a chance to see examples of motive power in their own region that would have never ventured there prior.

Case in point is today's photo study on Union Pacific GP40-2 #1368, which, as you can plainly see, is of ex Rio Grande lineage. To be precise, ex Rio Grande locomotive #3117. Had the Union Pacific never merged with the 'Grande" then it would be a forlorn conclusion that this diesel would have never found itself parked in Ontario, California, where these photos were taken.

Luckily, the UP never took the time to repaint many of their acquisitions, spare the front hood logo and company colored number board.

As luck would have it, I got a chance to talk to a Union Pacific engineer on this day, who informed me that there was and unaltered Rio Grande unit of this type still in use in it's native Colorado, often times paired with UP's, Rio Grande 'Heritage' series SD-70ACE #1989.

On this day in October of 2007, #1368 was lashed up with a pair of ex Southern Pacific road switchers, one of which is numbered 1414. I failed to note the number of the third locomotive.

Of course, I'm assuming that the second engine was Southern Pacific, with the long hood lettering painted over, it could be an old Cotton Belt unit. Locomotives from the SP owned line used to find themselves in the nearby Colton yard quite frequently when it was still in the railroad's ownership.

Since I snapped these photos, I have seen #1368 in and around UP's Colton digs a few times. The last time, being on the head end of a local, paired with a leased unit, traveling south through Grand Terrace with several loads of lumber.

Athearn HO Scale GE AC4400 Locomotive - Union Pacific

This item is available from Rails West!


Visit Rails West The Magazine Of Western Railroading - HERE

Trainline HO Scale Alco FA-1 Locomotive - Union Pacific

Trainline HO Scale Alco FA-1 Locomotive - Union Pacific #1500A

Product Features

Ready to Run
Dual Fly Wheels
Knuckle Couplers
Diecast Metal Frame
Quality construction and features

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

These workhorses feature colorful period paint and lettering to make them a must for vintage rosters. Locos feature cast metal frame, all-wheel drive and electrical pickup, powerful motor with flywheel, working headlight (FA only) and body-mounted couplers. Matching cabless FB-1 Boosters are available separately for those roads that used them.

The ALCO FA was a family of B-B diesel locomotives designed to haul freight trains. The locomotives were built by a partnership of ALCO and GE in Schenectady, New York, between January 1946 and May 1959. They were of a cab unit design, and both cab-equipped lead (A unit) FA and cabless booster (B unit) FB models were built. A dual passenger-freight version, the FPA/FPB, was also offered. It was equipped with a steam generator for heating passenger cars.

Externally, the FA and FB models looked very similar to the ALCO PA models produced in the same period. Both the FA and PA models were styled by GE's Ray Patten. They shared many of the same characteristics both aesthetically and mechanically. It was the locomotive's mechanical qualities (the ALCO 244 V-12 prime mover) and newer locomotive models from both General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) and General Electric (the partnership with ALCO was dissolved in 1953) that ultimately led to the retirement of the locomotive model from revenue service. Several examples of FAs and FBs have been preserved in railroad museums, a few of them in operational status on such lines as the Grand Canyon Railway and the Napa Valley Wine Train.

Athearn HO Scale 4-8-4 Nothern "800" Locomotive - Union Pacific

Athearn HO Scale FEF-3 Locomotive 4-8-4 w/DCC & Sound, Union Pacific /Black #838 ATHG9209

Product Features

HO Sound Equipped Steam
For use with your scale model railroad

Product Description

"Features * Boiler backhead with full details and printed gauges * Individually applied detail parts like piping, valves and generators * Adjustable cab windows and opening doors * Cab hatches can be opened and closed * See-through running boards * Blackened metal wheels * 22"" recommended minimum radius * Pilot has opened and closed positions * Factory installed DCC sound board with dual speakers * Decoder automatically senses the power supply (works with both DC and DCC systems) * Includes hand-held remote control unit for DC operation * Smoke unit ready with no soldering needed Overview The Genesis 4-8-4 FEF Northern

The FEF was a series of three types of 4-8-4 steam locomotives owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railway. The classes were: FEF-1; FEF-2; FEF-3. "FEF" was an acronym for the wheel arrangement, "four-eight-four."

During the late 1930s, the rising trainloads started to exceed the limits of the then in use 4-8-2's, which were the mainstay of the UP passenger operations. One day, in 1937, with UP President William Jeffer's business car in the rear, a "7000" Cass 4-8-2 demonstrated the lack of steaming power inherent in the type. Even when the train was waiting for rescue, dialog by telegram was sent to Alco in Schenectady, with a view of something better. The result was a superb class of forty-five locomotives.

The first twenty locomotives, numbered 800-819, were delivered by Alco in 1937. The "800"s as a whole followed - like Northumbrian 108 years earlier - the simplest possible arrangement of only having two outside cylinders. Fitting Alco's lateral motion devices to the leading coupled wheels eased the negotiation of curves. Complicated accessories often spoilt the basic simplicity of so many US locomotives, but UP resisted most of them, resulting in an elegant, uncluttered appearance. Despite frequently moving at speeds over 100mph (160kp/h), the forces and stresses on the coupling and connecting rods were kept within acceptable limits. There were thus excellent results, and there were many reports of reaching the design limit of 110mph (176kp/h).

Except for the use of some substitute materials, the final batch of ten were nearly identical to the FEF-2. After World War II, coal supplies were affected by a series of strikes. In order to safeguard operations, UP converted the "800"s to oil burning, and a 6,000 gallon (27m3) tank was fitted in the bunker space. Otherwise, few modifications were needed to insure years of mainline service. These were the last steam locomotives delivered for the UP. 844, the last of the FEF-3 class, is the longest continuously operating 4-8-4 engine in the world, and the only one never retired by a Class I railroad. Like many of the "late era" steam locomotives, their final design was cut short by the advent of new monarchs of the rails, diesels. Although it is stated that the UP FEF series was designed to safely operate at 120mph, no one really knows how fast the final 4-8-4 could go (Steve A. Lee, Manager of Union Pacific Steam Program).

Athearn HO Scale 50ft Combo Door Box Car - Union Pacific

Athearn HO Scale Ready To Run 50' Combo Door Box Car, Union Pacific / Map

Product Description
HO RTR 50' Combo Door Box UP/Map #166498