GREAT NORTHERN 1955 " EMPIRE BUILDER " FULL 10 CAR Set HO Scale -INTERIOR NEW

Description: WALTHERS HO Scale Ready-To-Run THIS IS THE FULL 10 CAR SetEMPIRE BUILDER SET OFFERED AND INCLUDING THE ORANGE SLEEVES BUDD STREAMLINEDOut-Of-Production DISCONTINUED By the Manufacturer1955 " EMPIRE BUILDER " series in the GOLDEN AGE OF RAILROADINGThis is the LIMITED EDITION SERIES with detailed INTERIORS Unveiled in June 1929, the "Empire Builder" quickly established itself as the flagship passenger train of the Great Northern. Named for GN founder James J. Hill, it ran from Chicago (via the Burlington to St. Paul) to Seattle, with a separate section to Portland. Post-war plans for the new streamlined version were unveiled in early 1945 with the arrival of EMD E7A-A diesels attired in brilliant Omaha Orange and Pullman Green (later known as the Empire Builder scheme); deliveries of matching cars continued through 1947. Not content with this upgrade, GN completely refitted the train once more in 1951 and assigned A-B-A sets of F units as standard power. The Empire Builder reached its pinnacle of luxury in 1955 with the arrival of brand-new Vista-Dome and full or Great Dome cars offering incredible views of western scenery. This longer and heavier train was pulled by A-B-B-A sets of F units. Based on the 1955 train, Walthers offers a complete series of authentic models to re-create this legendary streamliner: THIS IS THE FULL 10 CAR Set Featuring ONE Each of : 932-9032 ACF Baggage-Mail #37-42932-9035 ACF Baggage-Dormitory #1200-1205932-9031 ACF 60-Seat Coach #1209-1214932-9039 Budd 48-Seat Vista Dome Coach #1320-1335932-9034 ACF Ranch Coffee Shop Lounge #1240-1245 ("...Lake" Series)932-9037 ACF 36-Seat "Lake" Series Diner932-9040 Budd Great Dome "...View" Series Lounge #1390-95932-9033 P-S "River" Series 7-4-3-1 Sleeper932-9036 P-S "Pass" Series 6-5-2 Sleeper 932-9038 "Coulee" Series 6-4-1 Observation Named for James J. Hill, known as the "empire builder" for his consolidation of several smaller lines into the Great Northern, the train that would become GN's flagship debuted on June 11, 1929. Providing fast, luxury service between Chicago and Seattle, riders were treated to a breathtaking look at both the Cascade and Rocky Mountain ranges, which with influence from GN, led to the development of Glacier National Park. Streamlined in 1947 and finished in a stunning orange and dark green scheme, the train was re-equipped in 1951 and expanded in 1955 with the arrival of Great Domes in the form of both 46-seat vista-dome coaches and full dome lounge cars. In 1967, the railroad began updating its image with a bold, new color scheme of Big Sky Blue and white on all types of equipment, which remained in use through the Burlington Northern merger of 1970. With some route changes, the Empire Builder remains in operation under Amtrak.From 1955 to 1971, Great Northern's Empire Builder (EB) set the standard for travel out west, but you may be surprised to learn it was equally important on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy ("Q"); Spokane, Portland & Seattle (SP&S) and Northern Pacific (NP)! Although operated independently, the four roads had had deep ties, and jointly operated the Builder and other long-distance passenger trains for many years.The "Q" rolled the Builder between St. Paul and Chicago, adding its own EMD E7 and E8 diesels, along with Budd-built stainless steel RPO and baggage cars ahead of the EB equipment. In later years, depending on the season, NP's North Coast Limited (NCL) cars were also moved on the same train, sometimes behind power from one, both, or all three roads.Out west, subsidiary SP&S hauled the Portland section west of Spokane, adding its own head-end cars and a mix of motive power that included the road's EMD F units, its lone E7 and the occasional passenger GP9. West of Pasco, Washington, the train also carried the Portland section of NP's NCL.While GN assigned cars specifically to the EB, the rules began to relax in later years as trains were consolidated. Equipment began to move around and it wasn't unusual to find EB cars from both the 1947 and 1951 orders running together or on secondary trains like the Western Star.More changes came as plans to form the new Burlington Northern took shape and the EB, NCL and Twin Cities Zephyr were merged into one train, with a mix of cars in three colors! By 1968, some were sporting new BN green but this was short-lived as Amtrak took over passenger operations on April 1, 1971.In Amtrak's early years, some EB cars wandered all over the west. Imagine riding in a Ranch Coffee Shop Lounge on the Coast Starlight out of Los Angeles - it happened (and it was a fun ride)! Since the train was rerouted onto Milwaukee Road lines between St. Paul and Chicago, ex-GN locos and cars were regularly seen on MILW lines. The cars also migrated onto the North Coast Hiawatha - Amtrak's version of the NCL, and the Chicago-Duluth, Minnesota North Star. Other medium-distance trains radiating out of the Chicago hub carried former GN cars too. This colorful mix and match of cars lasted into the mid 1970s.Aside from the cars, GN EMD F7s also made the rounds under GN, BN and Amtrak. Dressed in GN's simplified Pullman Green and Omaha Orange scheme - a scheme that lasted into the BN and Amtrak eras, the units mixed it up with standard EB painted units, Big Sky Blue locos as well as NP, Amtrak and "Q" power, plus units from other roads as Amtrak assigned them. Units in this scheme also ran in freight service. Looking back on its long and colorful history, the WalthersProto Empire Builder makes a perfect addition to Amtrak, BN, "Q," MILW, NP and SP&S layouts as well. EMPIRE BUILDER HISTORY :The Empire Builder is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northern Railway and was retained by Amtrak when it took over intercity rail service in 1971.The end-to-end travel time of the route is 45–46 hours for an average speed of about 50 mph (80 km/h), though the train travels as fast as 79 mph (127 km/h) over the majority of the route. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route.During fiscal year 2023, the Empire Builder carried 338,993 passengers, an increase of 15.0% from FY2022 but 21.8% below pre-COVID-19 levels (433,372 passengers during FY2019). During FY2022, the train had a total revenue of $49,600,000. HistoryThe Great Northern Railway inaugurated the Empire Builder on June 10, 1929. It was named in honor of the company's founder, James J. Hill, who had reorganized several failing railroads into the only successful attempt at a privately funded transcontinental railroad. It reached the Pacific Northwest in the late 19th century, and for this feat, he was nicknamed "The Empire Builder". Following World War II, Great Northern placed new streamlined and diesel-powered trains in service that cut the scheduled 2,211-mile trip between Chicago and Seattle from 58.5 hours to 45 hours.The schedule allowed riders views of the Cascade Mountains and Glacier National Park, a park established through the lobbying efforts of the Great Northern. Re-equipped with domes in 1955, the Empire Builder offered passengers sweeping views of the route through three dome coaches and one full-length Great Dome car for first class passengers.In 1970, the Great Northern merged with three other closely affiliated railroads to form the Burlington Northern Railroad, which assumed operation of the Builder. Amtrak took over the train when it began operating most intercity routes a year later. To improve its farebox recovery ratio, Amtrak shifted the Chicago–St. Paul leg to run through Milwaukee via the Milwaukee Road. Before 1971, the Chicago–St. Paul leg used the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad's mainline along the Mississippi River through Wisconsin. The service also used to operate west from the Twin Cities before turning northwest in Willmar, Minnesota, to reach Fargo.Amtrak added a Portland section in 1981, with the train splitting in Spokane. This restored service to the line previously operated by the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. It was not the first time that the train had operated Seattle and Portland sections; Great Northern had split the Builder in Spokane for much of the 1940s and 1950s.In 2005, Amtrak upgraded service to include a wine and cheese tasting in the dining car for sleeping car passengers and free newspapers in the morning. Amtrak's inspector general eliminated some of these services in 2013 as part of a cost-saving measure.During summer months, on portions of the route, "Trails and Rails" volunteer tour guides in the lounge car give commentary on points of visual and historic interest that can be viewed from the train.After running daily for the better part of a century, the Empire Builder was cut back to tri-weekly operation along with most of Amtrak's other long-distance routes on October 12, 2020, as part of a round of service reductions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For most of the fall and winter of 2020–21, trains departed Chicago on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and departed Seattle or Portland on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. However, in March 2021, Amtrak announced the train would return to its pre-pandemic daily schedule on May 24, 2021The current Amtrak Empire Builder passes through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. It makes service stops in Spokane, Washington; Havre, Montana; Minot, North Dakota; and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Its other major stops include Vancouver, Washington; Whitefish, Montana; Williston, North Dakota; Fargo, North Dakota; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It uses BNSF Railway's Northern Transcon from Seattle to Minneapolis, Minnesota Commercial Railway from Minneapolis to St. Paul, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (former Milwaukee Road) from St. Paul to Rondout, Illinois, and Metra's Milwaukee District / North Line (former Milwaukee Road) from Rondout to Chicago. The St. Paul to Chicago portion currently follows the route of the former Twin Cities Hiawatha, and beginning in May 2024 has been supplemented by the Borealis. In pre-Amtrak days it used the Twin Zephyrs routing.The Seattle section uses the Cascade Tunnel and Stevens Pass as it traverses the Cascade Range to reach Spokane, while the Portland section runs along the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. The cars from the two sections are combined at Spokane. The combined train then traverses the mountains of northeastern Washington, northern Idaho and northwestern Montana, arriving in Whitefish in the morning. The schedule is timed so that the train passes through the Rocky Mountains (and Glacier National Park) during daylight – an occurrence that is more likely on the eastbound train during summer. Passengers can see sweeping views as the Builder travels along the middle fork of the Flathead River, crossing the Continental Divide at Marias Pass. After crossing Marias Pass, the Empire Builder leaves Glacier National Park and enters the Northern Plains of eastern Montana and North Dakota.The land changes from prairie to forest as it travels through Minnesota. From Minneapolis-St. Paul, the Empire Builder crosses the Mississippi River at Hastings, Minnesota and passes through southeastern Minnesota cities on or near Lake Pepin before crossing the Mississippi again at La Crosse, Wisconsin. The service travels southeast through rural south-central Wisconsin, turns due south at Milwaukee, and ends at Chicago Union Station.The westbound Empire Builder leaves Chicago in early afternoon, arriving in Milwaukee just before the afternoon rush and in St. Paul in the evening. After traveling overnight through Minnesota, it spends most of the following day traveling through North Dakota and Montana, arriving at Glacier National Park in the early evening and splitting late at night in Spokane. The Seattle section travels through the Cascades overnight, arriving in Seattle in mid-morning. The Portland section arrives in the Tri-Cities just before breakfast and in Portland in mid-morning. The eastbound Seattle and Portland sections leave within five minutes of each other just before the afternoon rush, combining in Spokane and traveling through Montana overnight before arriving at Glacier National Park in mid-morning and Williston at dinner time. After traveling overnight through North Dakota and Minnesota, it arrives in St. Paul at breakfast time, Columbus/Madison at lunch time, Milwaukee in early afternoon and Chicago just before the afternoon rush.Stops at Milwaukee Airport and Sturtevant were added beginning March 21, 2020, to replace Hiawatha trains suspended due to the COVID-19-related drastic drop in demand. Additionally, local travel was allowed between Chicago and Milwaukee. These adjustments lasted until the train resumed its normal schedule in May 2021.When first launched in 1929, the Great Northern provided new heavyweight consists. When the railway received five new streamlined trainsets in 1947, the old heavyweight sets were used to reintroduce the Oriental Limited. In 1951 the Empire Builder was re-equipped with six new streamlined trainsets; the 1947 cars were used to launch the Western Star, while the Oriental Limited was retired. When the GN acquired dome coaches in 1955, the 1951 coaches went to Western Star, while the 1947 coaches went to the pool of spare and extra-movement cars. Ownership of the cars on the Empire Builder was by-and-large split between the Great Northern and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), though a couple of cars in the original consists were owned by the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway (SP&S). In this consist, one of the 48-seat "chair" cars and one of the 4-section sleepers were used for the connection to Portland, while the rest of the consist connected to Seattle. Car Features:Accurately scaled from engineering drawingsScaled Dimensions & Rivet DetailComplete End, Roof & Underbody DetailingFactory - Installed Side Door Hand RailsScale set-back windowsCorrect Trucks with RP-25 Metal WheelsDetailed full InteriorsFull Decal SetRemovable Roof Standard Draft Gear Box with Knuckle CouplersLight pick ups installed (accepts light bar - sold separately)Crisp detailed, realistic lettering, matched to prototype photographsRealistic satin paint finish, great for weatheringGreat for weathering with chalks or airbrushDetailed truck side framesLow-friction, nonmagnetic, needlepoint metal axles, no lubrication requiredMinimum Radius 24 inches recommended It is part of the ORANGE SLEEVE " EMPIRE BUILDER " Series We do combine shipping on multiple purchases. If you do a Buy It Now the transaction requires immediate payment for each item separately. What you need to do is put it in the shopping cart and then when you go to checkout it will recalculate the shipping and combine the items for you. If you pay first I am unable to make any adjustment because ebay has then taken its fees on the shipping as well. If you have a concern message me and I can work something out for you. THIS IS AN ASSEMBLED Item The item is NEW in the original box from old stock PERSONAL INVENTORY: Many of these unique items are from my personal inventory which was accumulated over the years. They are hard to part with but due to downsizing in retirement they too are looking for a good home which can appreciate and enjoy them. STORE INVENTORY: Having discontinued my Hobby Store and left frigid “Minne-Snow-Da” I have relocated and retired to the warmer part of the country, Down to Sunny TEXAS. I will be Liquidating the remaining stock. I will be listing items over the next year or so clearing them out. Please see the photos we take actual photos of each item Most of these items are New in the box removed only to take photos of them.

Price: 1299.95 USD

Location: Van, Texas

End Time: 2025-01-08T23:16:49.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD