GREAT NORTHERN " EMPIRE BUILDER " FT - A/B units DC / DCC Ready HO Scale NEW

Description: INTERMOUNTAINHO ScaleREADY-TO_RUN FT A / B locomotive sDiesel EMD FT A / B Units DC Powered -- DCC Ready-- GREAT NORTHERN EMPIRE BUILDER First of the Famous F Series lineDC / DCC Ready Photo is stock photo of unit 416 You are purchasing road number 404 which is still sealed in the box OUT - OF - PRODUCTION LocomotivesDISCONTINUED By the Manufacturer Lettered for the:GREAT NORTHERN FEATURES:EMPIRE BUILDER paint scheme Perfect Power For Passenger Consists * 14:1 Gear Ratio for Easy Multiple-Unit Operations * Helical Gears for Ultra-Quiet & Smooth Running * Five-Pole, Skew-Wound, High Torque, High Efficiency Can Motor * Heavily Weighted for Maximum Traction * Factory Installed DC / DCC Ready* Painted Metal Grab Irons, Ladder Stand-Offs, Handrails & Lift Rings * Correct Coupling Distance Between A & B Units * Most Authentic Bulldog Nose Ever Done * Correct Windshield Slope * Road-Specific Horn, Spark Arrestors and other Roof Details * Roof Panel Weld Lines * Correctly Sized Bolt Heads * Complete Scale Fuel Tank w/Hangers, Battery Box, Air Tank & Underframe Detail * Working Headlight w/Bezel & Recessed Lens * Working Mars Light as Appropriate - Works on DC or DCC * With or Without Dynamic Brakes to Match Prototypes * Correct Style Lighted Numberboards * Bright Sunny White LED Lighting * Separate, Clear Class Lights * Full Cab Interior * Metal Knuckle Couplers * Full or Partial Fuel Tank Skirts to Match Prototypes * Correct Grab Iron Style & Placement for Each Roadname * Passenger or Snowplow Pilot * Sideframes w/Road Specific Journals & With or Without Automatic Train Stop (ATS) Shoe and Speed Recorder as Appropriate * Nose Lift Rings as Appropriate * Operating Diaphragms as Appropriate * Etched Metal Farr or Horizontal Grilles * Visible Details Behind Grilles & Under Fan Covers Mainline freight service was the last stronghold for steam power in America. By the late 1930s, diesels had proven themselves as switchers and as power for the new streamlined trains, but there were doubts that they could ever be practical in freight service. That all changed in late 1939 when EMD rolled out its brand-new FT locomotive. Borrowing some basic design elements from E series passenger power, but in a shorter, more powerful package, the demonstrator set out on a 35-state tour that covered nearly 90,000 miles. Railroads were amazed at what this single A-B-B-A lash-up with its incredible 5400 horsepower could do, and orders came quickly. With its proven track record, EMD was the only builder allowed to construct road diesel power during the materials shortages of World War II. The EMD FT is a 1,350-horsepower (1,010 kW) diesel-electric locomotive that was produced between March 1939 and November 1945, by General Motors' Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC), later known as GM Electro-Motive Division (EMD). The "F" stood for Fourteen Hundred (1400) horsepower (rounded from 1350) and the "T" for Twin, as it came standard in a two-unit set. The design was developed from the TA model built for the C,RI&P in 1937, and was similar in cylinder count, axle count, length, and layout. All told 555 cab-equipped ”A” units were built, along with 541 cabless booster or ”B” units, for a grand total of 1,096 units. The locomotives were all sold to customers in the United States. It was the first model in EMD's very successful F-unit series of cab unit freight diesels and was the locomotive that convinced many U.S. railroads that the diesel-electric freight locomotive was the future. Many rail historians consider the FT one of the most important locomotive models of all time. Design and productionThe first units produced for a customer were built in December 1940 and January 1941 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and numbered the 100 set. These were the first diesel-electric locomotives ever produced with dynamic braking, a system developed at the insistence of the railroad and with its assistance. Initially the four-unit, coupler-equipped set featured two booster units between two cab units in the manner of the demonstrator set. The Brotherhoods of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, however, insisted that the two cabs required two crews, so the railway had EMD produce extra boosters, and renumbered its earliest sets into four unit sets with one cab unit and three boosters. Negotiation with the unions soon rectified the situation, but as the road's earliest units were geared for higher speeds than subsequent units, these sets continued to be composed of one FTA cab unit and three FTB boosters. This is why the road had ten more FTB booster units than FTA cab units. The original A-B-B-A demonstrator set was sold to the Southern Railway. The FT was equipped with the EMD 567 medium-speed two-stroke cycle Diesel engine, along with its many successors. FTs were generally marketed as semi-permanently coupled A-B sets (a lead unit and a cabless booster connected by a solid drawbar) making a single locomotive of 2,700 hp (2,000 kW). Many railroads used pairs of these sets back to back to make up a four-unit A-B-B-A locomotive rated at 5,400 hp (4,000 kW). Some railroads purchased semi-permanently coupled A-B-A three-unit sets of 4,050 hp (3,020 kW). All units in a consist could be run from one cab; multiple unit (MU) control systems linked the units together. Some roads, like the initial customer Santa Fe, ordered all their FTs with regular couplers on both ends of each unit for added flexibility. This package included "hostler" controls for B units, enabling these units to be operated independently of A units for moving within yard limits, and a fifth porthole was provided in the carbody to enable the "hostler" some measure of visibility. Internally, EMD referred to these units as model FS. Engine and powertrainThe FT introduced a 16-cylinder version of the 567 (later 567A) series engine developing 1,350 hp (1,010 kW) at 800 rpm. Designed specifically for railroad locomotives, this mechanically scavenged (Roots-blown) two stroke 45 degree V type, with an 8+1⁄2 in (216 mm) bore by 10 in (254 mm) stroke giving 567 cubic inches (9.29 L) displacement per cylinder, remained in production until 1966. A D8 D.C. generator provides power to four D7 traction motors, two on each truck, one on each axle, in a B-B arrangement. The Blomberg design introduced here has been EMD's standard B truck, used with few exceptions through the F59PHI of 1994. EMD has built all its own components since 1939. Only the four demonstrator FTs used the 567 U-Deck engine. Those engines were replaced in the demonstrators by 567 V-Deck engines before sale to the Southern in May 1941. All FT locomotives built between December 1940 and February 1943 used the 567 V-Deck engine. The 567 V-Deck engine was replaced in production with the 567A engine in May 1943. All subsequent FT locomotives built from May 1943 to the end of production in November 1945 used the 567A engine. Body recognition and appearance The FT is very similar to the later F-units in appearance, but there are some differences that render it distinguishable from later EMD freight cab units. The side panels of the FT were different, but it was fairly common for railroads to alter them to make an earlier unit appear later. As built, FT units had four porthole windows spaced closely together along their sides, and B units with couplers on both ends had a fifth window on one side for the hostler position, if equipped with hostler controls. The roof is a more reliable indication; FTs had four exhaust stacks along the centerline (flanked by boxy structures if dynamic brakes were included). The radiator fans were recessed within the carbody, and arranged in two pairs, one near each end of the locomotive. Later units have the fans grouped together, and their shrouding extended atop the roof. The overhangs of the body past the trucks differ in the FT compared to later units. The B-units of FTs ordered in semi-permanently coupled A-B sets, and those with couplers on both ends, have a large overhang on one end (the coupler-equipped end on the paired units) featured on no other EMD B-units. This is not present on the B-units in semi-permanently coupled A-B-A sets, which were called FTSB units (for Short Booster). At other locations, except the cab front, the FT units have less of an overhang than later units; the trucks appear to be right at the ends of the car bodies. As with other early cab units - but unlike "hood" type locomotives - the F (and E) series used the body as a structural element, similar to a truss bridge. Most of EMD's newer passenger locomotives have a non-structural “cowl” type body built on an underframe derived from freight designs. Wartime restrictions An EMD model FT of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway receives service during World War II.During World War II, locomotive production was regulated by the War Production Board. First priority for the diesel prime movers' manufacturing capability, as well as the materials used in the fabrication and assembly of the engines, electric generators and traction motors was for military use. Steam locomotives could be built with fewer precious materials, and with less conflict with military needs. It was also opportune for eastern railroads to stick with coal-fired steam power while petroleum distribution to the east coast was disrupted in early days of the US war effort. The traditional locomotive builders were prohibited from developing or building diesel road locomotives until early 1945, with the exception of a few dual-service ALCO DL-109s for the New Haven Railway. EMD, however, was purely a diesel builder, and therefore was allowed to build diesel freight locomotives, as consistent with fulfilling Navy needs for their 567 engines. The WPB assigned the FTs to the railroads it deemed most able to benefit from the new locomotives. Santa Fe received by far the largest allocation, given its heavy war traffic and the difficulty and expense of providing water for steam locomotives on its long desert stretches. Were it not for the wartime restrictions, many more FTs would have been built. Most railroads wanted diesels, but often had to settle for steam locomotives. The wartime restrictions on other manufacturers' diesel programs helped ensure EMD's dominance of the postwar diesel market, as EMD exited the wartime restrictions with a fully mature diesel engine suited for high capacity road use. Other locomotive manufacturers, under extreme competitive pressure from EMD's high-powered and reliable 567 engine in the early postwar era, embarked upon crash development programs that yielded unsatisfactory results. EMD's advantage resulted in their selling the vast majority of units in the dieselization era and a death spiral for all who tried to compete with them in the early postwar market. Starting in 1945, the basic design underwent a number of changes, resulting in the F2, F3 and F5. But with the arrival of the F7 in 1949, EMD had exactly what the railroads needed to begin dieselizing with a vengeance. The F7 retained the 1500 horsepower 567B prime mover of the F3, but with better electrical equipment, it had a tonnage rating some 30% greater than the earlier model. The units could be geared for freight or passenger service, and were equally at home in either assignment. Over the next four years EMD built over 2200 A and 1400 B units, which were delivered in a rainbow of schemes to nearly every railroad in America. Tough and durable, many soldiered on into the early 70s and several have been preserved. HISTORY: The F7 was the fourth model in GM-EMD's successful line of F-unit locomotives, and by far the best-selling cab unit of all time. In fact, more F7s were built than all other F-units combined. The F7 succeeded the F3 model in GM-EMD's F-unit series, and was replaced in turn by the F9. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois, plant or GMD's London, Ontario, facility. There was no F4, -5 or -6 model; "7" was chosen to match the contemporary twin-engine E7, and was also applied to the new GP7 road-switcher. LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES: Molded in Windshield Wipers - See Thru Steps – Contoured Nose - Highly detailed side frames with floating journal covers - Dual or Single headlights – See Thru fan grills – separate non-functional blades – molded screen protectors – Scale Handrails - air intake grills - Straight or angled number boards appropriate to the prototype - Passenger Pilots - Detailed cab interior - Fuel and Water tanks as provided – Working DiaphramsOver 100 detail partsExceptional PerformanceDC Motor with super rite anisotropic magnets5-pole skew wound armature motor with low amp drawHeavy die cast chassis for maximum tractive effort8 - wheel electrical pick-upSintered bronze oilless bearings Dual Machined brass flywheelsPrecisely meshed worm gear and spur teeth for silent runningFrame mounted universal coupler pocketsHighly detailed spring trucksWorking diaphragms - Wire grab irons - Coupler cut levers - See-through cab windows - Windshield wipers - Lift rings – Working cab doors Directional constant lighting - Headlight brightness remains constant - Separately applied photo-etched metal and injection molded detail parts - Accurately-painted and –printed paint schemes - scale knuckle couplers - Kadee® compatible - Fully-assembled and ready-to-run - Scaled from prototype resources including drawings, field measurements, photographs, and more - All-wheel drive with precision gears for smooth & quiet operation - All-wheel electrical pickup provides reliable current flow - Wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track - Heavy die-cast frame for greater traction and more pulling power – As appropriate to the prototype road : Drop Steps, Sun Shades, Winterization Hatch, MU Boxes, All Weather Window, Dynamic Brakes and Steam GeneratorCab interior " These have been highly sought after Units Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE SHIPPING: 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: 349.89 USD

Location: Van, Texas

End Time: 2024-11-26T00:45:38.000Z

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