Description
The American Locomotive Company, one of the nation’s premier steam locomotive builders, joined forces with Schenectady, New York neighbor General Electric to build the first standardized diesel-electric locomotives in the 1920s. But when the diesel revolution began in earnest after World War II, dependability problems with Alco’s model 244 prime mover doomed the company to forever playing second fiddle to industry leader EMD.
The brawny good looks of Alco’s FA and PA cab units have endeared them to railfans and modelers for more than half a century. Designed to compete with EMD’s FT four axle freight locomotive, the FA-1 contained many of the same design elements but used a new 12-cylinder 244 engine. Many would argue that Alco’s FA-1 and successor FA-2 diesels were both handsomer and more powerful looking than their major competitors, EMD’s F3 and F7 “covered wagons.” A signature feature of Alco cab units was the striking ribbed grille surrounding the headlight. And while FAs were sold primarily as freight haulers, like EMD’s F-units they had room for a passenger-service steam generator at the rear of the engine compartment.
Features:
Directionally Controlled Headlights
Operating MARS Light
Intricately Detailed ABS Bodies
1:87 Scale Proportions
Metal Wheels and Axles
(1) Scale Operating Kadee Compatible Coupler
(1) Operating Kadee Compatible Remote Controlled Proto-Coupler
Detailed Truck Sides, Pilots and Fuel Tank
Powerful 12-Volt 5-Pole Skew-Wound Precision Flywheel Equipped Motor
Locomotive Speed Control In Scale MPH Increments
Lighted Cab Interior
Illuminated Number Boards
Lighted Marker Lights
(2) Engineer Cab Figures
Moveable Spinning Roof Fan Blades
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 Head/Tail light
F1 Bell
F2 Horn
F3 Start-up/Shut-down
F4 PFA
F5 Lights (except head/tail)
F6 Master Volume
F7 Front Coupler
F8 Rear Coupler
F9 Forward Signal
F10 Reverse Signal
F11 Grade Crossing
F12 Clickety Clack (On/Off)
F13 Idle Sequence 4
F14 Idle Sequence 3
F15 Idle Sequence 2
F16 Idle Sequence 1
F17 Extended Start-up
F18 Extended Shut-down
F19 Rev Up
F20 Rev Down
F21 One Shot Doppler
F22 Coupler Slack
F23 Coupler Close
F24 Single Horn Blast
F25 Engine Sounds
F26 Brake Sounds
F27 Cab Chatter
F28 Feature Reset
Unit Measures:14? x 1 3/8? x 2 1/16? APPROX.
Operates On 22″ Radius Curves