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

20-5716-1

List Price:
$499.95

Roadname:
Amtrak
Cab/Car Number:
941
Scale:
O Scale
Product Type:
Diesel/Electric Locomotive
Product Line:
Premier
Delivery Status:
Delivered: Sept. 2018

Overview

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 (Allm„nna 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 their 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 three decades, the Toasters were the backbone of Amtrak service on the Northeast Corridor and mainstays of MARC (Maryland Area Regional Commuter) and other commuter operators. Collectively, they logged more than 200 million miles. In 2014, however, Amtrak took delivery of the first of 70 Siemens-built ACS-64 Cities Sprinters, which replaced all AEM-7s by 2016, while MARC retired its last AEM-7s in early 2017.

Features

  • Intricately Detailed, Durable ABS Body
  • Die-Cast Truck Sides, Pilots and Fuel Tank
  • Metal Chassis
  • Metal Handrails and Horn
  • Metal Body Side Grilles
  • (2) Handpainted Engineer Cab Figures
  • Authentic Paint Scheme
  • Metal Wheels, Axles and Gears
  • (2) Remote-Controlled Proto-Couplers
  • O Scale Kadee-Compatible Coupler Mounting Pads
  • Prototypical Rule 17 Lighting
  • Directionally Controlled Constant Voltage LED Headlights
  • Lighted LED Cab Interior Light
  • Illuminated LED Number Boards
  • Lighted LED Marker Lights
  • Operating LED Ditch Lights
  • (2) Precision Flywheel-Equipped Motors
  • Operating Pantographs
  • Onboard DCC/DCS Decoder
  • 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
  • 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 Panto Auto/Manual
  • F13 Front Panto Up/Down
  • F14 Rear Panto Up/Down
  • F15 Idle Sequence 2
  • F16 Idle Sequence 1
  • F17 Extended Start-up
  • F18 Extended Shut-down
  • F19 Train Marker
  • F20 Ditch Light Flash/Std
  • 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

Support

Parts:
Protosound:

Available in Stores