The PA was Alco’s glamour girl. While Electro-Motive’s E-units easily outsold Alco’s passenger engine, the PA is widely regarded as the most beautiful first-generation diesel — period. Perhaps no other locomotive looked so right at the head of the streamlined trains of the late forties and fifties that were the last hurrah of American long-distance passenger service. The 294 PA’s and cabless PB’s built between 1946 and 1953 powered some of America’s most famous name trains, from the Southern Pacific’s Daylight to the Pennsylvania’s Broadway Limited. In recognition of its beauty, some fans refer to the PA as an “honorary steam locomotive.” 

The muscular PA profile and its elegant nose, with the characteristic grille around the headlight, were designed by Ray Patten, General Electric’s head of industrial design. At the time, GE and Alco were partners in the locomotive business, with GE making the electrical equipment for all Alco diesels. Patten’s design was described as “a locomotive so distinctive and so powerful looking that it actually helps railroads sell their services to passengers and shippers.” While Alco would later fall by the wayside, GE went on to become America’s largest locomotive builder by the early 1990’s. 

Under the hood of the PA beat a 16-cylinder model 244 prime mover that developed 2000 hp. Depending on their gearing, PA’s could hustle a passenger consist along at up to 100 mph. 

Long after all other PA’s had gone to scrap, four restored ex-Santa Fe units remained in service on the Delaware & Hudson into the late 1970’s. Sold to the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico (FNM) in 1978, most of the units eventually deteriorated to junk status, although one remained operational. But in April of 2000, Doyle McCormack — who also happens to be the engineer of No. 4449, the restored Southern Pacific Daylight — and the Smithsonian Institution repatriated two of the junked units for rebuilding. One of the units will be restored to Santa Fe livery for static display, while Doyle is bringing the other PA back to life in the Nickel Plate Road “Bluebird” scheme. You can follow the progress of Doyle’s labor on the Web site www.nkp190.com. 

Recreate the excitement of first-class passenger travel in the middle of the last century, with these Alco PA locomotives and matching passenger sets. Our ProtoSound 3.0 sound and control system brings you the authentic sounds of an Alco prime mover and station announcements for name trains of the 1940s and ‘50s — along with the ability to start your train so gently you won’t spill the water in the diner and then accelerate up to scale speeds of over 100 mph, just like the prototype

Features 

•Intricately Detailed ABS Bodies 
•Metal Chassis 
•Moveable Roof Fans 
•Metal Body Side Grilles 
•(2) Engineer Cab Figures In Each A Unit 
•Authentic Paint Scheme 
•Metal Wheels and Axles 
•RP25 Metal Wheels 
•(2) Operating Kadee Compatible Remote Controlled Proto-Couplers 
•(2) #158 Scale Kadee Whisker Couplers 
•Prototypical Rule 17 Lighting 
•Directionally Controlled Constant Voltage LED Headlight 
•Lighted Cab Interior 
•Illuminated Number Boards 
•Lighted Marker Lights 
•Operating MARS Light 
•Powerful 5-Pole Precision Flywheel Equipped Skew-Wound Balanced Motor 
•Operating Smoke Unit 
•Locomotive Speed Control in Scale MPH Increments 
•Operates on Code 70, 83 and 100 Track 
•1:87 Scale Proportions 

Signature Series models offer the final word in realism: beautifully detailed M.T.H. O and HO scale models weathered to look like hard-working locomotives and rolling stock. Each model is individually weathered by a master modeler with more than 30 years of professional modeling experience. The resulting finish ensures that these new Signature Series models for 2014 will look right at home on any sceniced, scale-detailed layout.

All models are airbrush-weathered, using proprietary techniques that capture the subtle natural wear and tear produced by road dust, rain, rust, wind and everything else that railroad equipment experiences in real life. The Signature Series airbrush weathering process brings out details in a model that previously went unnoticed, and replicates effects usually obtainable only with chalks and pinpoint washes.

No two Signature Series finishes look exactly alike. Each model of the same engine or passenger set has its own unique finish, with noticeable but subtle differences visible in side-by-side comparisons. Because these models are designed to run as well as they look, each locomotive and car is sealed with a flat finish to allow handling and the use of smoke fluid. 

M.T.H. Signature Series models first appeared in 2012, providing hobbyists with unique offerings not previously available from a major model railroad manufacturer. Each Signature Series item is an excellent solution for modelers who either have not had the confidence to attempt weathering techniques, or simply don’t have time to do it themselves. Most importantly, these professionally weathered models can withstand the rigors of operation while providing the final element of realism needed to depict real-life railroading on an O or HO scale layout.