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Rapido Trains Inc. is proud to be able to add the much requested freight FB-2 and dual-service FPB-2 locomotives to its range of museum quality Alco/MLW cab units. Now you can partner your first run A-units with matching Bs to the same high standard.

Yes, what manufacturer is crazy enough to bring out not one B-unit on its own, but two? Rapido, that’s who! And technically there are four! (see the GMD F7B and F9B, Alco/MLW FB-2 and FPB-2). And we’re not just making paint schemes to match our first run locomotives, we’re offering those to match our second run too!

Alco/MLW built around 230 B-units which were mostly ordered with A-units in matched sets, usually in fours (A+B+B+A) or in threes (A+B+A). However there were a few notable examples of FB-2s that were constructed to supplement existing fleets of FA-1 cabs. The New Haven was the most famous railroad to only buy FB-2s, and we’ve added the whole fleet of five units to our range, in two paint schemes!

The fortunes of the FB-2 and FPB-2s mostly mirrored the lives of the A-units and most lasted well into the 1960s, with a few notable examples keeping theirs right to the end of Alco/MLW cab unit operation. This included a sizable fleet of New York Central and New Haven Bs that were still operational into the first years of the Penn Central. One FB-2 was even repainted PC black, which we’re offering as a special PC 50th anniversary release. In Canada the Bs lasted even longer with Canadian Pacific’s fleet eventually being retired in 1977.

It’s a common misconception that B units always ran with the same A unit. However, by the end of the 1950s, the Alco/MLW B-units were mixed and matched, and regularly operated not only with other A units but with totally mismatched hood units as well. So even if you didn’t buy our Alco/MLW cabs, you can still buy an FB-2 and amaze your friends and relations!

And just like the FA-2, there were substantial variations of the FB-2 or FPB-2 locomotives from railroad to railroad, and we’re covering all of the major ones.

Rapido’s model will include:

• Correct water/fuel tank combination for the FPB-2 available in two styles
• Alco or MLW small fuel tank for FB-2
• With or without dynamic brakes
• Vertical or horizontal battery box louvers
• Etched metal wire mesh or Farr side grilles
• With or without back-up light
• Accurate underbody piping and conduit
• Canadian or American cast Type B trucks

Features - Phase 1b body:

• Horizontal battery box louvers
• Wire mesh grille
• Dynamic brakes
• Welded Alco fuel tank
• GSC cast Type B trucks

• Many roadname-specific details
• Operating back-up light where appropriate
• Separate grab irons and handrails installed at the factory
• Incredible underframe detail including piping and a ridiculous number of separately-applied parts
• Heavy, die-cast chassis
• Rapido’s proven 5-pole skew-wound motor with dual flywheels and silky-smooth drive
• DC/Silent (21-pin DCC Ready) or DC/DCC/Sound (ESU LokSound) options
• Accurate sounds recorded from a real Alco 244 prime mover
• Factory-installed Macdonald-Cartier couplers mounted at the correct height

As usual, these engines will be made to order.