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Monthly RailKing 2019 Ready-to-Run O Gauge Catalog Product SpotlightMay 14, 2019 - Each month throughout the year, M.T.H. will be spotlighting various items from our RailKing 2019 Ready-to-Run O Gauge Train Set and Accessory Catalog. This week's feature will focus on the RailKing George Bush Funeral Train, and select RailKing rolling stock including the Flat Car with Christmas Trees. Each of these items is currently slated to begin delivering in July 2019.
Each of the above RailKing Line items can be ordered through any M.T.H. Authorized Retailer. To see the entire 2019 Ready-to-Run O Gauge RailKing lineup, click here. Premier O Scale GP-40 Diesel Locomotives Now In StockCheck Out It Out In Action In All-New Video
Remarkably, the 645 was the same external size and weight as the motor it replaced, with the power increase achieved largely by increasing the cylinder bore. In its normally aspirated form, with a Roots blower pressurizing the incoming air, a 16-cylinder 645 cranked out 2000 horsepower; this was the motor in the GP38. The same engine with a turbocharger, however, put out 3000 hp in the GP40, with lower fuel consumption and emissions and improved high-altitude performance; the tradeoff was higher maintenance costs for turbo-equipped engines. A design problem with turbochargers is "turbo lag": because the turbo’s air compressor is powered by engine exhaust gas, the turbo doesn’t become effective until the engine gets up to speed. In Alco diesels, this issue produced thick black smoke as the motors ramped up, earning them the nickname "honorary steam engines." In the 645 motor, EMD’s engineers solved the problem with a gear train and over-running clutch, which drove the turbo at low engine speeds until the exhaust gas took over. While the GP40 heralded the introduction of a new motor, it also marked the beginning of a long goodbye to the four-axle road diesel. Under the frame, railroads were seeing that six-wheel trucks, once an expedient for spreading out engine weight on lighter-duty track, were more suited to the increasing tonnage and speed of modern freight service. The GP40 and its successor, the GP40-2, were the last high-horsepower, four-axle Geeps to sell in large quantities. During a six-year production run that began in 1965, over 1200 GP40s were sold to U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads. Notably absent from the list of original owners, however, were western heavy haulers Santa Fe and Union Pacific; both roads purchased fleets of six-axle EMD SD40s and SD40-2s. Although the lighter-duty, four-axle GP38 series continued to be a strong seller, the transition to the six-axle, high-horsepower unit — which would become the standard road diesel of the 21st century — began in the era of the GP40. You can see the locomotives in action on video by clicking HERE. These locomotives are still available from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer. They can also be ordered from the M.T.H. online store by clicking on the item number when you click on the above item numbers. LCT License Expiration Spotlight: 4696 Steam Locomotives
May 15, 2019 - The Lionel Corporation Tinplate license expired on May 1, 2019 and each week for the next month or so, we'll spotlight the last items that are still available from select M.T.H. Authorized Retailers. You can learn more about the end of the Lionel license by going HERE. This week's feature will look at the 4696 steam locomotive in Great Northern and New York Central liveries. These items are completely sold out at M.T.H. Electric Trains and are only available from the retailers listed HERE. With not a touch of modesty, the 1931 American Flyer catalog introduced the firm's new steam engine: "The magnificent realistic wide gauge Steam type locomotive Model 4696 is a faithful reproduction of the "crack" B. & O. locomotive, President Washington. The faithful design is a striking example of scale reproduction. It is conceded by the most critical, to be the finest miniature model ever made." In fact, this description had a lot of truth to it. Of course Flyer, like Lionel with its 400E, ignored the fact that the prototype locomotive had one more set of drivers than the model. But Flyer's fully die-cast steamer with "innumerable brass details," "complete connecting rod and valve action" and a red light that "shines through the firebox gratings - just like on real locomotives" was arguably better proportioned and more accurately detailed than Lionel's 400E introduced the same year. Flyer's new model, which collectors would later nickname the "Brass Piper," was the direct descendant of a groundbreaking Ives product. Just a few years earlier, the Lionel and American Flyer catalogs had not offered a single steam-type locomotive. At the 1928 Toy Fair, The Ives Manufacturing Corporation had introduced its startlingly realistic, die-cast No. 1134 steamer, based on the B&O's President Washington 4-6-2 Pacific. But just months later, Ives had gone bankrupt and been sold at auction to Lionel and American Flyer. Flyer took advantage of the Ives tooling to add "3 New Massive Steam Type Trains" to its 1929 catalog - in the same year that Lionel introduced its sheet-metal-boiler 390E steamer with comically oversized drivers. Flyer's incarnation of the Ives model, numbered 4694, was a star of the catalog for two years, even gracing the cover of the 1930 edition. In hindsight, that cover appeared to preview the 4694's replacement, as it incorrectly depicted the engine with the additional details that would later appear on the Brass Piper. In 1931, Flyer stepped up its game just in time to compete with Lionel's new 400E. Bumping the 4694 from the top of the line was the newly tooled 4696, touted as "America's Finest Steam Type Wide Gauge Locomotive." In many ways, the 4696 was a forerunner of what would become American Flyer's claim to fame after it was acquired by A.C. Gilbert a few years later: more realism and more prototypical proportions than competitive Lionel models. Cataloged from 1931 to 1935, the 4696 was introduced at a price of $43.50, the equivalent of several weeks pay for an average worker and a princely sum in the depths of the Great Depression. |
O Gauge Items Just Released During The Week Of May 5, 2019May 15, 2019 - To review last week's list of the O Gauge items M.T.H. Electric Trains released during the week of May 5, 2019 click HERE. You'll find these at your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer. As always, you can stay apprised of the latest shipping dates by checking the M.T.H. Shipping Schedule. Once items have shipped, use the M.T.H. Product Locator to find a retailer reporting the item in stock. 2019 Volume 2 O Gauge Catalog Now Online
Order items through any M.T.H. Authorized Retailer. One Gauge Items Just Released During The Week Of May 5, 2019May 159, 2019 - To review last week's list of the One Gauge items M.T.H. Electric Trains released during the week of May 5, 2019, click HERE. You'll find these at your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer or directly from the M.T.H. online store. As always, you can stay apprised of the latest shipping dates by checking the M.T.H. Shipping Schedule. Once items have shipped, use the M.T.H. Product Locator to find a retailer reporting the item in stock. 2019 Ready-to-Run Train Set Catalog Now Online
Order items through any M.T.H. Authorized Retailer. Hurry Before They're Gone, Just Five Or Fewer Of These Items Remain In StockMay 15, 2019 - Each week, M.T.H. releases product lists spotlighting quantities of Five Or Fewer items that are remaining in our on-hand inventory. In many cases, these items will NOT be re-run in the future and these lists could be your last chance for ordering them before they're GONE FOR GOOD. Don't miss out on these items! Click on the appropriate product line link below and then any item number in the corresponding list to purchase that item from the M.T.H. Online Store or order directly from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer. It's Easy To Add WiFi To Your DCS LayoutCheck Out The Quick Start Video
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