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Life-Like - 7453-A - Locomotive, Diesel, Alco FA-1 - Reading - 300

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N Scale - Life-Like - 7453-A - Locomotive, Diesel, Alco FA-1 - Reading - 300
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Stock Number7453-A
BrandLife-Like
ManufacturerLife-Like
Body StyleLife-Like Diesel Engine FA-1/FB-1
Prototype VehicleLocomotive, Diesel, Alco FA/FB (Details)
PrototypeLocomotive, Diesel, Alco FA-1
Road or Company NameReading (Details)
Reporting MarksRDG
Road or Reporting Number300
Paint Color(s)Black and Yellow
Coupler TypeRapido Hook
Coupler MountBody-Mount
Wheel TypeChemically Blackened Metal
Wheel ProfileSmall Flange (Low Profile)
Multipack ID Number7453
Ready-to-RunNo
DCC ReadinessNo
Release Date2000-01-01
Item CategoryLocomotives
Model TypeDiesel
Model SubtypeAlco
Model VarietyFA-1
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era III: Transition (1939 - 1957)
Scale1/160



Model Information: Model introduced in 2000. Sold as FA-1/FB-1 set, with both engines powered.
Features:
  • split-frame
  • open-sided, skew-wound 5-pole motor
  • dual flywheels
  • all 8 wheels geared and provide power pickup
  • non directional headlight
DCC Information: No provision for DCC
Prototype History:
The ALCO FA was a family of B-B diesel locomotives designed to haul freight trains. The locomotives were built by a partnership of ALCO and General Electric in Schenectady, New York, between January 1946 and May 1959. They were of a cab unit design, and both cab-equipped lead (A unit) FA and cabless booster (B unit) FB models were built. A dual passenger-freight version, the FPA/FPB, was also offered. It was equipped with a steam generator for heating passenger cars.

Externally, the FA and FB models looked very similar to the ALCO PA models produced in the same period. Both the FA and PA models were styled by General Electric's Ray Patten. They shared many of the same characteristics both aesthetically and mechanically. It was the locomotive's mechanical qualities (the ALCO 244 V-12 prime mover) and newer locomotive models from both General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) and General Electric (the partnership with ALCO was dissolved in 1953) that ultimately led to the retirement of the FA/FB locomotive model from revenue service. Several examples of FAs and FBs have been preserved in railroad museums, a few of them in operational status on such lines as the Grand Canyon Railway and the Napa Valley Wine Train. ALCO's designation of F marks these locomotives as being geared primarily for freight use, whereas the P designation of the PA sets indicates that they were geared for higher speeds and passenger use. However, beyond this their design was largely similar, and many railroads used FA and PA locomotives for both freight and passenger.

Externally, the FA-1/FB-1 could be distinguished from the FA-2/FB-2 (FPA-2/FPB-2) by the position of the radiator shutters – the FA-1/FB-1's shutters were at the far end of the carbody, whereas on the FA-2/FB-2 they were further forward, the design having been modified to allow the installation of a steam generator behind the radiator.
The FPA-4/FPB-4 were visually different due to the additional radiator space that was positioned below the shutters.

From Wikipedia
Read more on American-Rails.com.
Road Name History:
Let’s get a couple of quick clarifications out of the way first. Reading rhymes with bedding and is not “reading” a book. Second, the only “Reading Railroad” is on the Monopoly game board. Its actual name was “Reading Company” with “Reading Lines” used on logos and advertising.

The Reading Company, usually called the Reading Railroad as was enshrined by the Monopoly board game, and boasting a predecessor company officially founded under the name the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1833 through 1976. Until the decline in anthracite loadings in the Coal Region after World War II, it was one of the most prosperous corporations in the United States.

Reduced coal traffic coupled with highway competition and short hauls forced it into bankruptcy in the 1970s. The railroad was merged into Conrail in 1976, but the corporation lasted into 2000, disposing of real estate holdings.
Brand/Importer Information:
Life-Like Products LLC (now Life-Like Toy and Hobby division of Wm. K. Walthers) was a manufacturer of model railroad products and was based in Baltimore, Maryland.

It was founded in the 1950s by a company that pioneered extruded foam ice chests under the Lifoam trademark. Because ice chests are a summer seasonal item, the company needed a way to keep the factory operating year round. As model railroading was becoming popular in the post-war years, they saw this as an opportunity and so manufactured extruded foam tunnels for model trains. Over the years, Life-Like expanded into other scenery items, finally manufacturing rolling stock beginning in the late 1960s. At some point in the early 1970s, Life-Like purchased Varney Inc. and began to produce the former Varney line as its own.

The Canadian distributor for Life-Like products, Canadian Hobbycraft, saw a missing segment in market for Canadian model prototypes, and started producing a few Canadian models that were later, with a few modifications, offered in the US market with US roadnames.

In 2005, the company, now known as Lifoam Industries, LLC, decided to concentrate on their core products of extruded foam and sold their model railroad operations to Wm. K. Walthers.

In June 2018, Atlas and Walthers announced to have reached an agreement under which all Walthers N scale rolling stock tooling, including the former Life-Like tooling, will be purchased by Atlas.

Read more on Wikipedia and The Train Collectors Association.
Item created by: gdm on 2016-04-26 05:54:47. Last edited by George on 2024-01-26 20:28:58

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