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Life-Like - 34093 - Locomotive, Diesel, Fairbanks Morse, C-Liner - Milwaukee Road - 24C

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N Scale - Life-Like - 34093 - Locomotive, Diesel, Fairbanks Morse, C-Liner - Milwaukee Road - 24C
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Stock Number34093
Original Retail Price$59.98
BrandLife-Like
ManufacturerLife-Like
Body StyleLife-Like Diesel Engine Fairbanks Morse C-Liner
Prototype VehicleLocomotive, Diesel, Fairbanks Morse, C-Liner (Details)
Road or Company NameMilwaukee Road (Details)
Road or Reporting Number24C
Paint Color(s)Orange and Black
Print Color(s)Maroon
Coupler TypeAccuMate Magnetic Knuckle
Coupler MountBody-Mount
Wheel TypeChemically Blackened Metal
Wheel ProfileSmall Flange (Low Profile)
DCC ReadinessReady
Announcement Date2006-05-19
Release Date2006-10-01
Item CategoryLocomotives
Model TypeDiesel
Model SubtypeFairbanks-Morse
Model VarietyC-Liner
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era III: Transition (1939 - 1957)
Years Produced1950-1955
Scale1/160



Specific Item Information: CFA16-4
Model Information: Model introduced in 2001 (with Rapido couplers and a dummy knuckle front coupler) and re-run in 2006 with Accumate knuckle couplers.
It re-used the same chassis structure introduced by Life-Like for its 2000 Alco FA-1/FB-1.
The 2001 run was sold in A/B pairs, both engines being powered. The 2006 run was available either in A/B pair or A singleton.

Features:
- Modern split-frame design.
- Directional LED Headlights on A units
- 8 Wheel electrical Pick-Up with Heavy Metal Chassis
- Five-Pole, Skew Wound Armiture motor w/dual machined flywheels
DCC Information: The initial run of 2001 had no provision for DCC. Examples of installation of a wired decoder are available on TCS website, as well as on N Scale DCC Decoder Installs blog by our fellow curator Brad Myers.
On the second run of 2006, the chassis was modified to become DCC-Ready with contacts available on a PCB. Would rather qualify as DCC Friendly, as some wiring is still required given the lack of choice of drop-in decoders for this model.

The only available drop-in decoder we have found is a sound decoder by MRC:
- MRC 1660: N Scale Drop in DCC Sound Decoder for Life-Like C-Liner Locomotive
Prototype History:
The Consolidated line, or C-line, was a series of diesel-electric railway locomotive designs produced by Fairbanks-Morse and its Canadian licensee, the Canadian Locomotive Company. Individual locomotives in this series were commonly referred to as “C-liners”. A combined total of 165 units (123 cab-equipped lead A units and 42 cabless booster B units) were produced by F-M and the CLC between 1950 and 1955.

The C-Liners replaced FM's earlier cab model the Erie-Built, which proved only marginally successful at best. The updated version of FM's cab locomotives did not feature a carbody nearly as elegant as the former, which sported a European look. It was offered for either passenger or freight (with four or five axles) service and intended to compete against Electro-Motive's (EMD) popular E and F series as well as Alco's FA and PA models. Unfortunately, the C-Liners saw about the same level of success as the Erie-Builts and FM canceled the line after only a few years of production.

All of the designs were based on a common 56 ft 3 in (17.15 m) carbody, but the customer could choose cab or booster units equipped with 1,600 hp (1.19 MW), 2,000 hp (1.49 MW), or 2,400 hp (1,800 kW) opposed piston engine prime movers. Each option was also offered in both passenger and freight configurations.
All freight units, and the CLC-built Model CPA/B-16-4 were designed with a B-B wheel arrangement, while passenger units (in addition to having different gearing) featured an unusual B-A1A wheel configuration, as the rear truck required an extra unpowered axle to help distribute the weight of the steam generator.

The models produced comprise: CFA-16-4 (cabs) and CFB-16-4 (cabless boosters), CFA-20-4 (cabs) and CFB-20-4 (cabless boosters), CPA-20-5 (cabs), CPA-24-5 (cabs), CPA-16-4 (cabs), CPA-16-5 (cabs) and CPB-16-5 (cabless boosters).
Using the CFA16-4 as an example the "C" referred to cab unit, "F" listed it for freight service, "A" was a designation for A unit, "16" was short for 1,600 hp, and "4" was the number of axles it carried.

From Wikipedia
Read more on American-Rails.com
Road Name History:
First of all, Milwaukee Road has only ever been a popular nickname. The real name from 1874 was Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul. For the next 36 years, the CM&StP linked Chicago with Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison, Wausau, the Twin Cities, Duluth, Kansas City and Omaha with a dense network of branches in Wisconsin, Iowa, southern Minnesota and eastern South Dakota. Essentially, the lines ended at the Missouri River.

With a dearth of friendly western connections, CM&StP decided to build their own line to the Pacific. The original target was the bustling megalopolis of Eureka, California. However, they built toward Seattle instead. In 1909 the line opened. Along the way, they served Miles City, Lewiston, Great Falls, Harlowton and Butte, Montana; Avery, Idaho; and Spokane, Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. In 1912, they began to electrify two long segments, Harlowton, Montana to Avery, Idaho and Othello, Washington to Tacoma.

In 1921, they leased the Chicago Terre Haute & Southeastern and a bit later the Chicago Milwaukee & Gary to reach the coal fields of southern Indiana. Both roads were in trouble and dragged the CM&StP into receivership. In 1928, they emerged with a small name change. It was now the Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific. Right after that, the nickname “Milwaukee Road” began to catch on.

The three Class One’s that already served the Pacific Northwest, Northern Pacific, Great Northern (along with their jointly owned minion Spokane Portland & Seattle) and Union Pacific were not pleased with their new neighbor and avoided building interchanges with them unless absolutely necessary. This left Milwaukee to haul whatever traffic they could originate or terminate on their own line or via a hand full of shortlines with which they interchanged. This is why when you see photos of Milwaukee Road trains west of the Dakotas, an exceptionally large majority of cars are lettered for Milwaukee Road.

Milwaukee’s steam fleet is generally quite handsome beginning with the period after WWI. Many locomotives were built in their own shops. The steam era came to an end on the Milwaukee in 1957.

The electrified lines were ruled by boxcabs and Bi-Polars for decades. In the 1950’s, Little Joe’s diverted from the Soviet Union arrived on the Milwaukee (and the South Shore.) By the late 60’s diesels began to regularly invade the electrified lines. Little Joes and diesels were MU’ed. The aging catenary could only handle so many electrics at a time so diesels filled the horsepower gap. By 1972, falling traffic, a declining fleet of serviceable electrics and the deteriorating catenary caused Milwaukee Road to de-energize the western lines lines with Avery to Harlowton lines following two years later.

Meanwhile on the east end, as a condition of the 1971 merger of Monon into L&N, Milwaukee Road received trackage rights from Chicago to Louisville. This gave Southern a friendly connection to Chicago it was losing with Monon.

In 1977, Milwaukee Road entered receivership again. This time, radical restructuring was needed. In 1980, everything west of Miles City, Montana was abandoned. Some lines were picked up by connections or spawned new shortlines but nearly 1,000 miles of track was pulled up. In 1982, Miles City to Ortonville, Minnesota was abandoned. Milwaukee was concentrating on their pre-1909 routes plus the new line to Louisville.

In an attempt to win back middle distance TOFC traffic, Milwaukee began running fast and short piggyback trains, usually behind a single SD40-2 and with a dozen or so 89’ flats. Unit coal trains added to the bottom line. By the mid-80s, the streamlined Milwaukee Road was up for sale and Grand Trunk Western, Chicago & North Western and Soo Line got into a bidding war. GTW had diverted 40,000 cars onto Milwaukee Road between Chicago and Duluth to help them turn a profit in 1983. Ironically, the ICC (which controlled mergers at the time) pushed GTW out of the contest leaving just C&NW and Soo. Furious, GTW diverted their 40,000 carloads off the Milwaukee. C&NW outbid Soo, but the ICC chose Soo Line anyway. Milwaukee Road merged into Soo Line in 1985. Almost immediately, Soo shops began painting big black rectangles over MILWAUKEE ROAD on the diesels, giving birth to the “bandit” paint scheme.
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: Alain LM on 2018-07-07 04:28:19. Last edited by Alain LM on 2018-07-07 13:10:11

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