Revell - 3200 - Locomotive, Diesel, Baldwin VO-1000 - Santa Fe - 2268

Specific Item Information: From a train set.

Model Information: Arnold first produced this model in 1962. It was one of their earliest N Scale locomotives. This model was never retooled as Arnold gained increasing capability and sophistication in their production of N Scale engines, and was consequently retired by the early 1970s. No, it doesn't run very well and yes the body shell lacks detail and crisp painting. But, as one of the first N Scale models, it is of historical significance. It roughly models a Baldwin Switcher that could be inspired by a VO-1000, but that is giving a very wide latitude to the term 'roughly'. It has pizza cutter wheels that really are so deep they won't handle turnouts well much less run on Code 55 track.

Prototype History: The Baldwin VO-1000 was a diesel-electric locomotive (switcher) built by Baldwin Locomotive Works between January, 1939 and December, 1946. The 236,260–242,200 lb (107,170–109,860 kg) units were powered by a normally aspirated eight-cylinder diesel engine rated at 1,000 horsepower (746 kW), and rode on a pair of two-axle trucks in a B-B wheel arrangement. These were either the AAR Type-A switcher trucks, or the Batz truck originally developed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as a leading truck for steam locomotives. 548 examples of this model were built for American railroads, including examples for the Army and Navy.

Between June and August, 1945 Baldwin supplied 30 Co-Co road locomotives with 8-cylinder VO engines for export to the Soviet Union as their Дб20 (Db20) class.

There are at least eight intact examples of the VO-1000 that are known to survive today, most of which are owned by museums or historical societies. However, a VO-1000m is owned by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, a local freight carrier based out of Schellville, California.

From Wikipedia

Road Name History: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (reporting mark ATSF), often abbreviated as Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. Chartered in February 1859, the railroad reached the Kansas-Colorado border in 1873 and Pueblo, Colorado, in 1876. To create a demand for its services, the railroad set up real estate offices and sold farm land from the land grants that it was awarded by Congress. Despite the name, its main line never served Santa Fe, New Mexico, as the terrain was too difficult; the town ultimately was reached by a branch line from Lamy.

The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport, an enterprise that (at one time or another) included a tugboat fleet and an airline (the short-lived Santa Fe Skyway). Its bus line extended passenger transportation to areas not accessible by rail, and ferryboats on the San Francisco Bay allowed travelers to complete their westward journeys to the Pacific Ocean. The ATSF was the subject of a popular song, Harry Warren & Johnny Mercer's "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", written for the film, The Harvey Girls (1946).

The railroad officially ceased operations on December 31, 1996, when it merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway.

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Brand/Importer Information: Revell was Arnold’s importer in the 60s.

Starting in 1967, Arnold and Revell, Inc. of Venice, California entered into a distribution relationship. These new trains would be called MicroTRAINs. The first catalog, dated 1967, shows first generation Arnold rapido F-units on the cover.

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