Rapido Trains - 519021 - Locomotive, Diesel, EMD F59PH - Trinity Rail Express - 123

Model Information: In the mid-eighties, GO Transit was looking to replace its aging locomotive fleet with a specially designed locomotive that could meet the growing demands for service across the Greater Toronto Area. The locomotive needed to be able to quickly accelerate while pulling up to 10 of the new BiLevel coaches. In close consultation with GO Transit, GMD developed the F59PH. It is equipped with a turbocharged 12-cylinder two-stroke diesel prime mover (12-710G3A), a full-width North American comfort cab, with HEP provided by a smaller 600hp GM 8-cylinder diesel.

Due to the success of the locomotives with GO Transit, Metrolink in California placed an order for 22 F59PHs, which were delivered between 1992 and 1993. In the mid-2000s, GO would begin retiring part of their fleet which saw many of these locomotives sent to other commuter agencies across North America.

Road Name History: The Trinity Railway Express (or TRE) is a commuter rail line in the Dallas?Fort Worth metroplex. It was established by an interlocal agreement between Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T). Each transit authority owns a 50% stake in the joint rail project and contractor Herzog Transit Services operates the line. The TRE began operating in December 1996.

As of the fourth quarter of 2014, the TRE has an average weekday ridership of 8,200 passengers per day and is the fifteenth most-ridden commuter rail system in the United States. In 2014, the TRE carried 2,293,500 passengers.

Before 2006, the TRE was typically shown as a green line on DART maps and therefore was sometimes referred to as the "Green Line," but this was not an official designation. In 2006, DART chose green as the color for its new light rail route, the Green Line. Since 2006, the TRE has been shown as a dark blue line on DART maps.

Named after the Trinity River, which flows between Fort Worth and Dallas, the TRE was launched on December 30, 1996, shortly after the inaugural service of Dallas' DART Light Rail system, operating from Union Station to the South Irving Station in Irving. On September 18, 2000, the line was extended to the Richland Hills Station and, for the first time, there was rail service available between downtown Dallas and DFW Airport. On November 13, 2000 the West Irving Station also opened. On December 3, 2001, the TRE was extended to its current terminus at the T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth.

Brand/Importer Information: Rapido Trains Inc. is a high-end manufacturer of model trains and accessories in HO, OO and N (North American 1:160 and British 1:148) scales. The firm's mission is to recreate the entire rail travel experience, from fully-detailed interiors and under-frames on models to fully-wired telephone poles for model railroads.

The name RAPIDO was introduced by Canadian National in 1965 to headline the railway's high-speed intercity passenger services. Until the mid-1980s, RAPIDO stood for fast schedules, frequent trains, and superb service.

Today, Rapido Trains continues the RAPIDO concept with state-of-the-art models and attention to fine detail. This company is not related to the venerable (and now defunct) German manufacturer Arnold Rapido, nor the present-day Arnold (which is owned by the United Kingdom's Hornby), Canadian based Rapido Trains was founded in 2003.