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Life-Like - 7557 - Locomotive, Diesel, Alco PA-1 - Missouri Pacific - 44

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N Scale - Life-Like - 7557 - Locomotive, Diesel, Alco PA-1 - Missouri Pacific - 44
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Stock Number7557
Original Retail Price$105.00
BrandLife-Like
ManufacturerLife-Like
Body StyleLife-Like Diesel Engine PA-1/PB-1
Prototype VehicleLocomotive, Diesel, Alco PA/PB (Details)
PrototypeLocomotive, Diesel, Alco PA-1
Road or Company NameMissouri Pacific (Details)
Road or Reporting Number44
Paint Color(s)Blue
Print Color(s)White
Coupler TypeGeneric Magnetic Knuckle
Coupler MountBody-Mount
Wheel TypeNickel-Silver Plated Metal
Wheel ProfileStandard
MultipackYes
DCC ReadinessNo
Release Date2004-01-01
Item CategoryLocomotives
Model TypeDiesel
Model SubtypeAlco
Model VarietyPA-1
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era III: Transition (1939 - 1957)
Years Produced1946-1953
Scale1/160



Model Information: Life-Like introduced this model in 1998. It is a typical 2nd generation engine with flywheels, all-wheel pickup and 5 of the 6 axles provide power. The model runs pretty well.
It was re-tooled in 2005 with a metal chassis. The 2005 release also features Accumate couplers (body-mounted) whereas the earlier plastic chassis version has Rapido couplers (truck-mounted, except front coupler on A-unit that was body-mounted).
DCC Information: Neither version has any support whatsoever for DCC.
Prototype History:
ALCO PA (DL-304/DL-305) refers to a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul high-speed passenger trains that were built in Schenectady, New York, in the United States by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and General Electric (GE) between June, 1946 and December, 1953. They were of a cab unit design, and both cab-equipped lead A unit PA and cabless booster B unit PB models were built. ALCO's beautiful PA-1 is one of America's most famous locomotives. It was ALCO's entry into the passenger train diesel craze, competing directly with the E-Units from EMD. The first PA1 celebrated Alco's 75,000th loco to roll out of the erecting shop.

The PAs, as well as their cousins, the ALCO FAs, were born as a result of Alco's development of a new diesel engine design, the Model 244. In early 1944, development started on the new design. In 1946, this new locomotive made its debut on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. Southern Pacific PA's #6055 and 6056 were later put into service on the SP's coastal division, pulling trains such as the Morning Daylight.
Having more horsepower than their leading competitor, Alco felt that they had a fleet-ready competitive product. PA1's were sleek, stylish, powerful, and were very well suited for America's passenger and fast freight trains. Additionally, their 65' 8" bodies became excellent billboard advertising for the railroads that they served with pride.
The PA-1/PB-1 were rated 2,000 hp (1,490 kW) and the PA-2/PB-2 2,250 hp (1,680 kW). A total of 297 PA/PB have been built between 1946 and 1953.

ALCO locomotives were also used in service with the famous "California Zephyr" passenger train, adopting a number of paint schemes, the most famous of which was perhaps the "Prospector" paint scheme. This paint scheme was a striking two-tone silver and gold arrangement, highlighted by a series of four black stripes going down the side of the body.

Read more on Wikipedia
and on American-Rails.com
Road Name History:
The Missouri Pacific Railroad (reporting mark MP), commonly abbreviated MoPac, with nickname of The Mop, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (SLIMS), Texas and Pacific Railway (TP), Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad (C&EI), St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway (SLBM), Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (KO&G), Midland Valley Railroad (MV), San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad (SAU&G), Gulf Coast Lines (GC), International-Great Northern Railroad (IGN), New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway (NOTM), Missouri-Illinois Railroad (MI), as well as the small Central Branch Railway (an early predecessor of MP in Kansas and south central Nebraska), and joint ventures such as the Alton and Southern Railroad (AS).

In 1967, the railroad operated 9,041 miles of road and 13,318 miles of track, not including DK&S, NO&LC, T&P and its subsidiaries, C&EI and Missouri-Illinois.

On January 8, 1980, the Union Pacific Railroad agreed to buy the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Lawsuits filed by competing railroads delayed approval of the merger until September 13, 1982. After the Supreme Court denied a trial to the Southern Pacific, the merger took effect on December 22, 1982. However, due to outstanding bonds of the Missouri Pacific, the merger with Union Pacific become official only on January 1, 1997.

Read more on Wikipedia.
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 2020-12-16 10:04:06. Last edited by Alain LM on 2020-12-21 05:21:22

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