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Micro-Trains - 992 00 142 - Locomotive, Diesel, EMD FT - Boston & Maine - 4201

3  of these sold for an average price of: 178.62178.623 of these sold for an average price of: 178.62
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N Scale - Micro-Trains - 992 00 142 - Locomotive, Diesel, EMD FT - Boston & Maine - 4201 similar but different Rd #
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Stock Number992 00 142
Original Retail Price$231.20
BrandMicro-Trains
ManufacturerMicro-Trains Line
Body StyleMicro-Trains 987 Diesel Engine FTA&B
Prototype VehicleLocomotive, Diesel, EMD FT (Details)
Road or Company NameBoston & Maine (Details)
Road or Reporting Number4201
Paint Color(s)Red and Yellow
Print Color(s)White
Coupler TypeMT Magne-Matic Knuckle
Wheel TypeChemically Blackened Metal
Wheel ProfileStandard
MultipackYes
Multipack Count2
Multipack ID Number992 00 141
DCC ReadinessReady
Release Date2004-09-01
Item CategoryLocomotives
Model TypeDiesel
Model SubtypeEMD
Model VarietyFTA&B
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era III: Transition (1939 - 1957)
Scale1/160



Model Information: Prior to 2002 Micro-Trains often released engines made by other manufacturers which they repainted. This model represented a departure from that approach in that MTL contracted Affa Model Train Factory in China to produce the mechanism which MTL then brings back to the United States where they add a US-made and decorated shell. Affa closed in 2018 and Micro-Trains is currently (late Summer 2018) looking for a new manufacturer to produce the mechanisms. However, the tooling for this mechanism may be difficult for MTL to acquire from Affa as is often the case in these situations.

MTL's efforts were hugely successful and their FT release is every bit as good as the Atlas, Kato and Athearn products. It is a "modern" engine with a split-frame, blackened metal wheels, dual flywheels and (of course) Magnematic couplers. They can pull 40 or more cars and they run smoothly and quietly. They really excel at slow speeds in "creep mode".
DCC Information: Accepts Digitrax DN163M0 decoder: Product Link
Prototype History:
The EMD FT was a 1,350-horsepower (1,010 kW) diesel-electric locomotive produced between March 1939 and November 1945, by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. The "F" stood for 1400 horsepower (rounded from 1350) and the "T" for twin, as it came standard in a two-unit set. The design was developed from the TA model built for the C,RI&P in 1937, and was similar in cylinder count, axle count, length and layout. All told 555 cab-equipped A units were built, along with 541 cabless booster B units, for a grand total of 1,096 units. The locomotives were all sold to customers in the United States. It was the first model in EMD's very successful F-unit series of cab unit freight diesels, and was the locomotive that convinced many U.S. railroads that the diesel-electric freight locomotive was the future. Many rail historians consider the FT one of the most important locomotive models of all time.

The first units produced for a customer were built in December 1940 and January 1941 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and numbered the 100 set. These were the first diesel-electric locomotives ever produced with dynamic braking, a system developed at the insistence of the railroad and with its assistance. Initially the four-unit, coupler-equipped set featured two booster units between two cab units in the manner of the demonstrator set. The Brotherhoods of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, however, insisted that the two cabs required two crews, so the railway had EMD produce extra boosters, and renumbered its earliest sets into four unit sets with one cab unit and three boosters. Negotiation with the unions soon rectified the situation, but as the road's earliest units were geared for higher speeds than subsequent units, these sets continued to be composed of one FTA cab unit and three FTB boosters. This is why the road had ten more FTB booster units than FTA cab units.

From Wikipedia
Road Name History:
The Andover and Wilmington Railroad was incorporated March 15, 1833, to build a branch from the Boston and Lowell Railroad at Wilmington, Massachusetts, north to Andover, Massachusetts. The line opened to Andover on August 8, 1836. The name was changed to the Andover and Haverhill Railroad on April 18, 1837, reflecting plans to build further to Haverhill, Massachusetts (opened later that year), and yet further to Portland, Maine, with the renaming to the Boston and Portland Railroad on April 3, 1839, opening to the New Hampshire state line in 1840.

The Boston and Maine Railroad was chartered in New Hampshire on June 27, 1835, and the Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts Railroad was incorporated March 12, 1839, in Maine, both companies continuing the proposed line to South Berwick, Maine. The railroad opened in 1840 to Exeter, New Hampshire, and on January 1, 1842, the two companies merged with the Boston and Portland to form a new Boston and Maine Railroad.

The B&M flourished with the growth of New England's mill towns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but still faced financial struggles. It came under the control of J. P. Morgan and his New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad around 1910, but anti-trust forces wrested control back. Later it faced heavy debt problems from track construction and from the cost of acquiring the Fitchburg Railroad, causing a reorganization in 1919.

By 1980, though still a sick company, the B&M started turning around thanks to aggressive marketing and its purchase of a cluster of branch lines in Connecticut. The addition of coal traffic and piggyback service also helped. In 1983 the B&M emerged from bankruptcy when it was purchased by Timothy Mellon's Guilford Transportation Industries for $24 million. This was the beginning of the end of the Boston & Maine corporate image, and the start of major changes, such as the labor issues which caused the strikes of 1986 and 1987, and drastic cost cutting such as the 1990 closure of B&M's Mechanicville, New York, site, the largest rail yard and shop facilities on the B&M system.

Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Technically, Boston & Maine Corporation still exists today but only as a non-operating ward of PAR. Boston & Maine owns the property (and also employs its own railroad police), while Springfield Terminal Railway, a B&M subsidiary, operates the trains and performs maintenance. This complicated operation is mainly due to more favorable labor agreements under Springfield Terminal's rules.

Read more on Wikipedia.
Brand/Importer Information: Micro-Trains is the brand name used by both Kadee Quality Products and Micro-Trains Line. For a history of the relationship between the brand and the two companies, please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide.
Manufacturer Information:
Micro-Trains Line split off from Kadee Quality Products in 1990. Kadee Quality Products originally got involved in N-Scale by producing a scaled-down version of their successful HO Magne-Matic knuckle coupler system. This coupler was superior to the ubiquitous 'Rapido' style coupler due to two primary factors: superior realistic appearance and the ability to automatically uncouple when stopped over a magnet embedded in a section of track. The success of these couplers in N-Scale quickly translated to the production of trucks, wheels and in 1972 a release of ready-to-run box cars.

Micro-Trains Line Co. split off from Kadee in 1990 to form a completely independent company. For this reason, products from this company can appear with labels from both enterprises. Due to the nature of production idiosyncrasies and various random factors, the rolling stock from Micro-Trains can have all sorts of interesting variations in both their packaging as well as the products themselves. When acquiring an MTL product it is very important to understand these important production variations that can greatly enhance (or decrease) the value of your purchase.

Please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide
Item created by: Powderman on 2021-12-28 14:29:33

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