Search:
Type the text to search here and press Enter.
Separate search terms by a space; they will all be searched individually in all fields of the database. Click on Search: to go to the advanced search page.
Classifieds Only: Check this box if you want to search classifieds instead of the catalog.
Please help support TroveStar. Why?

Atlas - 2144 - Locomotive, Diesel, EMD SD45 - Penn Central - 6234

One of these are for sale right now on marketplaces, with a low price of: $62.29$62.29 (1)One of these are for sale right now on marketplaces, with a low price of: $62.29
Click to see the details
market
One  of these sold for an average price of: 25.4925.49One of these sold for an average price of: 25.49
Click to see the details
history
N Scale - Atlas - 2144 - Locomotive, Diesel, EMD SD45 - Penn Central - 6234
Click on any image above to open the gallery with larger images.
Sell this item on TroveStar
Sell
Add a comment about this item.
It will be visible at the bottom of this page to all users.
Comment
Stock Number2144
Original Retail Price$16.98
BrandAtlas
ManufacturerMehano
Body StyleMehano Diesel Engine SD45
Prototype VehicleLocomotive, Diesel, EMD SD45 (Details)
Road or Company NamePenn Central (Details)
Road or Reporting Number6234
Paint Color(s)Black with White Lettering
Coupler TypeRapido Hook
Wheel TypeNickel-Silver Plated Metal
Wheel ProfileDeep Flange
DCC ReadinessNo
Release Date1969-01-01
Item CategoryLocomotives
Model TypeDiesel
Model SubtypeEMD
Model VarietySD45
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era IV: 2nd Gen Diesel (1958 - 1978)
Scale1/160



Model Information: Mehano of Yugoslavia produced this engine for Atlas starting in 1969. The list price when it came out was $16.98. The plastic shell is a reasonable facsimile of the prototype. The mechanism is a typical late 60's Mehano product, with the motor mounted in the middle of the frame. The motor drives a a worm gear in the rear truck. All four of the rear truck drive wheels have traction tires.

Atlas did not produce a lot of these things and all road names became unavailable by 1972. After Atlas ceased production of this tooling, Model-Power and Life-Like produced this model for a short period, followed by Con-Cor in 1972; the Con-Cor model uses the same shell but is fitted with a different mechanism (hence a different body style in this database).
DCC Information: This model is not DCC capable.
Prototype History:
Notable as the first locomotive with an engine larger than 16 cylinders upon its introduction in 1965, the EMD SD45 was used on nearly every railroad at one time or another. Over the course of six years, EMD built a whopping 1260 SD45 locomotives for freight use on more than 25 railroads, with many more acquiring them second-hand. The SD45, while sharing the same common frame as the EMD SD40, was distinguished by a number of characteristics such as the flared radiator that stretched across the side of the locomotive's long hood. Several SD45 locomotives are still preserved and in service today.

From Wikipedia
Read more on American-Rails.com
Road Name History:
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Class I railroad headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that operated from 1968 until 1976. It was created by the 1968 merger of the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads. The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad was added to the merger in 1969; by 1970, the company had filed for what was, at that time, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The Penn Central was created as a response to challenges faced by all three railroads in the late 1960s. The northeastern quarter of the United States, these railroads' service area, was the most densely populated region of the U.S. While railroads elsewhere in North America drew a high percentage of their revenues from the long-distance shipment of commodities such as coal, lumber, paper and iron ore, Northeastern railroads traditionally depended on a mix of services.

As it turned out, the merged Penn Central was little better off than its constituent roads were before. A merger implementation plan was drawn up, but not carried out. Attempts to integrate operations, personnel and equipment were not very successful, due to clashing corporate cultures, incompatible computer systems and union contracts. Track conditions deteriorated (some of these conditions were inherited from the three merged railroads) and trains had to be run at reduced speeds. This meant delayed shipments and personnel working a lot of overtime. As a result, operating costs soared. Derailments and wrecks became frequent, particularly in the midwest.

The American financial system was shocked when after only two years of operations, the Penn Central Transportation company was put into bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. It was the largest corporate bankruptcy in American history at that time. Although the Penn Central Transportation Company was put into bankruptcy, its parent Penn Central Company was able to survive.

The Penn Central continued to operate freight service under bankruptcy court protection. After private-sector reorganization efforts failed, Congress nationalized the Penn Central under the terms of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976. The new law folded six northeastern railroads, the Penn Central and five smaller, failed lines, into the Consolidated Rail Corporation, commonly known as Conrail. The act took effect on April 1, 1976.

Read more on Wikipedia.
Brand/Importer Information:
In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.
Manufacturer Information:
Mehano is a Slovenian toy manufacturer located in Izola, Slovenija. The company was founded as Mehanotehnika and was producing toys starting in June 1953. They first exhibited at the Nuerenberg Toy Fair in 1959. Mehano produced a number of different locomotives and rolling stock models for the North American market in the 1960s and 1970s. Companies such as Atlas and Life-Like imported a huge variety of their products. Generally they can easily be recognized as they are stamped "Yugosolavia" on the underframe. The company was formally renamed "Mehano" in 1990. Izola today is part of the country of Slovenia since the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Mehano filed for bankruptcy in 2008, but still continued to exist and operate. Since 2012, Mehano products are distributed by Lemke.
Item created by: gdm on 2016-08-17 16:13:31. Last edited by gdm on 2018-02-15 20:39:09

If you see errors or missing data in this entry, please feel free to log in and edit it. Anyone with a Gmail account can log in instantly.