Prototype History: The "Imperial" 4-4-2s are among the most popular designs in Lightweight passenger service. They have an excellent array of middle to top level accommodations, with 4 double bedrooms, 4 comfortable compartments and 2 drawing rooms.
The drawing rooms have evolved from the Heavyweight days. The restroom is arranged differently (note that most of the toilets are near the centerline of the car, where their chutes can clear the underbody gear mounted along the car edges.) In place of the section and sofa combo, a sofa and two armchairs provide day accommodations. At night, the sofa folds down into a traditional upper and lower. The third berth is a "Murphy bed" that folds down from a wall locker.
The compartments have a similar arrangement of sofa and chair; being, in effect, miniaturized drawing rooms. The bedrooms are similar again, with less floor space and no chair. The fundamental difference between a "single bedroom" and a "double bedroom" is that the single does not have an upper berth.
There are still a few shortcomings with this design. For example, the compartments and bedrooms still have the open toilets (postwar cars will have these enclosed in tiny restrooms). The compartments also have the prewar style small windows above the main windows. These were originally designed to give the upper berth a window view. However, in these cars, the berths are mounted laterally.
Still, these are excellent cars: requiring only detail refinements to achieve the long-sought perfection of the sleeping car. These versatile 4-4-2s are found on trains throughout the country.
The drawing rooms have evolved from the Heavyweight days. The restroom is arranged differently (note that most of the toilets are near the centerline of the car, where their chutes can clear the underbody gear mounted along the car edges.) In place of the section and sofa combo, a sofa and two armchairs provide day accommodations. At night, the sofa folds down into a traditional upper and lower. The third berth is a "Murphy bed" that folds down from a wall locker.
The compartments have a similar arrangement of sofa and chair; being, in effect, miniaturized drawing rooms. The bedrooms are similar again, with less floor space and no chair. The fundamental difference between a "single bedroom" and a "double bedroom" is that the single does not have an upper berth.
There are still a few shortcomings with this design. For example, the compartments and bedrooms still have the open toilets (postwar cars will have these enclosed in tiny restrooms). The compartments also have the prewar style small windows above the main windows. These were originally designed to give the upper berth a window view. However, in these cars, the berths are mounted laterally.
Still, these are excellent cars: requiring only detail refinements to achieve the long-sought perfection of the sleeping car. These versatile 4-4-2s are found on trains throughout the country.
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.
Read more on Wikipedia.
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.
Read more on Wikipedia.
Brand/Importer Information: KATO U.S.A. was established in 1986, with the first U.S. locomotive model (the GP38-2, in N-Scale) released in 1987. Since that time, KATO has come to be known as one of the leading manufacturers of precision railroad products for the modeling community. KATO's parent company, Sekisui Kinzoku Co., Ltd., is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
In addition to producing ready-to-run HO and N scale models that are universally hailed for their high level of detail, craftsmanship and operation, KATO also manufactures UNITRACK. UNITRACK is the finest rail & roadbed modular track system available to modelers today. With the track and roadbed integrated into a single piece, UNITRACK features a nickel-silver rail and a realistic-looking roadbed. Patented UNIJOINERS allow sections to be snapped together quickly and securely, time after time if necessary.
The Kato U.S.A. office and warehouse facility is located in Schaumburg, Illinois, approximately 30 miles northwest of Chicago. All research & development of new North American products is performed here, in addition to the sales and distribution of merchandise to a vast network of wholesale representatives and retail dealers. Models requiring service sent in by hobbyists are usually attended to at this location as well. The manufacturing of all KATO products is performed in Japan.
Supporters of KATO should note that there is currently no showroom or operating exhibit of models at the Schaumburg facility. Furthermore, model parts are the only merchandise sold directly to consumers. (Please view the Parts Catalog of this website for more specific information.)
In addition to producing ready-to-run HO and N scale models that are universally hailed for their high level of detail, craftsmanship and operation, KATO also manufactures UNITRACK. UNITRACK is the finest rail & roadbed modular track system available to modelers today. With the track and roadbed integrated into a single piece, UNITRACK features a nickel-silver rail and a realistic-looking roadbed. Patented UNIJOINERS allow sections to be snapped together quickly and securely, time after time if necessary.
The Kato U.S.A. office and warehouse facility is located in Schaumburg, Illinois, approximately 30 miles northwest of Chicago. All research & development of new North American products is performed here, in addition to the sales and distribution of merchandise to a vast network of wholesale representatives and retail dealers. Models requiring service sent in by hobbyists are usually attended to at this location as well. The manufacturing of all KATO products is performed in Japan.
Supporters of KATO should note that there is currently no showroom or operating exhibit of models at the Schaumburg facility. Furthermore, model parts are the only merchandise sold directly to consumers. (Please view the Parts Catalog of this website for more specific information.)
Item created by: CNW400 on 2020-01-17 14:00:52. Last edited by CNW400 on 2020-05-20 09:24:29
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