Atlas - 40 004 499 - Locomotive, Diesel, EMD GP20 - Santa Fe - 1154

Model Information: Released in 1998, 2004 (revised version with Accumate couplers), and 2011 (by Walthers, DCC-Ready version, with MTL couplers).
Re-run under Atlas brand in 2021 after Atlas purchased the tooling from Walthers.

The 2011 model features:

• DCC-Ready Mechanism w/Clip-Fit Circuit Board;
• All-Wheel Drive & All-Wheel Electrical Pickup;
• Dual Machined Brass Flywheels;
• Heavy Die Cast Split-Frame Chassis;
• Powerful Skew-Wound Motor;
• Constant Intensity & Directional Headlights;
• RP-25 Wheels Operate on Code 55 & Larger Rail.

DCC Information: The 2011 version is DCC ready. Accepts the following plug-in decoders (non-sound):
- Digitrax DN163L0A: 1 Amp N Scale Mobile Decoder for Walthers Proto GP20 and similar.
- TCS L1D4: BEMF decoder designed to fit Life-Like GP20 locomotive.

The Atlas version of 2021 comes either with a factory-installed DCC Sound decoder (ESU LokSound) or in DC version (with pre-installed speaker).
It accepts the following plug-in decoders:
- DCC silent: Digitrax DN166I3: 1.5 Amp Mobile Decoder that fits InterMountain N Scale SD40-2 released 2017
- DCC Sound: ESU LokSound Select Direct Micro ref.73199.

Prototype History: An EMD GP20 is a 4-axle (B-B) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between November 1959 and April 1962. Power was provided by an EMD 567D2 16-cylinder turbocharged engine which generated 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW). EMD was initially hesitant to turbocharge their 567-series diesel engine, but was spurred on to do so following successful tests made by Union Pacific in the form of UP's experimental Omaha GP20 units. 260 examples of EMD's production locomotive model (with the EMD turbocharger) were built for American railroads.

From Wikipedia
Read more on American-Rails.com

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.

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.