Key - SP P5 - Locomotive, Steam, 4-6-2, Pacific H4 - Santa Fe - 2440

Specific Item Information: This model is driven by the tender only. The locomotive freewheels. This unit has been custom painted to SF 2440.

Prototype History: Among the first Pacifics to be delivered with superheaters, the Baldwin design betrays the industry's uncertainty about the best way to use the by-then clear benefits of hotter, drier steam. The H-4s were delivered with an unusually low boiler pressure setting, most likely to take advantage of the lesser strain on components that the more potent superheated steam appeared to allow.

Soon, however, the relatively weak thrust from these pistons led to a new tradeoff between boiler pressure and cylinder volume. Locobase 16276 shows the substantial makeover applied by the GN shops. The 1913 Lima batch (Locobase 3173) adopted much higher boiler pressure (210 psi/14.5 bar), but smaller 23 1/2" (597 mm) cylinders to retain a good factor of adhesion. These were served by 12" (305 mm) piston valves. If they hadn't been modified by then, Baldwin's locomotives followed suit within a year.

One document describes the road over which these engines ran, noting that one 129-mile section had a maximum grade of 1% and that the Pacifics averaged 30 mph (48 kph) with 11-12 cars over that section.

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: Key Model Imports is an importer of brass locomotives.