Brawa - 1085 - Locomotive, Diesel, Alco PA-1 - Santa Fe - 51

Specific Item Information: Label BRAWA on the lid of the plastic packaging. Original Life-Like insert with additional BRAWA part number. Body mounted front dummy knuckle coupler.

Model Information: Life-Like introduced this model in 1998. It is a typical 2nd generation engine with flywheels, all-wheel pickup and 5 of the 6 axles provide power. The model runs pretty well.
It was re-tooled in 2005 with a metal chassis. The 2005 release also features Accumate couplers (body-mounted) whereas the earlier plastic chassis version has Rapido couplers (truck-mounted, except front coupler on A-unit that was body-mounted).

DCC Information: Neither version has any support whatsoever for DCC.

Prototype History: ALCO PA (DL-304/DL-305) refers to a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul high-speed passenger trains that were built in Schenectady, New York, in the United States by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and General Electric (GE) between June, 1946 and December, 1953. They were of a cab unit design, and both cab-equipped lead A unit PA and cabless booster B unit PB models were built. ALCO's beautiful PA-1 is one of America's most famous locomotives. It was ALCO's entry into the passenger train diesel craze, competing directly with the E-Units from EMD. The first PA1 celebrated Alco's 75,000th loco to roll out of the erecting shop.

The PAs, as well as their cousins, the ALCO FAs, were born as a result of Alco's development of a new diesel engine design, the Model 244. In early 1944, development started on the new design. In 1946, this new locomotive made its debut on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. Southern Pacific PA's #6055 and 6056 were later put into service on the SP's coastal division, pulling trains such as the Morning Daylight.
Having more horsepower than their leading competitor, Alco felt that they had a fleet-ready competitive product. PA1's were sleek, stylish, powerful, and were very well suited for America's passenger and fast freight trains. Additionally, their 65' 8" bodies became excellent billboard advertising for the railroads that they served with pride.
The PA-1/PB-1 were rated 2,000 hp (1,490 kW) and the PA-2/PB-2 2,250 hp (1,680 kW). A total of 297 PA/PB have been built between 1946 and 1953.

ALCO locomotives were also used in service with the famous "California Zephyr" passenger train, adopting a number of paint schemes, the most famous of which was perhaps the "Prospector" paint scheme. This paint scheme was a striking two-tone silver and gold arrangement, highlighted by a series of four black stripes going down the side of the body.

Read more on Wikipedia
and 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: Brawa Artur Braun Modellspielwarenfabrik GmbH & Co. was founded in 1948 by Artur Braun in Waiblingen, Germany, to distribute model trains from other toy makers; eventually they began to manufacture their own lighting accessories such as streetlights and signals. In 1963 they acquired the complete line of motorized trolleybus and ski lift models from Eheim. They also began to expand their own line to include scenery items, and by 1993 they'd added locomotives and rolling stock to their product range. This medium-sized business is today jointly managed by the second and third generations of the Braun family: Günter Braun, son of the founder, and his daughter Katrin Braun are the company's managing partners.
Brawa range covers HO, O and N scales. The N scale range is focused on European rolling-stock, German locomotives and accessories like signals, streetlights, clocks and telephone booths.

Here is how the company describes itself:
At BRAWA, continuity and sustainable thinking and action - as the particular strengths of a family business - have a double impact. Changes are carefully considered and strategic decisions taken on the basis of a long-term vision, thus enabling the company to respond quickly and deliberately to the demands of the market. In addition, cross-generation collaboration ensures a vibrant coexistence of tradition and innovation.
In short, our future course is set and all signals are pointing towards continuity and growth. Our presence at our site in Remshalden shows our commitment to this area and highlights the sustainable nature of our company's location in the region. Sustainability is, as it were, an intrinsic value of our family business.