Broadway Limited - 6243 - Locomotive, Steam, 4-6-2, USRA Light Pacific - Baltimore & Ohio - 5209

Specific Item Information: Paragon3 Sound/DC/DCC

Model Information: For the first time in N scale, BLI is bringing out the USRA Light and Heavy 4-6-2 steam locomotives, commonly called Light Pacifics and Heavy Pacifics! There were 20 original Heavy Pacifics built in 1919 for the USRA program, and all 20 went to Erie Railroad. From 1923, numerous copies were built, and many railroads operated similar locomotives. There were 81 original Light Pacifics built in 1919, and these were delivered to ACL, B&O, GTW, M&O (GM&O), and L&N. Subsequently, each of these railroads built copies, and several other railroads operated locomotives with similar dimensions and equipment. The Light Pacifics were limited to 54,000 lbs load per axle, versus 60,000 for the Heavy Pacifics, and this allowed the Light Pacifics to run on most main lines.
Our Heavy and Light models follow the original designs closely. Railroad specific variations are not modeled on these locomotives. Many of the Pacifics used the same 10,000 gallon tender as the USRA Mikados, and our models uses this 10,000 gallon tender.

Road Name History: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (reporting marks B&O, BO) is one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal (which served New York City) and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which would have connected Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. At first this railroad was located entirely in the state of Maryland with an original line from the port of Baltimore west to Sandy Hook. At this point to continue westward, it had to cross into Virginia (now West Virginia) over the Potomac River, adjacent to the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. From there it passed through Virginia from Harpers Ferry to a point just west of the junction of Patterson Creek and the North Branch Potomac River where it crossed back into Maryland to reach Cumberland. From there it was extended to the Ohio River at Wheeling and a few years later also to Parkersburg, West Virginia.

It is now part of the CSX Transportation (CSX) network, and includes the oldest operational railroad bridge in the USA. The B&O also included the Leiper Railroad, the first permanent horse-drawn railroad in the U.S. In later years, B&O advertising carried the motto: "Linking 13 Great States with the Nation." Part of the B&O Railroad's immortality has come from being one of the four featured railroads on the U.S. version of the board game Monopoly, but it is the only railroad on the board which did not serve Atlantic City, New Jersey, directly.

When CSX established the B&O Railroad Museum as a separate entity from the corporation, some of the former B&O Mount Clare Shops in Baltimore, including the Mt. Clare roundhouse, were donated to the museum while the rest of the property was sold. The B&O Warehouse at the Camden Yards rail junction in Baltimore now dominates the view over the right-field wall at the Baltimore Orioles' current home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

At the end of 1970 B&O operated 5552 miles of road and 10449 miles of track, not including the Staten Island Rapid Transit (SIRT) or the Reading and its subsidiaries.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: Broadway Limited Imports, LLC defines itself as "the world's foremost producer of top-quality HO and N scale model trains".

The company was founded in 2002 and introduced its first N scale model in 2009.

Broadway Limited Imports is composed of a team of 15 fun loving individuals who are dedicated to creating the most realistic model railroading experience possible, with the best customer service possible.

The Broadway Limited Imports headquarters is located in Ormond Beach, Florida at 9 East Tower Circle. It's just under an hour's drive from Disney World.

About Broadway Limited Imports.