Piko - 40804 - Locomotive, Diesel, Whitcomb, 65-Ton - Atlantic Coast Line - 70

Specific Item Information: USATC and other European Whitcomb versions come with open end-beams and truck-mounted European standard Rapido-style couplers. American Whitcomb versions come with fully-enclosed end beams and body-mounted Micro-Trains®-compatible PIKO knuckle couplers.

Road Name History: ACL’s roots go back to the Petersburg Railroad in 1830. By the 1870s, their successors and some affiliated lines began using Atlantic Coast Line as a nickname and through a number of consolidations Atlantic Coast Line became the official name by 1900. Atlantic Coast Line funneled traffic from northern Virginia (and its connections to the northeastern trunk lines via the RF&P) down through the Carolinas, Georgia and into Florida as far as Naples on the Gulf Coast. Acquisitions after the war added routes from Columbia and Spartanburg, South Carolina to the coast and lines linking Atlanta, Birmingham and Montgomery to southern Georgia and Florida.

At that point, the Atlantic Coast Line boasted 5,743 miles of railroad, 629 locomotives, 361 passenger cars, and 31,284 freight cars. To put that into perspective for you western guys, that's four times the size of Western Pacific.

ACL was the premier route for New York to Florida passenger traffic. The ACL's "Champion" left New York on the Pennsy, was handed off to the RF&P from Washington to Richmond, ran on the ACL to Jacksonville, FL and was then handed off to Florida East Coast for the ride to Miami. The "West Coast Champion" skipped the FEC as ACL went all the way to Tampa on Florida's Gulf Coast on its own rails. ACL also forwarded some Chicago to Florida trains via connections. Much of the system was relatively flat, allowing ACL to use 4-6-2’s in fast freight service (one of the few railroads to do this.)

ACL is best known for its purple and silver diesels. This scheme was used on freight, passenger, and switcher power until 1957. By that time, it became clear that these colors were difficult to maintain, so the ACL switched to racing stallion black with yellow “tack.” The Atlantic Coast Line merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1967 to form the Seaboard Coast Line.

Brand/Importer Information: PIKO Spielwaren GmbH is a company based in Sonneberg, Germany. With over 550 employees at production sites in Sonneberg (Germany) and Chashan (China) PIKO is one of the leading German and European manufacturers of model trains and accessories in the gauges G, H0, TT, N.

The traditional company was founded in 1949 in Chemnitz (Germany) and is managed by its owner Dr. René F. Wilfer since 1992. PIKO model railway products are sold primarily through the well-stocked model railroad stores. But also in the mail and online commerce and in toy sections of department stores you can purchase PIKO articles. In the field H0 and garden railway is PIKO full-line manufacturer and provides the interested model railroaders all he needed in the corresponding track size for his hobby, it covers locomotives and cars, to building models, tracks and complete starter-kits and its own digital system.

For friends of the gauges TT and N PIKO produces a lot of interesting locomotive and wagon models. PIKO model railroad products cover a wide variety of needs for model railroaders and are regularly tested and awarded by the domestic and international model railway press. For industrial and commercial customers PIKO has become a reliable supplier of customized printed model trains, which are often used as a high-quality promotional products or premium gifts. PIKO presents itself at various national and international exhibitions, such as the Nuremberg Toy Fair, as well as consumer fairs in Germany to the model railway enthusiastic audience. Every 2 years we celebrate in Sonneberg the "Open Day", which is visited by about 10,000 PIKO fans and has established itself into an unforgettable event and a fixed date for PIKO model railroad fans.