RailSmith - S2 34 SILVER - Locomotive, Diesel, Alco S-2 - Port Terminal Railroad Association - 34

Specific Item Information: Atlas has been commissioned to decorate their N Scale S-2 for the Portland Terminal Railroad / Northern Pacific Terminal Company. This is the first time, and sure to be the ONLY time that these beautiful switchers will be offered. ‘One and done’ as they say.

Model Information: This model was introduced in 2015 by Atlas. It was their first offering with integrated DCC and Sound. The engine comes in two versions, the Silver (DCC Ready) and the Gold (Decoder Installed with Sound functions).

This engine looks great but suffers from sketchy power pickup on any non-pristine tracks. This can radically affect the sound effects as they cut in and out. This is due to the limits of a lightweight, 4-axle design. The sound effects are immensely cool and once it is up to speed, it can run consistently well. I recommend removing the realistic acceleration for operation on any not-so-perfect track so that it has a chance to get going and use momentum to carry over dodgy track sections and turnouts.

This model features: Scaled from actual prototype measurements; Option for horizontal or vertical radiator shutters; Fine scale handrails; Separately-applied coupler cut levers, air hoses, piping, etc.; Directional LED lighting (includes cab rear headlight); Die-cast hood & chassis for improved pulling performance; Digital-ready chassis; Dual-flywheels for maximum performance at all speeds; Factory-equipped with AccuMate? knuckle couplers; Exceptional painting and printing

Here you can find a YouTube Video Review

DCC Information: Sound Functionality Features (GOLD LOCOMOTIVES ONLY): Over 20 sound effects are available, including engine start-up and shutdown, prime mover sounds through all eight notches, bell, air horn, air compressor, dynamic brakes and more. There are 16 user-selectable horns, 2 user-selectable bells, and 2 user-selectable synchronized brake squeals. Manual and Automatic Notching modes with the ability to change modes *on the fly* are provided for true realism.

Prototype History: Built by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) the low-hood S-2 was introduced in 1940 to replace Alco's earlier high-hood switchers. The 1000 horsepower S-2 was a turbocharged version of the S-1. There were 1,502 S-2s sold to North American Railroads. The versatility of the S-2s was evidenced by their service on mainline, shortline and industrial railroads. This engine was run by many many roadnames which included large customers like the Santa Fe as well as smaller operations such as the Lehigh Valley

From Wikipedia

Road Name History: Opened in 1924, the PTRA today serves 226 customers on 154 miles of track on both sides of the Houston Ship Channel in Texas. PTRA has seven yards with a total capacity of 5,000 cars and 20 bridges. Traffic, which typically runs about 2,500 cars per day, includes chemicals, coke, high-wide loads, automobiles, grain, fuel, food products, plastics, steel and industrial products plus intermodal traffic. The PTRA locomotive roster consists entirely of one model, the MK1500D genset switcher built by Motive Power Industries using components of old GP7’s and GP9’s (most from Conrail.) PTRA has 32 of these engines. For most of its history, PTRA was a paper railroad with the connecting railroads serving customers on the line directly. PTRA gained their own identity with the arrival of the first MK1500D’s in 1996. Today the company is jointly owned by the Port of Houston Authority of Harris County, Houston Belt & Terminal Railway, Union Pacific, BNSF, and Kansas City Southern.

Brand/Importer Information: RailSmith is a brand launched by Lowell Smith in 2019. Lowell acquired the toolings from Walthers.

With each release, RailSmith will bring passenger cars from across the spectrum of North America’s railroads, with the goal of building entire trains over a period-of-time. It is our plan to release cars that might be for a specific train, but you can use these cars as you see fit, as did the railroads.

Production plans are grand, but we believe they are also achievable. We do not have the capabilities to release an entire train at once, but being able to focus on one release (two-or-three cars at a time), we can build a train over time.

Commissioner Information: Desiring to bring a creative and artistic approach to model railroad cars, Lowell Smith Signature Series was born in 1994. The first special run car commemorated the Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the Golden Spike - "Wedding of the Rails". Since 1994, Lowell Smith Signature Series has continued to produce over one hundred and thirty-five unique cars or train locomotives to date.

A native of Portland, Oregon, Lowell Smith married his church choir sweetheart Barb in 1978. After a lifetime of rail-fanning, Lowell and Barb ventured out in 1992 to launch a new business in Portland, Oregon.
Following Lowell's passion of model trains, The Hobby Smith was built to be the community center for model railroaders - operators and collectors alike. Located in the Hollywood District of Portland, The Hobby Smith was the place to learn and to enjoy the camaraderie of others with the same passion.