Trains

Ahh yes, the trains. We offer here a list of the trains that will be included in the American Transition set. Eventually there will be pictures of them running in the game also. There's a few already...

Pennsylvania K4 "Pacific" 4-6-2	The Pacific was a dominant steam locomotive from 1900 until 1950, used as a workhorse for most every use. The Pennsylvania Railroad was famous for the K4, and more K4s were manufactured than of any other single American steam locomotive model.
Doodlebug	Busses appeared on city streets around the turn of the century, and it didn't take long before some cheapskate railroad swapped the tires for flanged wheels and put a bus on the railroad track. Don't expect this to win any speed records, or pull freight cars, but for low-intensity service you can't beat the price.
Class C Shay	Ordinary piston-driven steam locomotives have a hard time getting up the low-end torque required for really steep mountains. The Shay was a solution to this problem, sort of - it uses a geared transmission and powers all its wheels. This gives it a disproportionately large tractive effort for its small size, but greatly limits its speed. If you have to haul heavy loads up a really steep mountain, though, the Shay can do it like no other steamer can.
EL-3 Boxcab	Thomas Edison patented an electric locomotive in 1890. It took a while for electrification to reach mainline service, but the EL-3 performed well on the steep grades of the Virginian's hilly coal routes.
USRA "Mikado" 2-8-2	The "Mike" was the standard medium-heavy freight locomotive for many years, until increasing traffic and much longer trains required something bigger.
PRR "Mountain" 4-8-2	The "Mountain" is a good workhorse freight locomotive designed for, you guessed it, mountains, as a replacement for the Pacific. It was intended as a passenger locomotive, but it turned out to do a better job with heavy freight. But if you have a steep climb on your passenger line, the "Mountain" is a good choice.
EP-2 "Bipolar"	Electrification of a railroad is clean and tremendously powerful. Alas, putting up all the caternary is very very expensive, so there wasn't (and isn't) much electrification in the U.S. The "Bipolar" was used in the Cascades tunnel on the Milwakee Road.
Berkshire 2-8-4	As trains in the East became heavier, stronger and more efficient locomotives were needed. The Berkshire was the most powerful practical non-articulated steam locomotive.
S.P. Northern "Daylight" 4-8-4	The late 1920s through the 1940s was the golden age of American railroading. The various rail lines competed for passengers with modern, specially designed express trains with their own customized locomotives. The Southern Pacific "Daylight" is considered to be one of the most beautiful trains ever built. If you have some dollars to spare, it also happens to be the last of the great steam streamliners that's actually still running!
Southern Pacific Cab-Forward AC-6 4-8-8-2	For heavy freights in the western Rocky Mountains, the Southern Pacific required a Mallet compound locomotive - but it put out so much smoke in the long tunnels that the engineers were asphyxiated. So they turned the locomotive around cab-front, leaving the smoke behind them. There were many different models, mostly pretty similar; the AC-6 is a representative sample.
MP-54 EMU	Around 1908, New York City came under a law banning steam locomotives from the city limits. No, they weren't early Greens, the trouble was that all the rail lines to Manhattan island ran through long tunnels, and there kept being accidents in the stifling dark and smoke. The MP-54 was an early commuter and suburban Electric Multiple Unit - and a particularly good one: they weren't replaced until the 1970s.
GG-1	Without doubt the most famous and most durable American electric locomotive. Designed in the 1930s, they were still in use in the 1980s, after not one but several attempts to replace them with newer (but, in the event, less durable) 1960s and 1970s technology. The GG-1 was SO sturdy that, in 1953, one of them at the head of a runaway train crashed through the wall of Washington Union Station terminal, smashed into the main concourse, and fell through the floor into the basement. They fished it out in pieces (not because it broke, but because the cranes were too weak to pick it up all at once), put it back together again, and it returned to service until all the GG-1s were retired. Our GG-1 pulls the custom coaches of the "Broadway Limited" express service between Chicago and New York; later in their careers, GG-1s were reduced to pulling ordinary Amfleet cars in a "clown-nose" livery.
Zephyr	The Budd Zephyr series was an early attempt at a stainless steel, diesel-powered train. They were used by several different railroads, all with great success - in fact, too much success: the diesel engines were not strong enough to run very long trains, and they were too expensive to buy enough of them to go around. World War 2 cut short the reign of the Zephyr, and by the end of the war, more powerful diesel locomotives were available that could haul ordinary passenger cars.
Challenger 4-6-6-4	Out West again, the Union Pacific needed an express locomotive for heavy, long-haul passenger and express-freight trains. The Challenger turned out to work well for fast freight too. Quite a monster to be at the head of a passenger train. And they still run one for excursions.
NYC J3a Hudson 4-6-4	The Pennsylvania Railroad's arch-rival was the New York Central; their competing premium expresses between New York and Chicago set the state of the art for technology, elegance, and style all through the 1930s. The "20th Century Limited" was the NYC's answer to the PRR's "Broadway Limited," and was the most renowned passenger train in the world for many years. The J3a Hudson at the head of the train had a streamlined shroud designed by Henry Dreyfuss.
Milwaukee "Hiawatha" Atlantic Class A 4-4-2	No fewer than four rail lines offered services between Chicago and Milwaukee, a distance of less than 100 miles. The Milwaukee Road was at a double disadvantage - they weren't electrified, and they didn't have right-of-way into the center of Chicago on the El system like their competitor, the Lake Shore Line. So they introduced this short but extremely fast express train, with a unique observation car.
GE 44T	The passenger trains may receive the glory, but it is the industrial freight operations that make the railroad rich. The GE44T is a lowly switcher that shunted around cars in the city yards, delivering them to the industries locally. Actually, being cheap, the GE shunters were often owned not by the railroad, but by the individual factories, so they could do their own shunting around the factory at their own convenience.
UP "Big Boy" 4-8-8-4	Generally considered the largest and most powerful steam locomotive ever built, the astounding "Big Boy" is, well, a very big boy indeed. Say what you will about the modern, sleek TGV, there is something about the raw power of a massive steam locomotive that electronics cannot hope to capture. At least this will give you a small taste. There were other steam locos that were more powerful, or faster, or heavier, but the Big Boy is the only one that scores high in all categories of excellence, thus it holds the title.
Alco S-2	This is a somewhat larger switcher that can be used for short haul deliveries. The day of the great steam locomotive is starting to draw to a close.
Budd RDC DMU	As Americans start to take to their cars, suddenly not everyone HAS to travel by rail. For a passenger service that is required but low volume, the Budd RDC provided a modern and efficient alternative. Many of these are still in operation all over the U.S. and Canada.
EMD F7	Here we have "the diesel that did it." In its various configurations, it was faster than steam passenger locomotives, more powerful than steam freight locomotives, and most important of all, enormously cheaper to operate than anything else. Plus it looked "modern," and in the early post-war years, "modern" was what counted. The F7 killed off steam; you can decide whether that was good or bad.
Alco PA-1	Considered by many to be the most beautiful diesel ever built, unfortunately it was not as reliable as the F7.
EP-4 "Little Joe"	Diesel is much cheaper than steam, but it is still more expensive than electric, if you have the caternary already installed. The "Little Joe" was ordered at the end of World War 2 for Stalin, after whom it was named. But by the time it was built, the Cold War had started and the U.S. would not allow delivery. The Milwaukee Road picked them up on the cheap, and used them until the end of electrification in the Cascades.
Baldwin RF16 "Sharknose"	The new diesels were primarily products of automotive companies like General Motors, not the traditional steam locomotive manufacturers. When it became obvious the steam locomotive was doomed, their dying manufacturers tried desperately to come up with their own competitive diesels. Mostly they failed, but they produced some interesting-looking equipment in the attempt. The "Sharknose" is one of these.
EMD E8	The F7 and the E8 were basically identical on the outside, except that the E8 was slightly longer. The main difference was that the E8 had a somewhat more powerful motor, and was geared for higher speeds. Thus they mostly wound up in passenger service. Amtrak inherited many of them and continued to operate them into the 1980s, although they are mostly gone now.
Alco RS-3	For companies that didn't do well offering mainline locomotives, there was still a market for switchers. Eventually this died as railroads found it simpler just to use the same locomotives for all purposes, but for a while the old steam tradition of special small locomotives for switching duties continued.
GP9	If there was any question as to the survival of steam, the GP9 finished it off. Whatever weaknesses the F7 had, were resolved in the GP9. Except they forgot one thing - style. The GP9 is purely utilitarian, but ever since the golden days of the 1930s and 1940s, that's what railroads care about.
Fairbanks-Morse H24-66 "Trainmaster"	Built by Fairbanks Morse, best known for their marine engines, the H-24-66 "TrainMaster" was touted as "The Most Useful Locomotive Ever Built." Ships have big and powerful engines, and so did the TrainMaster; it produced a whopping 2,400HP at a time (1953) when most diesels were less then 2,000. Big and beefy, the TrainMasters hauled every type of cargo from commuters on the Southern Pacific to coal in the mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Railroads weren't ready for such a big locomotive however, and only 105 were built in the US, plus 22 in Canada by the Canadian Locomotive Company. Only one of these locomotives remains - CPR 8905 in Delson, Quebec.
E33	This may look like a diesel, but it's not. The E33 was designed to haul heavy coal freights over the Virginian's electrified mainline. It excelled at this, until the Virginian was purchased by the N&W which preferred steam power. Sold off to the New Haven, then Penn Central, then Conrail, the E33s lived out their days hauling freight in the Northeast Corridor.
GE "Big Blow" Turbine	Turbines are much more efficient and powerful than either steam or diesel locomotives, when operating at their ideal settings. With its really long freight trains going nonstop for days, the Union Pacific would seem to be an ideal place for them. It turned out, though, that turbines don't appreciate being bounced around inside a train, and the maintenance costs were excessive. It's also a good thing that the UP mainline was mostly in the desert or wilderness: a turbine of this sort is basically a jet engine, but tracks run much closer to people, houses, and sensitive ears than most airplanes do.
E44	Very similar to the E33, it's slightly more powerful and handled the Northeast Corridor freight services until they ended in 1983. A few even worked for Amtrak. They're still around, in storage, waiting for scrapping or, just possibly, a return to active service.
Alco C424 "Century"	Yet another diesel.
SD45	A highly popular, long-lived, and relatively efficient diesel locomotive.
EMD SW1500	Here's another industrial switcher, useful for short runs of freight.
SD40-2	The SD-40 series has become the most popular diesel of all time, and while there are more modern locomotives, almost all the SD-40s built are still at work.
TurboTrain	Good idea, bad implementation. The TurboTrain was the first in a long series of attempts to make modern, high-speed passenger service pay. It used an aircraft turbine engine, and in fact was made by an aircraft company! One difference between trains and planes is that planes start their engines and leave them on for a long time, until they land at the other end of their flight; whereas trains are stopping and starting frequently, for signals and local stations. The turbines didn't appreciate this too much.
Alco C636	The Alco diesels are considered to be the last American steam locomotives, because of their overwhelming exhaust plumes. Yeeechh.
DDA40X "Centennial"	Perhaps longing for its lost Big Boy, the Union Pacific commissioned the most powerful diesel locomotive ever built to celebrate its 100th anniversary. It's actually two diesel locomotives on one really long chassis. But this meant it cost the same to maintain as two locomotives, without the ability to use them in two separate places. Only one of these is left, for excursions and special-purpose trains.
GP9u	Technology long since marched past the GP9, yet there were still thousands of them around. EMD began a program to rebuild old GP9s, fitting them with more efficient control systems and increasing the motor power. Hence the GP9u, which is basically a factory-refurbished GP9.
Budd "Cosmopolitan" M-2 EMU	Remember the MP-54 from the 1930s? All those years, and nobody had gotten around to replacing them. It wasn't so much that they were worn out, as that it was embarrassing to the New York area politicians to depend on something so old. Fortunately, it turned out to be easier to replace the MP-54 than the GG1, the M-2 did (and does) a fine job.
GP38-2	In the mid 1960's, medium sized road power was needed to replace the aging F7's and GP9's. EMD introduced the GP38 in 1966. With 2,000HP, it had more power than the locomotives it replaced, but it was also not overpowered. Nearly 800 GP38's were built before 1972 when EMD introduced the "Dash-2" line of locomotives. Mainly the difference was internal. Well over 2,000 GP38's and their variants were built, making it one of North America's most popular locomotives.
C30-7	Another diesel. Sharp livery, though.
E60C	There are still a few electrified freight railroads in the U.S., particularly hauling coal from the mines to a major powerplant. When the railroad is a long way from any oil piplines, with the power plant right there, it makes sense to use the energy source that's handy. The E60C is not only still in service today, old ones are being rebuilt to like-new standards and offered for resale.
E60CP	This was the first serious attempt to replace the GG1 in passenger service. Railroad companies and operators came and went, and the GG1 soldiered on. The new national company Amtrak was embarrassed to be operating locomotives older than any of its engineers, and commissioned the E60CP from General Electric. GE figured that the very good freight-model E60C could be easily modified for passenger service. Wrong. Intended to run at 125MPH, the E60CP shook so badly it could never be used above 90MPH, slower than the GG1s.
F40PH-2	Here's a passenger diesel that replaced the Fs and Es inherited by Amtrak. There are some of these around still, though mostly in local commuter service nowadays.
EMD AEM7	Round 2 of the kill-the-GG1 struggle. The AEM7 "Toaster" was based off of a Swedish design, and it did a lot better - admittedly more expensive than the GG1, and not as powerful, but at least it worked at speed.
B39-8	Another diesel.
GE P42 Genesis	Currently, the standard of excellence in diesel passenger locomotives. Amtrak has almost entirely replaced all other types, and P42s are still being built.
SD70M	Another diesel.
GE AC6000CW	And here's the current standard of excellence in diesel freight locomotives.
ALP-46	The ALP-46 was designed for an American commuter railroad (NJ Transit) by a Canadian company (Bombardier) at a German plant from German designs. They seem to work well enough.
F59PHI	A streamlined derivative of a powerful passenger diesel originally designed for GO Transit in Canada. Amtrak California uses them extensively, with their own livery and matching bilevel cars.
Acela HHP-8	Finally Amtrak gets a really good electric locomotive. The HHP stands for High Horse Power and they aren't kidding, these have a real kick to them. Considering all the two-bit stations that the politicians force Amtrak to serve, it's wise that they have a powerful locomotive that can accelerate quickly from all those unnecessary stops.
Acela Express	This should be even better, but doesn't appear to be working out that way. It's designed for 150MPH and can reach it very nicely...for all of 15 miles. That's all there is of track that it's allowed to go that fast on. The rest of the track is too curvy. It's not that the train would fall off the track, it tilts very nicely to avoid that problem. It's that they forgot to carefully measure beforehand and the trains are too wide - when rounding a corner at speed, they would tilt too far and clip obstacles on either side. Better luck next time, Amtrak.
JetTrain	Now this one is too new to know much about, but it's an interesting idea at the very least. Revisiting the airplane-in-a-train idea of the TurboTrain and Big Blow, Bombardier now offers a locomotive with electric-like performance, except without the wires. Modern materials technology has improved a great deal since the 1960s, and perhaps this turbine can handle the frequent start and stops; only time will tell. First, though, they have to get somebody to try it.
Colorado DMU	The original Budd RDC proved that a self-powered passenger train works efficiently and well for low-volume servicel; but they haven't been built in decades. Colorado is a new company that's made fancy passenge cars for some while, and decided to add motors to them. The Colorado DMU is intended for intensive commuter service, being both faster and cheaper than a normal locomotive-hauled train.
Colorado Bi-level DMU	And when you really have to move a lot of people, a bi-level DMU does the job. These hold 188 people, each. Wow.
AC7000CW	Here we go into guesswork, as we design the locomotives of the future. The AC series has been very successful, and getting more powerful as it goes along, so here is one just a bit better than the last.
HSE-10 "Sunset"	If they ever build a high-speed rail line to connect San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, they'll need something like this.
EL15K	Even now, Amtrak is thinking about returning freight service to the Northeast Corridor, and they would need a new, very powerful electric freight locomotive to do so.
SD110-FC	Someday the eggheads will finally figure out fuel cells, and they'll work just as well in a locomotive as anywhere else.

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