BILL'S RAILROAD EMPIRE |
ALCO PA1/PB1 LOCOMOTIVES
The Alco PAs were built between 1946 and
1953. They were built by the American Locomotive Co.
General Electric supplied the electrical equipment.
A total of 250 A Units and 47 B Units were built in
three models (PA1, PA2, and PA3). The PA1 had 2,000
hp with the PA2 and PA3 having 2,250 hp. The PA was
66 feet long. Although they were built for
passenger service, in their final years, many ended
up in freight service. The
remaining PAs ended up in Mexico.
These are the former Delaware & Hudson PAs
(originally Santa Fe engines).
Two of these have recently been brought back to the
United States. One went to the Smithsonian
Institution and the second is being
restored. Shown here are my N Scale PA1s. I
have twenty-two PA1s and three PB1s. Some were made by
Sekisui (Kato) for Con-Cor in the mid-1970s. Others are recent Con-Cor and Life Like models. Amtrak never had any PAs and if they did they
probably would not
have been white, but they are handsome engines! I
believe that Chesapeake & Ohio and Baltimore & Ohio did not have any PAs
either, but I have them! All the others really
did exist. My latest PA1 is a Baltimore & Ohio made by Con-Cor. I think this is my favorite locomotive! Fifteen United States railroads had PAs and Brazil had three units. Southern Pacific had 64 of them followed by Santa Fe with 44.
Unfortunately, I don't recall seeing a real PA,
but I can enjoy them on my railroad
now! An Alco PA1 was used to
pull the
Freedom Train that toured all forty-eight states from 1947 to 1949. There were more than 3-1/2 million
visitors and the train traveled over 37,000 miles.
The engine and passenger cars were white with red,
white, and
blue stripes. This was a real
beauty! See photo below. Con-Cor has announced the Freedom Train in N scale Lionel has this beauty in O gauge in their 2003 catalog Williams offers O gauge PA1/PB1s in numerous roadnames The Alco PA: A Very Pretty Lady--from Brent Holt History, Specifications, and Photos of the Alco PA1
Alco PA Photos at North East Rails The 1947 Freedom Train Story and Photos Click
on photos to see larger
images.
Amtrak
Chesapeake & Ohio
Delaware & Hudson
Erie Railroad PA1 (Early Scheme)
Erie Railroad PA1 (Late Scheme)
Erie Lackawanna Railroad
Lehigh Valley
Missouri Pacific
ON THE NEXT PAGE . . .
More PAs including New Haven, Pennsylvania, Rio Grande, and Southern Pacific.
| BACK | TOP OF PAGE | NEXT |
Return to Bill's Railroad Empire Home Page
Updated 10/9/2004
MODEL RAILROADING BOOKS Select from over 150 model railroading how-to and reference books |
Copyright © 1999-2004 by Bill's Railroad Empire®
Contents of this web page including text, photographs, programming code, and page format are copyrighted by Bill's Railroad Empire with the exception of certain gif, jpg, midi, and wav files which are assumed to be in the public domain. Amazon.com, Google, RailServe, Web Ring, and certain other images and material have been used with permission.
Disclaimer: If any gif, jpg, midi, or wav files are copyrighted, kindly inform me and they will be removed promptly upon receipt of documentation.
Please do not link to any of my files without permission.
Bill's Railroad Empire® is a registered trademark.
This web site is owned and managed by
www.billsrailroad.net
E-Mail: bill@billsrailroad.net