MTH 20-3273-1 NP 4-6-6-4 Z-6 Challenger Steam Locomotive HiRa w/PS2.0 #5114

MTH 20-3273-1 NP 4-6-6-4 Z-6 Challenger Steam Locomotive HiRa w/PS2.0 #5114

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This is an MTH 20-3273-1 Northern Pacific 4-6-6-4 Z-6 Challenger Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 2.0 (Hi-Rail Wheels). In the early part of the twentieth century, most freight moved in relatively slow "drag" freight trains, and speed was secondary to just getting the goods delivered. The introduction of "super-power" steam technology in the 1920's, however, enabled builders to create freight locomotives that combined speed and power. Perhaps the zenith of the fast freight engine was the 4-6-6-4 Challenger, first conceived by the Union Pacific Railroad and American Locomotive Works in the mid-1930s. The Northern Pacific liked what it saw taking shape at Alco and ordered its own, even bigger Challengers. One reason the NP engines were larger was the railroad's use of large fireboxes to burn low-quality Rosebud coal mined online in Montana - coal that at least one fireman described as "damned close to dirt." The first dozen Z-6 Challengers arrived in 1936, just months after the UP received its own first Challengers. Like 4-6-6-4s on the UP and the Western Maryland, the articulated Z-6s replaced older, slower rigid-frame engines - doubleheaded Mikados in the Northern Pacific's case. The Z-6s spent most of their careers hauling reefer trains and fast freights on Northern Pacific divisions in Washington State and Montana's Big Sky country, with occasional passenger stints leading the crack North Coast Limited. Sixty-nine inch drivers allowed a Z-6 to maintain 60 mph on the plateaus between the Northwest's mountain ranges. The Northern Pacific was pleased enough with its new articulateds to order nine more Z-6s in 1937. The same year, an additional six engines were ordered for the Spokane, Portland & Seattle, a jointly-owned subsidiary of the NP and the Great Northern. The SP&S engines were oil burners, but virtually identical to the NP Z-6s in every other way. Two of the SP&S engines were later sold to the Great Northern for use in Washington and Oregon. For a time in the late steam era, the thundering Z-6 was indeed the Northwest's own articulated. Features include Die-Cast Boiler and Tender Body, 1:48 Scale Proportions, Die-Cast Metal Chassis, Authentic Paint Scheme, Metal Wheels and Axles, Constant Voltage Headlight, Die-Cast Truck Sides, Engineer and Fireman Figures, Operating Firebox Glow, Metal Handrails and Decorative Bell, Decorative Metal Whistle, Operating Marker Lights, Lighted Cab Interior, Locomotive Speed Control, Synchronized Puffing ProtoSmoker System, Precision Pittman Flywheel Equipped Motor, Proto-Scale 3-2 3-Rail/2-Rail Conversion Capable, (2) Remote Controlled Proto-Couplers, Wireless Drawbar, Proto-Sound 2.0 With The Digital Command System Featuring: Freight Yard Proto-Effects, Unit Measures: 30 3/4" x 2 1/2" x 4", and it Operates On O-72 Curves.

Condition: Factory New (C-9)
Operational Status: Functional
Original Box: Yes (P-9)

Manufacturer: MTH
Model Number: 20-3273-1
Years Manufactured: 2007 - ????
Road Name: Northern Pacific (NP)

Scale/Era: O Modern
Model Type: Steam Loco


The Trainz SKU for this item is P11439102.

Trainz Product Id: 11439102
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including but not limited to lead, which is known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
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