Atlas O California Zephyr Passenger Car Sets & F3 Locomotives Available for Pre-Order at Nassau Hobby Center!

Fork  am I going to go bust this year.   Please tell me its not available in 2rail?  How long do I have to decide?  When does the preorder close?

ATERRY11

YES, They are available in 2 Rail, I believe the Pre-Order close is the end of April. If you are interested in ordering a 2-rail version please just give s a call, we can take care of it over the phone. (516) 378-9594.

Thanks!

Gromet posted:

 

For prototypical correctness, a complete 12 Car Set requires any A/B/C Set Combination.

 

Thanks for looking!

For "prototypical correctness" the CB&Q should REALLY have an A-A pair of E7A, E8A or E9A units (the E5A and E5B units would be even better, however nobody has produced CORRECT versions in 3-Rail), as those silver F3 A-B-A units lasted less than one year in passenger service.  

We want to make sure the correct information is being received on this magnificent passenger train which is the reason I’m posting this information. As the Executive Chairman Tom Haedrich said to me when we were working on bringing these train sets to market there are no guarantees in life (other than a couple) so if you’ve ever wanted to own a premium model of what many consider was one of the greatest passenger trains in American act now and don’t wait because I seriously doubt this offer will be made again. If you have questions on this train and want the correct answers please don’t hesitate to contact me as I won’t have the time to monitor this site.

The three railroads that partnered together to take this train from Chicago to San Francisco had calculated that they would need 4,500 horsepower to meet schedules with the planned 12-car train. Two 2,000-HP E7 locomotives wouldn’t do it, but three 1,500-HP F3 locomotives would. So the Burlington and Western Pacific each bought F3s, which turned out to be the only F-series engines that the Burlington ever used in passenger service. (Even so, the Burlington generally used two E units or sometimes three E units to pull the California Zephyr train.) The Denver Rio Grande Western initially purchased Alco PAs in an ABA configuration but within a year turned to EMD for F3s configured as ABBA sets.

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy's initial locomotive purchase for the California Zephyr consisted of three A+B+A locomotive sets of F-3's from GM's Electro-Motive Division (listed below). Although they were supplemented by EMD E-5's, E-7's and E-8's in the early 1950's, they remained in Zephyr service until 1955 when they were re-geared for freight service and had their steam generators removed. At that time CB&Q's E unit fleet was well enough equipped to provide full service to the California Zephyr. After the F-3's removal from passenger service the E-7's and E-8's carried the primary burden of continuing to power the Zephyr.    

Jerry Kimble

jkimble@atlaso.com

1-908-687-9590 ext. 7118

Atlas Model Railroad Company

Coordinator Sales/Marketing/Product Development

Mr. Kimble,

The reason that the CB&Q purchased those three sets of A-B-A F3 passenger equipped units, for the beginning service of the CZ was; they were under the assumption that the various railroads involved with the CZ, would be "running the power through" between Chicago and Oakland. The CB&Q Mechanical Dept. managers really did not want "F Units" for their much higher track speeds, and preferred the "E Unit" with its much more stable 3-axle trucks. However, since the motive power was "supposed" to be run-through, the "E Unit", with its much higher minimum continuous speed, was not suitable for the mountain grades on the D&RGW and WP railroads. Thus, the CB&Q was essentially "forced" into purchasing the three A-B-A F3 sets.

As soon as the CB&Q managers discovered that the motive power was NOT actually "running through", they quickly ordered additional E7A units from EMD. When the additional E7A units began showing up, in September 1947, with even more E7A units in March of 1949, the CB&Q portion of the CZ (between Denver and Chicago) was powered solely by "E Units".

FYI Today is the last day for Preorders for these Atlas Releases