Lionel Santa Fe PA Engines

Hey Lonnie. I have the 1933160 set and add on. They have the illuminated number boards on the side.

Lionel 6-34568

The Lionel site does not say anything about illuminated number boards on the side. I feel your only option is the newest set from 4 years ago.

Here is a video of mine if you are interested.

Donald

Awesome, Don. I'd never seen a set of Lionel's Santa Fe PAs with the lighted side number boards before.

Hi Don,

Thanks for the great video.  I am a little confused with the part numbers.  Is the set with both A units having motors the 1933160 part number and the set with one powered A and a dummy A the 6-34568 number and both have the lighted side number boards?

Lonnie

@Lonnie posted:

Hi Don,

Thanks for the great video.  I am a little confused with the part numbers.  Is the set with both A units having motors the 1933160 part number and the set with one powered A and a dummy A the 6-34568 number and both have the lighted side number boards?

Lonnie

Hello Lonnie.

These are the locomotives from 2019.

1933160 - Santa Fe Legacy AA PA Set (contains "161" and "162")
1933161 - Santa Fe Legacy PA #54L (part of 1933160 set) - (powered) has lighted side number boards
1933162 - Santa Fe Legacy PA #54B (part of 1933160 set) - (powered) has lighted side number boards
1933163 - Santa Fe SuperBass Legacy PB #54A (non powered) - does not have lighted side number boards

This is the set from Lionel Catalog in 2010.

6-34568 - Santa Fe Legacy Alco PA Diesel A-A Set. This contains (1) powered unit and (1) Dummy unit. It DOES NOT have the lighted side number boards on the side.

The PA locomotives from 2010 are scale size and are good runners. I have a few different sets.

To conclude, if you want the lighted side number boards, you will need the set from 2019. I hope this helps.

Don

Hi Don,

Your explanation sure does help.  It says that there is no dummy PA with lighted number boards so I'll have to go with two powered A units from the 1933160 set.

Thank you,

Lonnie

@Lonnie posted:

Hi Don,

Your explanation sure does help.  It says that there is no dummy PA with lighted number boards so I'll have to go with two powered A units from the 1933160 set.

Thank you,

Lonnie

My pleasure Lonnie. If you get the 1933160 set, you will not be disappointed.

Don

I don't think many, if any, B-Units would have lighted number boards.

I have the TMCC 6-14571 A-A set and can confirm they have lighted side number boards #51. They are very nice looking scale locomotives and I get a lot of enjoyment out of them. They also have powered radiator fans. There are two headlights on them, and I believe one is a simulated MARS light but mine are in boxes right now so cannot confirm. The matching B unit 6-14587 does not have number boards at all, which is correct for ATSF. (No powered fan either.)

Edit: the box end flap says “All new operating Mars light with realistic pulsing action”.

Thanks everybody for all of your inputs.  I'll probably go after the 6-14571 version after the New Year starts.  As I mentioned, I have the non-smoking, no Mars light version with the matching B unit and I want to get a newer version.

@Lonnie Good luck in your purchase, and glad we gave you the information you needed to make a decision.

The plus side of the 6-14571 set is that they are reasonably priced and generally available, so finding a set in good condition should be pretty easy. The down side to consider is that they are now 20 years old and Lionel has discontinued most of the old electronics boards. So if your set happens to burn out a board, you might be stuck with a very expensive display piece.

One cool thing that most forum members take for granted but I hadn’t put much thought to was the engine sounds. The PAs have a VERY different engine sound than the various F-units, which is cool, and I assume reasonably realistic for both. Close enough for me anyway.

Hi Everybody,

I took ByronB's advice and bought a 6-14571 set of Santa Fe PA's.  They look great and run great.  I have a question though about the roof fans.  The roof fan on the powered diesel turns slowly when the  the engines are moving , but not when standing still.  The rear fan doesn't turn at all.  Are both fans supposed to turn or only the one on the powered unit?  The documentation doesn't mention the roof fans at all.

Thanks,

Lonnie

Lonnie,

I am very glad you are happy with them. By coincidence, my set acts the same way! Yes, both units have powered radiator fans, and the motors are shown on the exploded parts view on the Lionel support site, and still available to purchase.

Last month I had occasion to order another part from Lionel, and since I was already paying shipping I added the radiator fan motor since it was only $12 or so. I have the idea that one of these days I’ll take the shell off and see if it’s the motor or the PC board that failed. I might have wasted $12 if it is the board, but there is a chance it’s an easy fix. Although…..if two sets are having the exact same issue, it leads me to think the control boards in the units are different, and both fail “differently”.

Lonnie, the 'ancient' R.O.W. Alco PA's from the last century (1988 or so) had handsome PA's that had the lighted side number boards plus above the center of the windshield and a few more as well. I had a set of the Delaware & Hudson that were really nice. There is a thread about the PA's out there now.

Hi Byron B,

Good news about my PA roof fans.  I saw a slight bit of movement from the non powered unit's fan blades, so I took off the shell and saw that the blades on the motor were trying to turn.  I started turning the blades back and forth with my fingers and after around 10 or 15 seconds the blades started turning  rapidly.  I put the shell back on and the air from the motorized blades turned the roof fans blades fast.  Yikes, I thought I might as well take the shell off the powered A unit and do the same thing since they were already turning, but slow enough to be seen.  The same thing  happened to that roof fan.  Both are now spinning correctly when the engines are moving.  Just in case though, I ordered two fan motors and each PCB since they are still available.  Who knows, I might not be that lucky next time.

Lonnie

@Lonnie That’s great news and I appreciate the update. I will try the same thing.

I forgot to mention that the engines have to be moving while turning the blades back and forth because the fan only turns when the engine is moving, so with the non powered unit I was moving the engine back and forth with one hand while moving the fan blades with the other hand.

@3rail posted:

Hello Lonnie.

These are the locomotives from 2019.

1933160 - Santa Fe Legacy AA PA Set (contains "161" and "162")
1933161 - Santa Fe Legacy PA #54L (part of 1933160 set) - (powered) has lighted side number boards
1933162 - Santa Fe Legacy PA #54B (part of 1933160 set) - (powered) has lighted side number boards
1933163 - Santa Fe SuperBass Legacy PB #54A (non powered) - does not have lighted side number boards

This is the set from Lionel Catalog in 2010.

6-34568 - Santa Fe Legacy Alco PA Diesel A-A Set. This contains (1) powered unit and (1) Dummy unit. It DOES NOT have the lighted side number boards on the side.

The PA locomotives from 2010 are scale size and are good runners. I have a few different sets.

To conclude, if you want the lighted side number boards, you will need the set from 2019. I hope this helps.

Don

The 6-34568 Santa Fe Legacy Alco PA set from 2010 does have lighted side and roof number boards (one powered unit, one unpowered unit).  And the 2010 PB unit (6-34569) that goes with them is powered.

There are videos of them on YouTube.

They also have a slightly more accurate paint scheme than the newer units from 2019.