Hey Scott, MTH suggests on their Facebook page we may see Amtrak, Via Rail and a New Haven version in an upcoming catalog. I will be in for the Amtrak version and will order the CN version. MTH also said the Turbo will not have a generic sound set so I am hoping to hear some up nice start up sounds. MTH says they will soon post a video.
The Turbo Train still holds the world speed record for gas turbine powered rail vehicles when it hit 170.8 MPH on December 20, 1967 on the Department of Transportation's high speed test track on the Penn Central's mainline between Trenton and New Brunswick. According to a Wikipedia article on the Turbo Train, even Acela has tried but failed to beat this speed record.
This is the poor man's Acela. I'm poor!. I want one!
Originally Posted by Fred Brenek:
I realize these were turbines, and aside from them bursting into flames on a semi-regular basis, should these things really have smoke?
And, if they should have smoke, shouldn't it be streaming?
Fred
That was my first thought, too. I used to watch the CN Turbos passing through the Toronto freight yards in the Seventies, and the turbine exhaust looked nothing remotely like those lazy wisps of white smoke I see coming out of the model.
Well if you buy a set and do NOT want it to "smoke", just turn the smoke OFF. That is not too hard.
Originally Posted by The Portland Rose:
Hey Scott, MTH suggests on their Facebook page we may see Amtrak, Via Rail and a New Haven version in an upcoming catalog. I will be in for the Amtrak version and will order the CN version. MTH also said the Turbo will not have a generic sound set so I am hoping to hear some up nice start up sounds. MTH says they will soon post a video.
Portland,
That is good news! Thanks for the info. It only makes good business sense for MTH to offer the most popular or more widely used paint schemes. I hope it is not several years to wait though.
Scott
A web photo album of the Acceptance Ceremony for the New Haven's (later Penn Central's) Turbo trains:
http://rides.webshots.com/albu...123549lOGTuD?start=0
That is a very nice looking model!
--Greg
Portland, Thanks so much for listing the link to New Haven pictures. I knew that NH experimented with the Turbo Train but had no idea that was the same paint scheme that the PC ended up with.
That makes the set I have on order more special.
Ron, I bet MTH will make the New Haven, Amtrak and Via Rail versions in the next production (hopefully cataloged in Spring 2013). It looks like the only difference between the New Haven and the Penn Cental is the lettering on the side. Otherwise, they are the same colors. I have the CN on preorder and look forward to the Amtrak and New Haven versions. It looks like Turbo Train will continue to hold the North American speed record for production trains until California's high speed rail is up and running. With this model, MTH has called Lionel's Acela hand! Could the TGV be next?
Ron, I bet MTH will make the New Haven, Amtrak and Via Rail versions in the next production (hopefully cataloged in Spring 2013)
Hopefully you are right and that it's doesn't fall victim to "too little preorders" like the Weaver Models BP20!
Originally Posted by The Portland Rose:
Ron, I bet MTH will make the New Haven, Amtrak and Via Rail versions in the next production (hopefully cataloged in Spring 2013). It looks like the only difference between the New Haven and the Penn Cental is the lettering on the side. Otherwise, they are the same colors. I have the CN on preorder and look forward to the Amtrak and New Haven versions. It looks like Turbo Train will continue to hold the North American speed record for production trains until California's high speed rail is up and running. With this model, MTH has called Lionel's Acela hand! Could the TGV be next?
If MTH does the TGV or the ICE train, I'm in.
Hmmm. I'm down with an AMTRAK set if they're done.
SAM
