Centipede Anyone?
Hey Ya´ll:
Did Flangehead say "CENTIPEDE", in one of his posts? Okay, thats enough for me to sign up with this outfit.
I just don´t get why almost every company introduces F units or GP somethings. There must be 8 companies offering these locomotives in HO scale alone. Now they have finally gotten the FM trainmasters and the BLW VO´s out there but they are dead wrong when they say the trainmaster was the worlds first high horsepower diesel. The Baldwin Locomotive Works offered the Centipede as a passenger locomotive way ahead of FM. The idea was one Centipede could pull the wheels out from under the Broadway Limited where several EMD´s were required. Electrical demons caused their availability to be poor on the PENNSY but my friends in the old SAL west Jacksonville shops loved them. In fact one of the officials of motive power at CSX, a former ACL man said they were awsome. He went on to say that he thought they were offered in as high as 8,000 hp as well as 6,000 and 3,000 but there were no takers on the high end.
That being said the Union Pacific had ONE on the books then up and canceled the order sometime before delivery to chase the turbine concept for Sherman Hill. What a shame as a couple of Centipedes on the point of a train in the dry west would not have had the electrical probblems which I´m told were water related, leaks and shorts.
I have a Hallmark Brass Centipede painted for my Ocklawaha Valley Railroad (a northeast to southwest bridge line cutting a diagonal across Florida circa 1954. But if BL or PSM or LL or anyone else is reading this, then I agree with Flangehead. MASS PRODUCE the CENTIPEDE! Then put me down for FOUR. Thanks Flangehead, wonder if we´ll hear from anyone else?
Ocklawahavalley