ALCo built a total of 131 Century 420 locomotives between 1963 and 1969, when the builder ceased all new locomotive production.
Powered by a 12-cylinder, turbocharged, 2,000-hp 251-series prime mover, the C420's direct competitor in 1963 was the EMD GP18. In fact, EMD did not offer a 12-cylinder, 2,000-hp prime mover until the GP39 model was produced in 1969. The shorter 12-cylinder engine block allowed the C420 to have its distinctive set-back cab and extended short hood.
The first road to purchase the C420 was the Lehigh & Hudson River, with its first two units built in 1963. The largest fleet was purchased by the Long Island Railroad, with 30 units built between 1963 and 1968. All were equipped with a high short hood which housed a steam generator for passenger service. Over time, the largest fleet of C420s was amassed by the Louisville & Nashville. While only 26 units were purchased new, their total fleet grew to well over 60 units through mergers and acquisitions. The C420 can still be found in daily service today in the US. Currently the largest fleet of C420s is operated by the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad.
Features:
Newly redesigned AAR type B truck sideframes with optional bearing covers
Flat or "step" pilots used where appropriate
Long hood with or without dynamic brake detail used where appropriate
3,100 gallon fuel tank
Long Island Railroad units will feature correct air horn placement and include smoke deflectors for the long hood as well as Bowser Hi-AD trucks
Additional Features:
Separately-applied scale detail parts include: windshield wipers, metal grab irons, coupler cut levers, multiple-unit hoses, train line hoses, fine scale handrails, drop steps, cab sun shades and more!
See through step detail on sill
Etched metal radiator walkway
Painted crew members
Factory-equipped with AccuMate knuckle couplers
Coupler pocket designed to accept AccuMate Proto-couplers
Five-pole skewed armature motor with dual flywheels for optimum performance at all speeds
Directional lighting with golden-white LEDs
Sound Features for Gold Series:
DCC Operation
Supports all DCC-programming modes
Flexible mapping of function keys F0 to F28.
A total of six DCC function outputs are available
Follows all NMRA DCC standards and recommended practices.
Analog (DC) Operation
The LokSound Select Dual-Mode decoder allows your Atlas Gold Series locomotive to be used on DC as well as on DCC layouts.
Please note that the Atlas Quantum Engineer will NOT operate an Atlas Gold Series locomotive equipped with a LokSound Select decoder on an analog (DC) layout. However, the sound and lighting functions of the LokSound Select decoder in the Atlas Gold Series C424/425 locomotive can be controlled by an easy-to-use basic DCC system
Also note that on a DC-powered layout, a DCC and sound equipped locomotive (such as the Atlas Gold Series C424/425) CANNOT be consisted with another locomotive that does not also have both DCC and sound. (This statement does NOT apply to DCC-equipped locomotives operating on a DCC layout.)
Sound Functionality
Over 20 sound effects are available, including engine start-up and shutdown, prime mover sounds through all eight notches, bell, air horn, air compressor, dynamic brakes and more.
There are 16 user-selectable horns, 2 user-selectable bells, and 2 user-selectable synchronized brake squeals.
Manual and Automatic Notching modes with the ability to change modes "on the fly" are provided for true realism.
AccuMate couplers are made under license from AccuRail, Inc.
