MTH - MILWAUKEE BI-POLAR
Dubbed the 'silent locomotive', General Electric's E-2 Bi-Polar
ushered in a new dawn of electrification for Milwaukee Road,
in 1919. While the engine produced 3,200hp and 1,00 volts to
each of its traction motors, the Bi-Polar made no whine or gear
tooth growl. At 76' in length and weighing 265 tons, the Bi-Polar
would come to revolutionize the industry.
Briefly tabbed as 'the mightiest electric locomotives in the
world', the EM-2 Bi-Polar arrived at Milwaukee Road in December
of 1919. Numbered 10250-10254 these engines were designed to
pull any normal passenger train in the railroads roster, singly,
and were therefore built without multiple-unit controls. At
the staggering cost of $200,000 an engine, many railroads found
it too expensive to own an entire fleet of Bi-Polar's. Milwaukee
Road however, closely identified with the Bi-Polar, making the
engine the backbone of the railroads passenger service, powering
the trains over the railroads mountainous western routes.
The Bi-Polar's speed was also something of note, as mentioned
in Noel T. Holley's The Milwaukee Electrics, Ralph Edwards reminisced
about the engines, stating, "They were quick. If you reached
out and grabbed a handful of notches, those babies would get
right out and move. The acceleration was much quicker than a
diesel and much quicker than E22 and E23. They moved out in
a hurry, and they were absolutely silent".
Appearing for the first time in the M.T.H. HO lineup for 2010,
this scale replica of Milwaukee Roads Bi-Polar fleet is sure
to look just as stunning as the original. With prototypical
rule 17 lighting, remotely controlled directionally activated
operating pantographs and the excitement of Proto-Sound 3.0,
this locomotive is certain to make a realistic addition to any
collection.
F0 Headlight F1 Bell F2 Whistle/Horn F3 Start
Up/Shut Down F4 Rear Coupler F5 Front Coupler F6 Engine Sounds
On/Off F7 Sound Volume F8 Ditch Lights Auto/On/Off F9 Forward
Signal F10 Reverse Signal F11 Grade Crossing Signal F12 Cab Light
On/Off F13 Extended Start Up F14 Extended Shut Down F15 Rev Up
F16 Rev Down F17 Coupler Slack Sound F18 Coupler Close F19 One-Shot
Doppler F20 Feature Reset F21 Idle Sequence 1 F22 Idle Sequence
2 F23 Idle Sequence 3 F24 Ditch Lights Auto/On/Off F25 Brakes
Auto/Off F26 Cab Chatter Auto/Off F27 Clickety-Clack Auto/Off
F28 Coupler Slack Sound Proto-Sound 3.0 With The Digital Command
System Featuring: Passenger Station Proto-Effects
Unit Measures:11 5/16" x 1 3/8" x 2 7/16" Operates
On 18" Radius Curves
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