MTH
- 4-6-4 DREYFUSS - WITH PROTO SOUND 3.0
The 1938 edition
of the Twentieth Century Limited is often regarded as the high water mark of the
American passenger train. Thirty-six years to the day after passengers strode
down a red plush carpet to the first run of the Century - inspiring the phrase
"red carpet treatment" - the new incarnation of America's most famous train pulled
out of Grand Central Station behind a homely boxcab electric. Thirty-three miles
later, at Harmon, New York, the train was turned over to a streamlined Hudson
with a prow reminiscent of a Roman gladiator's helmet, and the effect was complete.
From engine to observation car, in every detail down to the dining car china and
matchbook covers, the train had been styled by Henry Dreyfus, a giant in the then-new
profession of industrial design. The design was so handsome and striking that
it became a symbol of the New York Central railroad and, later, of the entire
Art Deco era. Decades later, Time magazine selected the locomotive as its single
symbol of the twentieth century.
Advertised as "the first all-room train
in America, 16 hours between New York and Chicago," the 1938 Century was the last
word in luxury travel. Every afternoon the famous red carpet was unfurled in Grand
Central Station, welcoming passengers aboard. Taking aim at Pennsy's rival Broadway
Limited, which had to cross the Allegheny Mountains to make the same trip, the
New York Central promoted itself as "The Water Level Route… You Can Sleep."
Leading
the train was one of the best examples of streamlining ever applied to a locomotive.
Unlike Raymond Loewy's design for the Broadway Limited's Pacifics, which largely
hid the engine under a streamlined shroud, Dreyfuss' styling clung tightly to
the locomotive, glorifying rather than hiding its shape and boldly displaying
the wheel and rod motion that make a steam engine so exciting. No wonder the Dreyfus
Hudson has been a favorite image of graphic artists ever since.
New for
2009, M.T.H. introduces the most fun-to-operate HO model of this landmark locomotive
ever made. Our Dreyfus Hudson is offered in several prototypical versions with
either the original 1938 paint scheme with blue edging on the stripes, or the
cleaner, more simplified 1940 scheme. Play the departure announcements for the
Twentieth Century Limited and begin your trip so smoothly that your passengers
won't realize they're moving. Listen to the chuff sounds and synchronized puffs
of smoke accelerate as your train picks up speed. If you're operating with the
M.T.H. DCS system, you can even make your own signature sounds with the quillable
whistle feature. In model railroading, it doesn't get any better than this. M.T.H.’s
HO locomotives feature the firm’s most sophisticated version of its highly acclaimed
Proto-Sound digital sound and command control onboard electronics. The Proto-Sound
3.0 system found in M.T.H.’s HO locomotives includes features not found in other
firm's sound systems and include a command control receiver that can operate with
M.T.H.’s DCS Digital Command System or any manufacturer’s DCC system.
Unlike
other HO sound-equipped locomotives currently on the market, M.T.H.’s steam locomotives
include synchronized puffing smoke timed to drive wheel revolutions for an incredibly
realistic operating experience. First appearing in M.T.H.’s O Gauge locomotives
in 2000, each M.T.H. HO steam locomotive features a prototypically correct four
chuffs/puffs per each drive wheel revolution.
Digital steam engine sound
features including whistle, bell, chuffing, squeaking brakes, authentic Doppler,
passenger station announcements, air let-off, air pump, blow down, pop-off, injector
and dozens more are included in each engine – a variety unmatched in HO today.
In addition, every engine features 120 speed steps, each in scale one-mile-per-hour
increments for a true prototypical operating experience.
M.T.H.'s steam
and diesel locomotives are completely compatible with most 16 volt or higher analog
DC power supplies. Under analog operation, the user retains direction control,
synchronized puffing smoke and digital chuffing (synchronized to driver revolution
and smoke puffing) on steam engines, diesel engine roar and squeaking brakes and
speed control on both diesel and steam models.
When operated in command
mode using M.T.H.’s DCS Digital Command System (DCS), operators will have access
to hundreds of features and sounds, including crossing signals, a user controlled
“quillable” steam whistle or diesel horn that simulates an engineer’s differing
pressure on the whistle pull cord for seamless whistle or horn pitches.
The
steam engine's die-cast metal boiler and tender house the electronics and a precision
five-pole flywheel-equipped motor. Intricately detailed, the boiler and tender
shells feature additional detail elements ensuring an accurate reproduction of
the high and low headlight USRA versions. Additional features include sprung drivers,
(2) Kadee® compatible couplers, prototypical Rule 21 lighting, interchangeable
RP25 drivers with traction tires for added pulling strength, detailed cab interior,
detailed tender undercarriage and even a tender to boiler deck plate.
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