Garden Railways – August 2019

GardenRailways.com 57

Manufacturer

MTH Electric Trains

7020 Columbia Gateway Dr.

Columbia, MD 21046-1532

http://www.mthtrains.com

Price: $1,199.95

Era: 1941 to 2002 (varies with scheme)

Road names: Southern Pacific (Day-

light scheme with large or small letter-

ing on tender in two road numbers

each and black), American Freedom

Train, BNSF Ry., and Western Pacific.

One number per scheme unless noted.

Features:

■ Minimum radius: 4'

■ Measures: 43" x 4^5 ⁄ 16 " x 6¼"

■ Weight: 13 pounds, 12 ounces

■ Flywheel-equipped motor

■ Onboard DCC receiver

■ Constant voltage headlight and

operating tender backup light

■ Wireless drawbar

whistle, air horn (the bell part of it),
handrails, and steps. The molded doors,
seams, rivets, and washout plugs are
crisply defined. The walkways feature
a diamond-tread pattern.
The Boxpok drivers have a star in the
center, which indicated spring pad lubri-
cation on the full-size engines. A pair of
cross compound air compressors are cor-
rectly located above the drivers on the
fireman’s side.
Not to be overlooked is the illuminated
cab interior, which features factory-painted
and installed engineer and fireman fig-
ures and a detailed backhead with gauges.
The cab exterior features a positionable
roof vent and side windows, separate wind
def lectors, and wire grab irons.
The locomotive is connected to the
tender via a wireless drawbar. This is a

printed-circuit (PC) board attached to the

locomotive with a screw. On each end of

the PC board is an upward facing 10-pin

plug. One plug is factory-connected to

the engine. The modeler must connect the

other pin to a socket on the underbody of

the tender, just ahead of the front truck.

The tender has a one-piece polycar-

bonate body. On our sample, the red and

orange paint on the fireman’s side has

moderate orange peel texturing. The

striping and lettering are opaque, and the

black trim around the “Southern Pacific”

lettering is in register. There were a few

small voids in the lettering over the rivet

heads on the tender.

Like the locomotive, the tender fea-

tures a mix of molded and separate parts.

The front of the tender is the oil tank,

which has a separate, non-positionable fill

Number box Builder’s plate

Pickup shoes Boxpok drivers

FACTS & FEATURES

Removeable

smokestack cover Turbogenerators

Cross compound

air compressor

Opening cab

roof vent Lighted

interior Oil fill hatch cover

Sliding

window

Painted

figure

(^1) : (^32)
SCA
LE