Aristocraft / Delton Classics C - 16 2 - 8 - 0 ' Pacific Slope ' D&RG (Class 56 1880)
Item History & Price
Reference Number: Avaluer:8679338 | Power Supply: DC |
Brand: Aristocraft | Material: Plastic |
Grading: C-7 Excellent | Type: Steam Locomotive |
The drive system is Aristocraft's universal drive/gearbox which is used in their E8, Dash 9s etc. The model is very powerful and every axle is powered internally, despite the full metal side rods and full metal wheels on the outside. The locomotive is painted for Denver & Rio Grande No 71 of 1880. This was at the time known as D&RG's Class 56 2-8-0 (actually the precursor of the C-16). Pacific Slope was one of many similar locomotives that built the Rio Grande westward into the Rockies in the early 1880s. I developed this livery for Aristocraft (along with the others in that last batch), so I should know its story...
No 71, Pacific Slope worked the construction trains over the Continental Divide in Colorado - up at 10, 000ft. It worked these trains over Marshall Pass down into the village of Gunnison on the west side of the mountain range. Each day as the trackwork in the mountains edged ever closer to town, the towns people remarked how the mournful wail of the Baldwin whistles signaled the 'coming of civilisaton'. Upon completion of the railroad over this impossible mountain range, the first locomotive to chuff down the mainstreet of Gunnison in 1881 was no 71. So aptly named in 1880 'Pacific Slope' as it had just completed building the line over the pass and rolled down the Pacific slope of the continental divide.
The model comes with its original box and foam liners. The engine runs extremely well and is very powerful. Not DCC and no sound. To tradition of Arisocraft's universal drive, these are tough as nails, and have a low frequency growl to them, so there is the brutish growl when it runs.
Learn some of the history of this model and the people who developed it in this story from 2001 - this model represents the final incarnation after this story!http://www.npcrr.com/Articles/PhilJensenStory/ThePhilJensenStory.pdf
Here was my sample paint job which I did in 1999 and later adopted for this Aristocraft commercial model.http://4largescale.com/fletch/d1f.htm