Straight Out Of The Museum!

While cab forward locomotives are the norm in the diesel era, they were very rare in the steam era in North America. The exception is Southern Pacific, who for decades operated a various models of these unusual steam engines. Southern Pacific had a unique need for this type of locomotive with their long tunnels and snow sheds in the Donner Pass area and other mountainous regions primarily on the west coast. The advantage of the design was that it kept smoke and soot away from the operating cab, and therefore the crew. It would have been impossible for Southern Pacific to operate standard steam locomotives in some of these areas.

The AC-12 was the last class of cab forward locomotives built for Southern Pacific, and in fact were the last steam locomotives of any type built for Southern Pacific. They entered service from late October 1943 to early 1944, at the height of World War II.

The advent of viable mainline diesel locomotives eventually caught up with these mammoth beasts of burden, with the final locomotive retired in late 1958. Today, all have long since been scrapped, with the exception of one. Southern Pacific 4294 was spared that fate and eventually found a home in the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California. There, complete with it's tender, it holds a place of honor and stands witness to just how big and powerful these locomotives were.

Long a desirable model for any Southern Pacific late steam fan, Intermountain models of AC-12 locomotives have always been eyecatchingly big, even in N Scale. The impression was however always muted, as none were produced with sound. Until now.

Intermountain has recently produced a special custom run of these locomotives both in a standard DC version and for the first time in N Scale, a factory installed DCC w/Sound version. This is the first time Intermountain has produced an N Scale locomotive with factory installed DCC w/Sound and this is certainly a fitting choice. These locomotives are Southern Pacific 4294, the very same pictured in the museum above.

Check out the video below which is of an earlier release Intermountain AC-12 that was upgraded with DCC & Sound. This will give you some idea of what this factory built unit will be like.

We did not expect to be able to get any of this special run, as they are so highly desirable to Southern Pacific modelers. However, when we found a way to get them, we jumped on it. So if you are a Southern Pacific late steam fan and would like this piece of both real world and model railroading history, now is your chance. This was a small custom run and we have access to only a few copies, so if you would like one, you need to order now or miss this train!

Limited Quantities Available - Order Now!

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