Part of the first transcontinental railroad, the Southern Pacific's passage over the Sierra Nevadas, from Sparks, Nevada to Roseville, California, has always been a challenge for man and machine. Grades in both directions approximate 2.5%. Thirty-nine tunnels and nearly 40 miles of snow sheds protect the track from snowdrifts and avalanches - Sierra Nevada, after all, is Spanish for "snow covered." Seeking more muscle for this route, the SP took delivery of two Baldwin articulated 2-8-8-2s in 1908. Initial trails, however, revealed that heat and exhaust gases in the tunnels and snowsheds made life nearly unbearable for the engine crew. Although cab forwards had been tried before in Italy and northern California, legend has it the SP cab forwards were inspired by an engineer who turned a Baldwin articulated around and ran it tender-first, putting the smoke behind him so he could breathe while he did his job.

The first true Southern Pacific Cab Forwards were delivered in March of 1910 and proved so successful that the SP eventually bought 254 more in various classes. Because the firebox and tender were at opposite ends of the locomotive, the cab forwards burned oil, piped under pressure from the tender to the firebox. The cab in front gave the engineer the best forward visibility of any steam locomotive.

Features:

• Die-Cast Boiler and Tender Body
• Die-Cast Metal Chassis
• Authentic Paint Scheme & Cab Numbers
• RP-25 Metal Wheels Mounted On Metal Axles
• Operating Lighted Marker Lights
• Constant Voltage Headlight
• Prototypical Rule 17 Lighting
• Detailed Truck Sides
• Detailed Cab Interior
• Powerful Balanced 12-Volt 5-Pole Precision Skewed Flywheel Equipped Motor
• (2) Kadee Compatible Scale Couplers
• Metal Handrails and Decorative Bell
• Decorative Metal Whistle
• Sprung Drive Wheels
• Synchronized Puffing ProtoSmoke® System
• Locomotive Speed Control
• Locomotive Cab To Tender Deck Plate
• Detailed Tender Undercarriage
• Real Coal Load
• Interchangeable Traction Tire-Equipped Drive Wheels
• On-Board DCC Receiver