The ALCo PA was far out sold by EMD E units, but is widely viewed as the most beautiful first-generation diesel locomotive. They just looked so right leading the streamlined passenger trains during the fading glory of passenger service in the United States.

ALCo built a total of 294 PA's and PB's from 1946 to 1953. Much of the locomotive’s aesthetic look was designed by Ray Patten, the head of General Electric industrial design. GE was not building road locomotives yet and was working with ALCo in the locomotive business.

GE made the electrical equipment for all Alco diesels during this time. ALCo PA’s & PB’s had ALCo 244 16 cylinder 2000 horsepower prime movers. They were geared in accordance with railroad requirements and could operate up to 100 mile per hour.

An unfortunate characteristic of these prime movers is the turbocharger lag that resulted in these units belching black smoke until the turbocharger came up to speed. This gave the units the distinction of being “honorary steam locomotives” in the view of many railfans.

Recreate the beauty of first class passenger travel with these Walthers Mainline ALCo PA locomotives and matching Walthers Proto passenger cars in a variety of schemes for the Walthers Fallen Flag Series.

Joining forces in late 1960, the newly formed Erie-Lackawanna quickly began consolidating and organizing its fleet to handle both long-distance and commuter passenger service.

Although both roads favored EMD passenger power, the Erie had purchased a dozen PAs in 1947 (and two outwardly identical PA-2s in 1951) for service between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, but they also did yeoman service in New York-New Jersey commuter operations.

The car fleet was surprisingly diverse, and chosen from the best that both partners had available. Elderly head-end heavyweights and relatively new lightweight cars alike received the handsome new corporate colors of gray and maroon with yellow stripes. All cars were lettered for the Erie-Lackawanna until 1963 when the company changed its name to Erie Lackawanna and officially dropped the hyphen, however both lettering styles would be seen side-by-side for many years to come.

All 14 PAs also received the new corporate colors, but by 1967 were bumped into freight service, often running in A-A-A sets on piggyback and similar faster trains until traded to EMD in 1969.

A year later, EL ran its final long-distance passenger trains, but commuter service would actually continue into 1977.

Features:

• Fully assembled and ready to run
• Accurate paint schemes
• Same powerful drive as Walthers Proto locos featuring:
  
  • Five-pole skew-wound motor
    
  • 14:1 gear ratio
    
  • Helical-cut gears for quiet operation and easy multiple unit operation
    
  • All-wheel drive and electrical pickup
    
  • Dual machined brass flywheels
    
• Heavy die cast chassis
  
• Constant and directional lights
  
• Factory-installed handrails
  
• Molded drill starter points for grab irons (sold separately)
  
• RP-25 metal wheels
  
• Proto MAX metal knuckle couplers
• Painted and real metal finish to simulate stainless steel
• No dynamic brakes
• Small number boards 
• "Radio Equipped" logos 
• Single headlight
• Units available in DCC Ready and with factory installed SoundTraxx DCC w/Sound for DCC and DC layouts, DCC w/Sound units feature:
  
  • 16-Bit digital quality sound
    
  • Horn and short horn toot
    
  • Bell
    
  • Prime mover
    
  • Three lighting functions
• Easily handles 18" radius curves (22" or larger recommended)