Hello Friends Looks like that Märklin will release the N.Y.C. 4-6-4 "Commodore Vanderbilt" streamlined Steamlocomotive in 2007.
Well that's certainly different. What do the they plan to go behind it? Not a repaint of the same old passenger cars I hope.
I found out that the Locomotive pulls the "Twentieth Century Limited" and those cars where Pullmann cars.
I could be wrong but I suspect that those streamlined cars are a later incarnation of the 20th Century Limited than what the Commodore Vanderbilt pulled. The Commodore Vanderbilt only was in service from 1935 until 1938. In 1938 the NYC had Henry Dreyfuss redesign a new locomotive streamlining (the familiar bullet nose version of the 20th Century Limited) and a streamlined set of cars to match. Not to say that it's not an attractive looking locomotive. By the way, there was a good article on the Commodore Vanderbilt and the few other streamlined steam locomotives on the NYC in the "Steam Glory 2" special edition of Classic Trains that came out last year (but which may still be available at your LHS). Regards Ed
Odd choice to do an obscure locomotive, but it looks cool: http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc-s5344o.jpg Plus the body will cover most of Marklin's chunky valve gear. http://www.railarchive.net/nyccollection/com_vanderbilt_1.htm http://www.railarchive.net/nyccollection/com_vanderbilt_2.htm
Great loco. Wouldn't it be nice the 20th Century Limited was released in Z this year... Yup that would be cool. Really, really cool... Rob Kluz
Chris, Obscure, Single railroad locomotives seem to be a theme with Marklin's new North American releases, lately. Or at least locomotives with limited appeal to runners, given available rollingstock, etc. First the GG-1, Now, the Commodore Vanderbilt. Doesn't bother me much, since these are my top two railroads. However, I think I would have preferred the later streamlined loc for the 20th Century Ltd. I'll wind up buying one, anyway. But, it's not like the tooling for a GG-1 can be used for any roads other than PRR, PC and Conrail (and only one small region of their systems) The other questionable releases (just my opinion) are the Bumble Bee and the other old time loc produced in 2006 for "old timer" passenger cars. They don't fit (chronologically) with any of the other locomotives or rollingstock that Marklin produces. Once again, this shows their commitment to collectors and "cute" when it comes to the North American market. Although, the latest 10 wheeler and the GG-1 both are a vast improvement detail-wise over the Pacific, Mikado and F-7. I have two of the Pennsy GG-1s simply because I think it is a very nice model. I have no use for it on my branch of the PRR, but... At least the 10 wheelers and the Commodore Vanderbilt offer bashing opportunities. Dan S.
It's obvious the market would have been far broader for an USRA heavy Mike or 2-10-2 for example....BTW if this to be released 4-6-4 isn't an umpteenth kitbashed european chassis again, it will be a great improvement regarding what Marklin has accustomed us until now, unless of course the GG1.... Just my two cents, Dom
Dom, I agree, I would also like to see a 4-8-2 and larger driver 2-10-0. I don't know if Marklin will be able to just modify a European chassis for the Vanderbilt. The cab winds up being too far forward. Their other 4-6-4s are large tank engines, so, hopefully, anyway, we will be looking at a new chassis. Dan S.
Pardon my ignorance... ...But didn't the Hiawathas roll behind a 4-4-2 or something similar? If there's a Hudson-type that pulled the Hi, then you have great kitbash fodder. The engines were streamlined, too.....:lightbulb:
I might get one for the novelty of it. Probably there are a lot of Europeans who will collect this loco too, as it looks so different from others. If I was running the show at Marklin, and wanted to do a North American release that could fit over an existing Z Scale mechanism, I would have an USRA 0-8-0 shell and siderods made. I would think it would sell many more units than the 4-6-4 would? For mass appeal, I would include a decal sheet for a dozen railroads, and watch the units fly off the shelf!
I think you are right on the money there Robert. I think everyone has one of their mikado's or pacifics so an 0-8-0 would be neat. I'd go so far as to say they'd sell any N/A steam with correct siderods.
The Hiawatha originally used streamlined heavy Atlantics, but as train length increased, they needed a bigger engine, and ordered streamlined Hudsons as well.
Just because I like looking stuff up :teeth: http://www.coffeedrome.com/hiawatha2.html http://www.coffeedrome.com/hiawatha.html http://www.steamlocomotive.com/streamlined/scrapped/hiawatha-3.jpg http://www.steamlocomotive.com/streamlined/scrapped/milw100.jpg http://www.coffeedrome.com/images/histeam.jpg
