One could convincingly argue that the Santa Fe represented best practice in American railroading and was the ultimate in mobile ambience in the period 1930 – 1960. The SF had a direct route from Chicago to Los Angeles and the railroads signature trains, clad in gleaming stainless steel, were the preferred conveyance of the kings and queens of once-glamorous Hollywood. Those trains were powered by an impressive roster of modern steam power and stylish new, diesel-electrics with the eye-catching war bonnet paint schemes.
Early in that process, the SF purchased ten class 3450 4-6-4 locomotives from Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in 1927. The first Hudson on the rails was New York Central #5200 of February, 1927 and the early purchase of that identical wheel arrangement confirmed the progressiveness that was a signature SF characteristic. Luck and timing are often the foundation of success and sadly, the 4-6-4 design lacked both.
Born in the golden, economic glow of late 1920s prosperity, the 4-6-4 was positioned to be the logical replacement for the steady but dated 4-6-2 locomotive design. Wider acceptance of the 4-6-4 design was hampered by the economic paralysis – and downturn in traffic – of the decade that followed. Aside from the large purchases by the NYC, only 103 Hudson locomotives were built for all other American railroads. To highlight the latter, the Illinois Central owned only one – and that was converted from a 2-8-4 – and the C&O owned 13, however they could claim the heaviest Hudson ever built – and the very last 4-6-4 locomotive to be built. More to the point, due to the timing of new technology, the 4-6-4 had to compete with the newly-developed Electro-Motive E-series passenger units that were perfected in 1937. Not surprisingly, the forward-thinking SF was also an early purchaser of the E-series passenger locomotives.
Still, the SF embraced a broad motive power strategy was not ready to completely capitulate to diesel-electrics. SF fielded many long passenger and express trains with consists of conventional, heavy-weight steel cars. Steam power was better-suited to power those trains and accordingly in 1937, SF returned to BLW for a lot of 6 class 3460, 4-6-4 locomotives. Respected BLW mechanical engineer Fred Westing correctly observed that the greatly improved SF Hudson locomotives of 1937 could not be considered direct developments of the first lot of ten built 1927 due to their immense proportions, huge 84” drive wheels (the earlier group were built with 73” drivers) and all the latest locomotive appliances including an advanced mechanical lubrication system.
The class 3460 “Super Hudsons” of 1937 were oil-fired, were equipped with SKF roller bearings and were purchased to be used on trains on the Eastern Lines operating between Chicago and La Junta CO. The new Santa Fe 4-6-4 greatly outclassed locomotives of the neighboring Erie, Monon and Chicago & Eastern Illinois at the venerable Dearborn Station in Chicago. On December 12, 1937 locomotive #3461 made the longest continuous run of a steam locomotive ever recorded when it blazed the ballast between Los Angeles and Chicago, a distance of 2,227.3 miles with nothing besides routine lubrication and fuel. The average speed for that special test run was 45 MPH but 90 MPH was recorded over several portions of the route.
Those were the best of times for the SF – its corporate image was culturally in the forefront – due in part to a popular song and later a motion picture. In 1944 lyricist Johnny Mercer liked the rhyme of the corporate name of the railroad – the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and penned a song of similar name in 1944. In 1946, that became an Oscar-winning song when it was used in the motion picture the Harvey Girls, starring actresses Judy Garland and Angelia Lansbury – and the song was the hit of 1946 as well and was later further popularized by Bing Crosby. History and romance aside, the reliability and performance of the class 3460 locomotives gave substance to the lyrics of the song: Folks around these parts get the time of day – From the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe
Despite their successful careers, both classes of Santa Fe Hudson locomotives were replaced by diesel-electrics in the early 1950s but locomotive #3450, of the 3450 class and locomotive #3463 of the 3460 class have been preserved. This background has new relevance with the announcement by Broadway Limited Imports of a new run class 3460 Hudson locomotives with the following features:
Paragon4 Sound System
Synchronized Puffing Smoke and Chuff sound
Integral DCC Decoder for Industry Best Slow Speed Operation
Precision Mechanism for smooth operation at all speeds
5-pole can motor with skew wound armature
Handcrafted brass boiler, cab and tender body
Heavy die cast chassis for increased tractive effort
Prototypical lighting options
Cab lights, marker lights, front number boards and rear marker lights
Accurate prototype number options
Extensive use of separately-applied details including locomotive engineer & fireman
Premium caliber painting – including the version with the billboard Santa Fe logos
Models available display “as delivered” appearance through post-1942 appearance
Tractive tires for added pulling power
Recommended radius of 18”
Prototypically accurate sounds for Santa Fe 3460-class locomotives
These locomotives are a “must” for Santa Fe enthusiasts and model railroaders that desire an outstanding representative of modern steam power design. This locomotive will exceed your expectations and you may be inspired to fire up the YouTube version of the 1944 song and get fully into the rhythm and swing of the era once more: Do you hear that whistle down the line? – I figure that it’s engine number forty-nine- She’s the only one that’ll sound that way – On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe
Frank Wrabel
Modeltrainstuff.com