Märklin 37984 - Steam Locomotive Class 844 - Union Pacific - USA - MFX+ and Sound

Märklin description:

• Dynamic smoke emission.
• Locomotive largely made of metal.
• Many mounted details.
• With digital game world decoder mfx+ and extensive operating and sound functions.

Model: With an mfx+ digital decoder and extensive sound functions. Various operating sounds, such as oil and water filling, and the sounds of opening and closing sliding windows and the ventilation flap in the cab, can also be controlled digitally. Controlled high-efficiency propulsion with a flywheel in the boiler. 4 axles powered. Traction tires. Boxpok wheels. Headlights on the locomotive and tender, cab lighting, and number boards/marker lights illuminated with maintenance-free warm white LEDs, can be controlled digitally. Smoke generator with dynamic smoke exhaust is installed as standard. Headlights and smoke generator contact operate in conventional mode and can be controlled digitally. Two powerful speakers in the tender. A replica of the end coupler can be plugged into the standard pocket on the track clearing device. A close coupling with speed assistance between the locomotive and tender. Separately applied metal grab irons. Many other separately applied details.
Length over couplings approx. 41 cm.

Please note: All our models are carefully tested before being offered for sale.

About the locomotive - for the enthusiast

Union Pacific 844 "The only steam locomotive never retired" is an apt description of No. 844 of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP). This is truly the only steam locomotive of a major American railroad that was never decommissioned. This "Northern" design was built in 1944 as the last steam locomotive for UP and operated until 1959. After that, it was initially placed in reserve and eventually scrapped along with the remaining Union Pacific steam locomotives. However, as early as 1960, UP officials recognized the advertising benefits of special steam train runs and kept the steam locomotive operational. It thus formed the basis of the UP's special-duty steam locomotive roster, which was supplemented in 1981 with the "Challenger" 3985 and in 2019 with the "Big Boy" 4014. In 1937, UP purchased 20 coal-fired, powerful, universal, 2-cylinder 2'D2' steam locomotives from ALCo for heavy express and freight train service, with driving wheels still 1,955.8 mm in diameter (UP 800-819). Two more series followed in 1939 (UP 820-834) and 1944 (UP 835-844), now with driving wheels 2,032 mm in diameter and even heavier. The permitted top speed was set at 90 mph (145 km/h), while the drivetrain was designed for 100 mph (161 km/h). These were of a special lightweight design with "Boxpok"-type driving and coupling wheels. The final series was even equipped with two blowpipes (double chimney) for even greater power. The performance was impressive: boiler pressure 20.7 bar; Grate area 9.3 m², heating surface 399 m², superheating area 130.1 m²; locomotive and tender mass 411.9 tons, tractive effort 283.8 kN, and a power output of 4,938 hp. Among the last two series, the 7-axle tender type "Centipede" was noteworthy, with its leading bogie and five rear wheel sets fixed to the frame. This was intended to be used against competing diesel locomotives and to enable long-distance operation. Fully loaded (with 25 tons of oil and 88,971 liters of water), it weighed almost as much as the engine itself. Due to the locomotive crew's exposure to gases and smoke, these engines were equipped in 1946 with smoke deflectors similar to the German "Wagner" type. Not least because of the coal miners' strike, the engines were converted to oil firing. Until the latter half of the 1940s, they pulled the prestigious UP express trains "Overland Limited," "Los Angeles Limited," "Portland Rose," and "Challenger." They also achieved record-breaking speeds: the 841, for example, pulled 25 heavy Pullman cars across Nebraska, reaching top speeds of between 105 and 112 mph (169-180 km/h). Another unit reportedly even set the 130 mph (209 km/h) record. In their heyday, the 800s covered an impressive 15,000 miles (24,100 km) per month. But for the last ten years, they had to settle for freight trains, until the last units were finally retired in 1962.