The replacement trucks for the PA's are from former PRR FM Erie Built B units that were sold a long time ago to a company with the initials RMAX. If I remember correctly, they were stripped and used somehow in the process of making weled rail. I believe that there were four B units altogether that ended up this way. Anyway, they were in Canada when the trucks were removed from them for the PA's.
Now the Erie Built, which was FM's version of the Alco PA, was not very successful, and the A's became extinct a long time ago. But, it would have been nice to save two B units, especially if there were four left, and at least cosmetically restore them, and fabricating a new front for one to make it an A unit. From old photographs and drawings at least a close resemblance could be made to the original FM design. Didn't some S gauge manufacturer make an FM Erie Built, or plan to? I guess that we should be happy that two FM A units, both CP C-Liners, are preserved, and maybe some of the C-Liner B units that were made into radio control cars are still around, too. It's really amazing what is being done to the PA being restored to become NKP 190. Hopefully it will be running one day. I am sure that Lionel would make a set, and perhaps American Models will, too. An interesting fact about the PA's is that only six railroads owned both A's and B's - UP, PRR, NYC, Santa Fe, SP, and Rio Grande. A lot more railroads owned just the A units - MP, Southern, Wabash, NKP, LV, Erie (later EL), Cotton Belt, P&LE, D&H, NH, GM&O, and MKT. Being an American Flyer fan, I was pretty disappointed when I found out that NP never had PA's, that NH never painted PA's like AF did, nor were any Santa Fe PA's painted blue and yellow. (Some red and silver Santa Fe's were used briefly in freight service, though.) Somehow it never bothered me that AF left out the middle wheelset in each truck. I still like them, though. Mike Vana Omaha, NE. S-Trains list sponsor: http://www.americanflyertrains.com All the Flyer you desire...books and accessories too! To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list send a note to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
