Description
Prototype Information:
To call the Silver Streak Zephyr famous before its time would be to do the all-corrugated, slick stainless steel train a disservice. Named after a movie of the same name which featured the CB&Qs distinctive corrugated equipment, the Silver Streak Zephyr and its specially built EMD E5A unit Silver Bullet was a short distance luxury train that operated between Lincoln, Nebraska and Kansas City with stops in Omaha and St. Joseph.
Like the train it pulled, the EMD E5A was a unique piece of equipment – specially built just for the CB&Q so that they could have a locomotive which matched their Budd built corrugated cars, the EMD E5A was wrapped in shining stainless steel and ribbed with corrugated fluting that gave the CB&Qs trains an unmatched streamlined look.
Specially designed bookcase packaging that holds the set of locomotives and cars (6 units) with additional room for an extra 2 x E5 locomotives
Includes:
- EMD E5A #9909 "Silver Bullet"
- Budd Baggage/RPO #1600 "Silver Sheen"
- Budd Baggage Car #900 "Silver Light"
- Budd Coach #4703 "Silver Gleam"
- Budd Coach #4704 "Silver Glow"
- Budd Observation #300 "Silver Spirit"
Model Features:
Locomotive: Equipped with a mix of body and truck mounted KATO magnetic knuckle couplers
Locomotive: Directional Golden White LED headlights and illuminated preprinted numberboards
Locomotive: Drop in DCC compatible with the Train Control Systems K0D8-E Decoder
Cars: Smooth rolling blackened metal wheels with all-wheel electrical pickup
Cars: Ability to be lit with optional installation of #11-211/212 Interior Light Kit with White LED (Light Kit with White LED is DCC friendly). Do not use older 11-206 lighting kits.
Cars: Illuminated marker lights on tail car
nealemonks (verified owner) –
An almost flawless 'train in a box'. The locomotive is beautiful, not just in looks, but in smooth operation. A decent motor and flywheel combination give it reassuringly steady acceleration and deceleration. Needless to say, it glides through Unitrack perfectly, even quite tight curves. As you'd expect for a Kato engine, it's very quiet and offers more than enough haulage for the five coaches in the box. The loco is DCC ready, but not in the same way as British modellers are used to: rather than slotting in a chip, the main circuit board is replaced in its entirety.
Speaking of which, the coaches are the classic Budd corrugated stainless steel design with moulded details for the most part, but there are some very nice fitted details such as the swing-arm on the post office car and the ventilators on the roofs of all the cars. Furthermore, all the coaches have electrical pick-ups, and it is well worth adding the coach lighting to the train; after all, the tail coach already has working lights and lamps. The set includes two parcel/baggage cars, two saloon cars, and a streamlined observation car that goes at the end. Also included in the box are enough magnetic trip pins to convert the buck-eye couplers to automatic operation.
Criticisms are little more than quibbles. The stainless steel fairing on the bogies of the E5A doesn't match the colour of the body particularly well, and for some reason, and this box set E5A doesn't come with a working coupler at the front of the loco (whereas E5As bought as individual locos come with both a streamlined front fairing and an optional replacement that includes a coupler).
Overall, incredible value considering what's in the box. Even if you don't model the American Midwest, this is such a nice set that Rule #1 is easily invoked here just to get a bit of railroad history on your layout.