One of the most successful steam engines of all time, the 2-8-2 was produced in the U.S. for 14 years before it was ordered by a U.S. railroad. It earned its nickname "Mikado" (a title for the Emperor of Japan--familiar to English speakers because of the popular Gilbert & Sullivan opera) in 1897 when Baldwin produced an order for Nippon Railway of Japan, and the name stuck even after American railroads began to use it in 1901.

When the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) temporarily centralized the railroads and standardized locomotive design during World War I, the Mikado, or "Mike" as it was often called, made up the bulk of the fleet. The USRA had the American, Baldwin, and Lima plants build 1,856 locomotives representing eight different wheel arrangements to help with heavy wartime traffic; 858 of those were Mikes. These standardized Mikados were so successful that the railroads themselves ordered many duplicates of the USRA design after control was returned to the roads.

Features:

• Equipped with Proto-Sound 2.0 Digital command and sound system featuring speed and light control, diagnostic memory, remotely controlled ProtoCouplers, and freight yard ProtoEffects
• Precision flywheel equipped motor for smooth operation and great pulling power
• Proto-Smoke™ fan driven smoke unit
• All metal gears, wheels & chassis
• Detailed cab interior
• Die-cast boiler
• Die-cast tender
• Operating headlight
• Operating metal coupler
• Operates on O-31 or greater curves
• Length: 20"

ProtoSound® 2.0 Features

ProtoSound® 2.0 makes the most technologically advanced locomotive on the market. Locomotives equipped with this sound & train control system offer tremendous expandability. They offer more features right out of the box than any other engines, & when paired with the DCS Digital Command System they offer features other manufacturers cannot begin to compete with. ProtoSound 2.0 is perfect for people who love technology & how it multiplies their fun.

Right out of the box, ProtoSound® 2.0 engines deliver:

• Whistle, bell and locomotive digital sound effects
• Sound effects including Freight Yard Sounds and cab chatter
• Speed control equipped to eliminate throttle adjustments and make for smooth starts and stops
• Remotely controlled operating couplers to release cars on the fly (no operating track needed)
• Wide range of State-of-the-Art digital sounds
• Add hundreds of features when operated with DCS

This engine has the full manufacturer warranty and is sold through Kit-N-Caboose, an authorized MTH Dealer. Phone # 614-476-0803