Santa Fe Legacy GP20 #1171
| Item # | 2333552 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Lionel |
| Loco Type | EMD GP20 |
| Wheel Arr. | B-B |
| Proto. Manufacturer | Electro-Motive Division (EMD) |
| Loco Category | Diesel Locomotives |
| Road Name | Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe |
| Road Number | 1171 |
| Prototype Era | 1959-1980s |
| Catalog Year | 2023 |
| Catalog Season | Big Book |
| Product Line | Legacy |
| Features | |
| Scale | Scale |
| Min. Curve | O31 |
| Run Type | Built to Order |
| MSRP | $649.99 |
| Notes | |
| Not shown; 14.75" length; [2023 V1 catalog] | |
| Control Systems | |
| Bluetooth | ● |
|---|---|
| Legacy Control System | ● |
| TMCC | ● |
| LC Universal Remote | ● |
| LC Individual Remote | |
| Conventional | ● |
| Features | |
| Sound | ● |
| Smoke Unit | ● |
| Odyssey Speed Control | ● |
| ElectroCoupler | ● |
The EMD GP20 was EMD's first turbocharged road switcher — a 2,000-horsepower B-B locomotive that introduced turbocharging to the standard GP platform, extracting significantly more power from the 567D prime mover than the naturally aspirated engines in the GP7 and GP9 could produce. Turbocharging forced additional air into the engine's cylinders, enabling more fuel combustion and higher power output without increasing engine displacement or the number of cylinders. The resulting 2,000 horsepower represented a 250-horsepower improvement over the GP9 in the same B-B frame and wheel arrangement — giving railroads more power per unit without increasing locomotive length or weight, an important consideration for roads operating on weight-restricted routes or in congested terminal areas where longer locomotives created operational difficulties.
The GP20 was produced in modest numbers — approximately 260 units — as railroads evaluated the turbocharged concept alongside the competing naturally aspirated GP18 that EMD offered simultaneously. Its production numbers were smaller than the GP7 and GP9 largely because many railroads were satisfied with GP9 performance for their needs and did not require the additional horsepower, while others were already looking ahead to even more powerful options. In O Gauge, the GP20 is a transitional subject representing EMD's early exploration of turbocharging technology that would become standard on subsequent higher-horsepower road switcher models.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway was chartered in Kansas in 1859 and built southwestward across the Great Plains and through the mountains of New Mexico and Arizona to reach the Pacific coast at Los Angeles in 1887, completing one of the great feats of railroad construction in the American West. The Santa Fe's route through the desert Southwest — crossing Raton Pass, traversing the high desert of New Mexico, climbing Cajon Pass into Southern California — was among the most geographically demanding of any American transcontinental, and the railroad's mechanical department spent decades developing motive power capable of handling its grades efficiently. The ATSF operated notable steam designs including the 3751 class Northerns, the 3160 class Mikados, and the massive 2-10-10-2 Mallet compound locomotives that hauled freight over the railroad's mountain grades in the early diesel era.
The ATSF became one of the premier passenger railroads in the country, operating the Super Chief, the El Capitan, and the California Limited on the Chicago to Los Angeles corridor. The Super Chief, inaugurated in 1936 as an all-Pullman streamliner, became the most glamorous train in America — the preferred transport of Hollywood stars and celebrities crossing the continent — and the railroad's Chief series of trains defined luxury rail travel on the transcontinental route for three decades. The Santa Fe was also a major freight carrier, hauling agricultural products, livestock, and manufactured goods across a system that ultimately spanned more than 12,000 miles through eleven states. The railroad merged with the Burlington Northern in 1995 to formBNSF Railway, one of the two dominant western Class I railroads operating today.
The Santa Fe's red and silver Warbonnet paint scheme, introduced in 1937 for the Super Chief and extended to diesel locomotives in the postwar era, is one of the most celebrated and widely recognized liveries in American railroad history. The bold red nose, silver flanks, and sweeping yellow pinstripe have made the Warbonnet the visual signature of the entire Southwest corridor, and a Santa Fe F-unit or PA in the passenger scheme is among the most striking objects in the O Gauge hobby. The road's freight equipment in the less flamboyant but equally distinctive red and yellow "red bonnet" scheme offers equal modeling appeal, and the sheer variety of the ATSF prototype roster — from the massive steam power of the mountain grades to the full spectrum of EMD andGE diesel power — gives modelers access to an unusually wide range of equipmentunder a single, visually consistent road name. The Santa Fe's southwestern setting also offers modelers a distinctive scenery palette: red rock, sagebrush, desert sky, and the dramatic passes of the Rocky Mountains and the Tehachapis.
Modeling Significance & Notes[edit | edit source]
The 2023 Legacy EMD GP20 is a Scale eleven-product release built to Legacy Control System standards with Bluetooth, fan-driven smoke, front and rear ElectroCouplers, and die-cast construction at 14.75 inches overall length on O-31 curves — covering six prototype operators with multiple road number variants including the Kansas City Terminal and Kyle Railroad short lines alongside the ATSF, CB&Q, Cotton Belt, and Penn Central.
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