Prototype: Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) class RAe 4/8 "Churchill
Arrow" electric double powered rail car. Used as a charter train
for excursion and business runs. Fire red basic paint scheme.
Powered rail car road number RAe 4/8 1021. The unit looks as it
currently does in real life.
Highlights:
- completely new tooling;
- factory-installed interior lighting;
- can be switched to a red marker light;
- cab lighting can be controlled digitally;
- table lamps can be controlled digitally;
- running authorisation lights can be controlled digitally;
- "World of Operation" mfx+ decoder with a variety of light and
sound functions.
Model: The locomotive has an mfx+ digital decoder and extensive
sound and light functions. It also has controlled high-efficiency
propulsion with a flywheel. Both axles in the external truck of
Vehicle Part 1 are powered. Traction tires. The unit has a Swiss
headlight / marker light code of triple headlights and one white
marker light, which change over with the direction of travel, will
work in conventional operation, and can be controlled digitally.
The light code can be switched to a red marker light. The model has
factory-installed interior lighting, which will work in
conventional operation and can be controlled digitally. The cab
lighting can also be controlled digitally. The table lamps can be
controlled digitally. Maintenance-free, warm white and red LEDs are
used for the lighting. Four external truck frames are included to
replace the current frames for use on large radius curves or
displays.
Length over the buffers approximately 53 cm / 20-7/8".
The Double Red Arrow was used 75 years ago in 1946 to transport
Winston Churchill as a state guest through Switzerland, which
thereby gave the Double Arrow the nickname "Churchill Arrow".
This model can be found in a DC version in the Trix H0 assortment
under item number 25260.
Prototype information: The current class RAe 4/8 1021 ("Double Red
Arrow") acquired its unforgettable fame in 1946, when the train was
made available to the former British prime minister at that time
for his painting vacation on Lake Geneva. Since then, this train
has become known as "Churchill Arrow" thanks to its runs with Sir
Winston Churchill. Churchill visited among others Bern and Zürich,
where he was greeted by the cheering population. On September 19,
1946, Churchill gave a visionary speech at the University of
Zürich, in which he called for the establishment of a kind of
United States of Europe with his key sentence, "Let Europe arise."
Even before it was put into operation, the double red powered rail
car planned for business trips was presented in 1939 at the
unforgettable "Landi" national exhibition in Zürich as road number
Re 4/8 301 (starting in 1948 as road number RBe 4/8 651, starting
in 1959 as road number RAe 4/8 1021). SLM (mechanical parts), SWS
(interiors) as well as the three electrical firms BBC, MFO, and
SAAS (all electrical parts) participated in the building of the
unit. No technically new territory was attempted in order to
produce a reliable unit in as short a construction time as
possible. Recourse was had to already familiar parts and
construction methods as much as possible from the single-unit "Red
Arrow" recently placed into service. The double powered rail car
consists of two equally long cars independent of each other, each
with two two-axle trucks, of which the inner one in each case is
equipped with one motor each per wheelset. A large part of the
electrical equipment and auxiliary systems such as transformers,
controls, compressors, and brake equipment was installed in the low
hoods. However, the special controls using so-called "Wander
Transformers" always caused problems with longer layovers in the
Zürich main workshops responsible for the unit. After 1946, the
train was henceforth called "Churchill Arrow" and continued in use
for excursions and special runs in Switzerland until it suffered
damage from a fire in 1979 and later was sold for scrap. In 1996,
the Mittelthurgau Railroad (MThB) acquired the unit and it was
overhauled with newer electrical components. Due to the insolvency
of the MThB, the "Churchill Arrow" ended up back in the hands of
the SBB in 2002. Since then, it has been used as an operational
component of SBB passenger service. It is the oldest powered rail
car on the railroad. It is used around 50 to 70 times a year and it
accumulates about 20,000 km / 12,500 miles per year as part of
custom charter runs and public adventure trips.
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