By Railroad Model Craftsman Staff
Now arriving at your favorite hobby dealer are highly-detailed models of General Electric’s groundbreaking U25B locomotive in both high-hood and low-nose variations from Rapido Trains. With the first examples built in 1959, the U25B represented General Electric’s first formal entry into the diesel electric road locomotive market in North America. Although U25Bs have been produced in HO scale before, this is the first time that the high-hood versions have been offered in plastic.
GE built 478 U25B locomotives between April 1959 and February 1966. With 2,500 horsepower on tap powering four GE 752 traction motors, these locomotives served in all corners of the United States well into the 1970s and early 1980s. Several examples have been preserved at museums across the US. For this inaugural release, Rapido’s U25B is available in nine different paint schemes, including Erie Lackawanna (gray/yellow/maroon), Great Northern (Empire Builder), New Haven (black), Penn Central (black), Santa Fe (blue/yellow striped), Frisco (high nosed red/white), Union Pacific (high nose yellow/gray), and General Electric Demonstrator (high nose in two schemes).
In September 1964, the Erie Lackawanna Railroad took delivery of twelve low-nosed U25Bs from General Electric, followed by fifteen additional U25Bs a year later. With the merger of the EL into Conrail in 1976, these locomotives were later absorbed into the Conrail roster where they served for several more years. For this inaugural production, Rapido is offering EL U25Bs in four different road numbers.
Each of these highly detailed models comes equipped with road-specific details, LED lighting, and optional high-quality sound provided by Loksound 5 DC+DCC sound decoders from ESU.
DC/DCC-ready silent models carry an MSRP of $239.95 each, while DC+DCC+Sound-equipped locomotives retail for $349.95 each. Available now while supplies last from your favorite hobby retailer or direct. Watch for a detailed product review of the Rapido U25B in the November issue of RMC!
Rapido Trains, 500 Alden Road, Unit 21 Markham, Ontario L3R 5H5, Canada;1-855-572-6917; www.rapidotrains.com
GE 753 was one of the first four demonstrator U25Bs produced by GE in 1961 in this simple red and white paint scheme. Note the vertical stepwells and the high nose that are characteristic of the first ‘production’ U25Bs built. A second set of four additional U25B demonstrators followed in 1962, including three more high-nosed demonstrators GE 2502-2504, also offered by Rapido in this production
