PIKO America Releases Rio Grande Krauss-Maffei Diesel-Hydraulics

Arriving now at your favorite dealer is PIKO America’s latest production of Krauss-Maffei ML 4000 Diesel-Hydraulic locomotives, now finished in Rio Grande’s classic Aspen Gold and Silver livery with road- and era-specific details.

PIKO America Releases Rio Grande Krauss-Maffei Diesel-Hydraulics

HO Scale (1:87)Dissatisfied with domestic locomotive offerings of the period, the Denver & Rio Grande Western and the Southern Pacific worked together with Krauss-Maffei of Germany to design an Americanized version of K-M’s diesel-hydraulic locomotives that were already performing well overseas. In 1961, six Krauss-Maffei ML 4000 “Prototypes” arrived at the Port of Houston — three units for the Southern Pacific and three for the Rio Grande.

Arriving now at your favorite dealer is PIKO America’s latest production of these Krauss-Maffei “Prototypes,” now finished in Rio Grande’s classic Aspen Gold and Silver livery with road- and era-specific details corresponding to how these units first appeared on the railroad.

Each locomotive comes with an extensive array of LED lighting features, including headlights, oscillating Gyralite warning light, multicolor class lights, illuminated number boards, cab interior, illuminated backlit control stand gauges, and even engine room lighting. Each lighting feature can be controlled individually under DCC with the optional onboard DCC decoder.

Each ML 4000 comes equipped with a multitude of separately applied details including grab irons, a highly detailed cab interior and engine compartment, etched metal see-through side intake grilles and fan assemblies, a smooth-running drivetrain with all wheels driven, Kadee-compatible couplers, RP-25 wheelsets and LED illumination for headlights, class lights, cab interior and much more. DC/DCC-ready silent versions carry a $299.99 MSRP, while DC+DCC sound-equipped models with factory installed PIKO TrainSound decoder are a suggested $419.99 each MSRP.  Available now from your favorite dealer or direct.

PIKO America, LLC • 4610 Alvarado Canyon Road, Suite 5 • San Diego CA 92120 •  www.piko-america.com

As with their prototypes, a quick comparison between the Rio Grande and Southern Pacific Krauss-Maffeis from PIKO America reveals quite a bit of difference in the headlight arrangements.  While both feature dual sealed beam standard headlights on the front door, the oscillating light arrangements differ markedly.  The Southern Pacific specified a single model 17540 single-beam red Gyralite in addition to a dual-beam clear Gyralite in a model 20585 enclosure, both of which are mounted flush on the nose. In contrast, the D&RGW units were delivered with its dual beam clear Gyralite installed into a barrel housing at the top of the nose.

This article was posted on: October 3, 2024