ALCO S4 Pennsylvania RR #8487 with sound

Lowly goats don't get their due and in large part neglected by most. Yard ops aren't all that interesting but the yard engines plied the main line everywhere, switching out industries or other customers near to the yard, saving the need (and money) for the company to create a local or road switcher to do the work. Those types of assignments were more often covering 100 miles or farther, and road switchers usually had a layover at a point away from home and working back home the following day. Enter the ALCo S4. The ALCo S4 was basically the post war version of the S2 and outwardly very similar to the S2, so it rode on standard AAR B-type trucks. ALCo started deliveries in 1951 through 1955. The main difference in the appearance between the two is that the S2s had cabs that were riveted and welded together and the S4's cabs were all welded. The exhaust stack on the S4s was slightly different due to a change in turbocharger design for the prime mover. Many of these engines were still on power rosters well into the 1970's. Bachmann's model captures the sound of these prime movers accurately with the unmistakable sound of an ALCo turbocharger spooling up and down, along with the exhaust sound; and it sounds pretty good just idling. The bell is nice but the sonic weakness is with the whistle. Front and rear headlights are very nice too. The slow speed ability is five star with being able to run smoothly at a scale walking pace. Very impressive. Of course it has its limitations. Inability to change start voltage means you'll never get this engine above run three or four. If you open the throttle slowly the prime mover does speed up to run two just as the engine begins to move but for the rest the engine is ahead of the sound, but it's not a runaway either. It doesn't really create a problem because these aren't road units to begin with and even the prototype didn't see run eight very often. Underside detail includes the main reservoirs between the nondescript fuel tanks. Truck detail is quite good with the brake cylinders, rigging and brake shoes in place with the pedestal bars running the length of the truck. There are jacking pads on the side frames just above the trucks. The detail is excellent with separately applied handrails, grab irons and cutting levers true to scale. Glazing is okay but the cab is a weak spot in design or more likely dictated by available space. Some component of the model takes up the entire cab nearly to the back bulkhead but it's not readily visible. Paint, print and graphics are all sharp and you can read the information on the builder plate under high magnification. All of which means you're probably not going to find an engine with all these attributes in the is price range anywhere else, which makes this an excellent model to recommend.