The Southern Pacific General Service (GS) 4 -class 4-8-4 Northerns, nos. 4430-4457, graduated from the Lima Locomotive Works and entered service in 1941. They were top notch high performance machines that cost $175,000 each. The Northerns were capable of generating 5,500 hp and could peak at 110 mph. Some observers believe that these engines were the best performers of the Southern Pacific’s steam era.
Dieselization gradually shoved the GS4s from the premier passenger runs and relegated them to freight and commuter service. By 1959 all of the GS4s had been torched except for nos. 4449 and 4460, which were donated for public display, and thanks to frequent public appearances, no. 4449 has built up quite a base of fans.
GS-class locomotives in Daylight colors have been offered by a variety of O gauge manufacturers in brass and die-cast metal versions. The MTH version may indeed be the top dog of this pack of motive power. The level of detail is amazing. Rest assured it is one magnificent hunk of die-cast metal.
Lookin’ good
The engine has a smooth pilot and decorative scale-like coupler with a simulated uncoupling rod. The clean streamlined elegance of the silver-striped pilot sets the tone for this model.
The smoke box has a ring of simulated fasteners surrounding the locomotive’s nose. The nose itself features two large headlights: a Mars light on top (that looks terrific when running) and a conventional headlight below. Also on the nose are illuminated number boards with twin marker lights on the leading edges of the boiler. A simulated air horn juts out of of the engine (the Daylight had both a steam whistle and a diesel-like air horn). The platform over the pilot even has the textured feel of a metal deck.
The locomotive sports both builder and trust company plates. These details add to the authenticity of the product. The streamlining on the flanks looks great and you’ll even find two compressors dangling out from the edge of the skirt on the fireman’s side. A second set of train number boards are along the middle of the boiler.
The model has a great looking set of drivers with polished rims.
Seen from the side, the top of the boiler has a gentle arch that flows down to the cab. This detail is a slick nod to the prototype. The top also has recesses for whistles and a long cavity housing three turbines. Prototypically, the back of the cab is solid – a copy of Southern Pacific’s all-weather cab. The cab interior is illuminated and has a decorated backhead and engineer and fireman.
Opening the MTH box I experienced a brief moment of fear when I lifted the engine out and glanced at the steps that lead up to the cab. The steps noticeably leaned forward. My first thought was “How did I bend them taking it out of the box?” Both were identically curved. In a panic I raced to the bookshelf and found relief! A side view photo of GS4 no. 4454 in Model Railroader Cyclopedia Vol. 1, Steam Locomotives, clearly shows this was part of the prototype’s design, apparently to give the front of the tender more room to swing. Whew!
Paint application on the locomotive is precise. The rich, flat orange, black, silver, and vermilion colors combine to make a locomotive that will stand out like a comet streaking down a mainline.
The tender’s decoration is also terrific. The painting is top notch and the car is loaded with detail. It features a massive rear directional light, ladders sloping up over the sides, hand rails on top and even an emergency oil cutoff valve positioned right next to a storage box for the locomotive’s marker lights. Most of these details are so fine that it would have been very easy to omit them in order to cut costs.
The tender has plenty of rivet detail and it features a ProtoCoupler for ease in uncoupling anywhere on your layout.
The sounds of big steam
The Daylight hosts the usual suite of electronic features we’ve come to expect from MTH: ProtoSound with digital whistle, bell and accompanying steam sounds; enhanced steam sounds while operating in neutral; and squeaking brakes. ProtoSound also includes passenger station announcements that are randomly shuffled by the onboard electronics, so one station stop sounds slightly different than the last.
The whistle was fine but testing didn’t provide a diesel-style horn tone (the GS4s mounted both a steam whistle and air horns). The locomotive sound system is good and the various sounds are all robust. The assorted chuffs, clunks, thuds, and hisses add an extra dimension of fun to train operation.
Station sounds are lively and they have a delightful echo that suggests a train shed in some big-city terminal. You can adjust the locomotive’s sound level through ProtoSound programming functions or by flipping the tender over and adjusting the control knob on the belly of the tender with a small screwdriver.
The engine has a smoke unit that generates the expected white plume that is especially impressive billowing out at the head of a long train.
The locomotive comes with a comprehensive instruction manual and a highly detailed parts list.
Big train rolling
The Daylight is a large engine! Measured coupler-to-coupler (including the oversized tender knuckle coupler and the long drawbar) the engine is 29 inches long, or roughly 116 O scale feet compared to the prototype’s 108 feet. Before you pick up that pen to write the manufacturer, measured from front coupler to cab rear, and just the length of the body of the tender, the engine totals to an even 108 scale feet, a match for the real thing.
The Daylight may be a passenger engine, but don’t think operators will only put this on the nose of a crack express train. Its performance was superb, no matter what train we coupled it to. During testing we noted only two minor quirks.
First, it was awkward to connect the reverse unit tether to the engine when both the locomotive and tender are on the track. We sat the locomotive and tender side-by-side and easily joined them. Second, we ran into a minor problem with the pilot and the cab ladder clearing some trackside terrain on O-72 curves. A few seconds of swift action with a scenery knife solved that problem, but you may need to keep an eye on your scenery and switch machines the first lap or two around layout. The locomotive has a minimum radius of O-54 curves. MTH’s manual advises that some lightweight freight cars pulled or backed through O-54 switches might derail. The company suggests adding weight to those cars to remedy the problem. We didn’t encounter any O-54 switch derailment problems.
The Daylight is smooth and responsive in all speed ranges. The engine averaged a low speed of 19.7 scale mph and a high speed of 120 scale mph.
The 13 lb. 11 oz. engine uses two traction tires, and racked up an average drawbar pull of 2.9 lbs. The Daylight easily pulled a train of 36 mixed postwar and modern-era fright cars at a very rapid pace.
In short, this engine runs as good as it looks.
Whether for fireplace mantel display or hard work on the tinplate rails, the Premier line Daylight is one of most finely detailed die-cast locomotives you’ll ever find. The engine’s appearance and performance are the result of craftsman-like production and this engine could easily move into the top spot on the roster of any three-rail empire.
