Feature

●Rivarossi, Italian manufacturer and now part of the Hornby Hobbies family of brands, has produced some of the most iconic locomotives in steam, diesel and electric over the last 50 years.
●DCC equipped 21 Pin Socket ESU LokSound 5.0 Decoder for Digital Circuits HO 1:87 and OO 1:76 Gauge railway layouts. Rivarossi locomotives and rolling stock feature knuckle couplers.
●Add the Rivarossi Skeleton log cars to your layout and finish off the look of a Heisler as they were regularly seen pulling these log cars out of the woods in the upper Midwest and Western United States in the early 20th century.
●Essential in the development of the west, steam locomotives became the new work horses in forestry. Able to navigate the difficult terrain to haul timber that was quickly manufactured in paper mills and constructing new towns as business continued to grow and shape the recently inaccessible mountains and dense forests.
●Building your model railway layout has never been easier! Hornby offers brands such as Skaledale and Skale Scenics that bring your layout to life! From buildings, monuments, trees; adding realism to any layout or diorama.


Description

The Heisler was invented in 1891 and Charles L. Heisler received a patent in 1892 and made an impact on the logging industry of the United States through the turn of the century and on into 1941 when it was still being run regularly. Although it was considered the fastest of the geared steam locomotives, the notoriety of the Heisler came from its pulling capabilities. The high tractive effort was perfectly suited for moving long, heavy strings of loaded log cars both on flat ground and uphill. On the two-truck model, the cylinders were centrally located under the drive shaft. The drive shaft is extended into the tender on the three-truck model for more fuel and water capacity for longer and heavier trips. These locomotives were set apart from the rest by the cylinders being slanted inwards at a 45 degree angle. The center shaft only drove one axle per truck as the wheels in each truck were connected with a side rod. There were around 625 Heislers produced, ranging from 17 tons to 95 tons. Use the Heisler for what it was created for and pull the new 38 foot die-cast skeleton log cars also produced by Rivarossi. The McCloud River Railroad, or the MCR started at around 95.5 miles of track running through the forests near Mount Shasta making logging more efficient as it could be transported directly to the company sawmill starting in 1897 and operated for almost a century. During the beginning of the railroad, it was utilized mostly for logging and the Shay Locomotive variant, the Heisler, two were built specifically for the railroad by Lima Locomotive Works delivering some of the finest lumber available at the time. Work started for the Heislers on McCloud in 1898, received the nickname Maggie and hauled lumber until it was sold the Weed Lumber Company in 1904. When McCloud River Lumber Company was at its most successful, McCloud was controlling over 600,000 acres of timberland, which was considered a separate entity from McCloud River Railroad, but both owned and operated segments of the railway. Add the matching log car two-packs to complete the authentic logging locomotive! HR6627 & HR6628