Broadway Limited 2509 SAL Centipede #4501, Citrus Scheme, Paragon4/DC/DCC, HO Scale

The Baldwin 12-8-1500/2 were BLW's first serious attempt at a production road diesel locomotive. Baldwin built the famous "Centipedes" between 1945-48. The carbody rode on two enormous articulated half-frames that were linked at the middle with a hinged joint. One unpowered four-wheel truck at each end guided the locomotive through curves and helped provide stability. The Centipedes were huge - 91.5' feet long for single units as operated on SAL and NdM. Semi-permanently coupled pairs, as operated on the PRR, were 183' long! Each unit contained two 1500 horsepower diesel motors, so a pair contained four motors and totaled 6000 horsepower. Centipedes were heavy, totaling 1,200,000 pounds (1.2 million) for a pair, with more than 800,000 of those pounds carried by the 16 drivers.