I am a 40 year old model railroad virgin. I work on the computer systems industry. My father worked for 25 years for a coal mine until it closed in 1993. He worked in the track and train car repair area. One of the perks of that was over Christmas shutdown him being on rotation to go start the two MP1500 Locos used at the mine. They had to turned over every 48 hours so I got to go with him up there and see him start up the trains and pull them out of the train shop so they could warm up. This was done so you didn't have to drain out the oil refill it and manually rotate the whole engine one complete turn. My dad will turn 71 this year (2013). It was always his dream to design the 8 mile shortline in HO. My Avatar is one of the two MP1500's that they used. Both trains were sold to ARR (Alaska Railroad) after the mine shut down. KCNW #1 Became ARR 1553 and #2 became ARR 1554. Both engines worked from 1993 till 2009 on the ARR. They were sold to a Tacoma, WA repair and refit place in 2009. Both trains were reworked and are now being put back into service.
KCNW #1 > ARR 1553 > GMTX 205 Built 1979
KCNW #2 > ARR 1554 > GMTX 206 Built 1980