What Is A "Beep"?

While packing away my RMT "Beep" locomotive decorated as North Pole And Snowflake #1225 at the end of another successful season of circumnavigating the Christmas tree, the thought occurred to me: "What, exactly, is a 'Beep' supposed to be?" Clearly it is a fantasy locomotive with many features of an EMD GP-7 locomotive, but some of the details are clearly non-EMD in nature. I wonder, therefore, what the designers at Kusan (the original "Beep" maker) had in mind.

The GP-7 Similarities

A worn Chesapeake And Ohio GP-9 leads a Chessie System freight
through Hamilton, OH in February 1985. Note the similarities to the
general shape of the RMT "Beep" diesel. Photo by Michael R. Moore

My first encounter with the "Beep" type locomotive was Christmas 1982 when I was the lucky recipient of a Williams Army Train set powered by what Williams dubbed a "Mighty Mite" locomotive. The diesel was a short, stubby, four-wheeled contraption that looked somewhat like a shrunken GP-9 to me and so I dubbed it a "GP-4.5". I also thought at the time that Williams had originated the design which is now the basis of the RMT Beep. I was wrong.

In fact, the design goes back to the 1950's to a Tennessee toy maker named Kusan which was, like most toy companies at the time, trying to earn a share of the lucrative toy train market. Kusan's line included a handsome ALCO FA diesel (later the basis of K-Line's FA models) and also a fine-looking EMD F-7 model that it inherited when Kusan purchased Auburn Models (AMT) and its line of O gauge trains. Kusan's line of AMT F-7's and near-scale passenger and freight cars were popular with the modeling portion of the O gauge market. The FA's and "K Series" freight cars found a niche in the lower-middle portion of the toy train market. Kusan was looking for a model it could package into bottom-line sets for mass merchandisers and special clients and this new design was the birth of the Beep.

The engineer's-side view of an RMT "Beep" Note the small "F"

decoration denoting that the long hood is "forward".

Beginning with the side profile, it is obvious the Kusan's designers were using the then-new EMD GP-7 as the main inspiration for their compact diesel. The truck resembles what an EMD Blomberg style truck would look like if stretched out to twenty or so feet in length. The location of doors, louvers, and various hatches approximate those of the GP-7 design. The cab however, is both too tall and too wide, looking more like that of and EMD SW-series switcher in its relationship to the roofline. For a model that was intended to target the bottom-end of the toy train market it is quite detailed,.however.

A Little Bit Of ALCO?

The short-hood view of the Beep shows both
the GP-7 style carbody with the ALCO
inspired cab and steam generator placement.

Looking at the model from the end of the short hood the EMD-inspired styling continues with the rectangular body, headlight, marker light and ladder placement. On the roof, however, things start to get confusing. There is a detailed representation of a steam generator for passenger service (superior to Lionel's representation on its own GP-7 model). The exhaust for the steam generator is not in a typical EMD location, but rather next to the cab in the style of a steam generator equipped ALCO RS-3. This similarity continues with the high, rounded cab roof that projects much higher over the carbody than a GP-7 cab does, and the inclusion of two high windows on either side of the steam generator stack suggest an ALCO diesel as well.

The ALCO influence is even more noticeable at the long hood end. Once again, from the rail to the top of the main carbody the Beep looks like an EMD GP-7. At the top of the long hood is the biggest clue to the Beep's ALCO influence: a single, large, ALCO-style radiator fan.

A closeup of the Beep short hood roof
shows more steam generator details.

The long-hood end of the Beep reveals
more of the angular GP-7 body but more
ALCO details are visible on the roof.

A closeup of the long-hood roof
reveals the large ALCO type radiator
fan as well as the twin rectangular vents
as found on RS-3 diesels.

When I acquired my first Beep-type locomotive, the Williams "Mighty Mite", I assumed that the ALCO fan was simply a carry-over from Kusan's FA diesel design. However, after acquiring an original Kusan FA, I have found the Beep fan to be smaller but more detailed than its FA counterpart. So, inclusion of this type fan was not simply a carryover of existing tooling, but a deliberate decision on Kusan's part. Furthermore, the two rectangular vents found on the roof of the Beep do not resemble any rooftop details on the GP-7, but the RS-3 does indeed have vents of this type and location although not as pronounced as those on the Beep model.

The twin exhaust stacks are an enigma. GP-7's do in fact have twin exhaust stacks, but EMD used round stacks and they are always located parallel to the length of the locomotive in the center of the roof. ALCO RS-3's used exhaust stacks similar to those on the model, but only a single stack offset to one side rather than twins. Also, the ALCO exhaust is located closer to the radiator fan than to the cab. Perhaps the designer used a bit of artistic license to give the roof some symmetry in this case. It is puzzling, however, considering that all of the other locomotive details can indeed be found on a GP-7 or RS-3 locomotive.

The Beep, based on Kusan tooling of the 1950's is
dwarfed by this Lionel GP-7 utilizing tooling of the same era.

The Hybrid Diesel

So, when one carefully examines the details on the locomotive, a Beep is not simply a miniature EMD GP-7, but rather a hybrid of a GP-7 and an ALCO RS-3 diesel. Since the RS-3 and GP-7 were both new diesels on the rails at the time Kusan was designing the Beep, the hybrid nature of the locomotive could have been a deliberate attempt to provide buyers with a locomotive that looked somewhat like what they were seeing on their local railroad. However, most casual observers never see the roof details of a real locomotive, so this seems unlikely. Another possibility is that the model makers had photographs and / or diagrams of the GP-7 from all sides except the roof. Then, needing detailed information, they could perhaps have sent someone to the nearest railroad overpass to photograph the roof of a diesel to provide details and that diesel happened to be an RS-3. 

Here the RMT Beep poses with its Kusan cousin, an
ALCO FA diesel

The Beep Legacy

While Kusan's original Beep diesel never sold as well as Lionel's venerable Santa Fe F-3 diesels of the time, the design must be considered a success. The model has been produced in various forms over more than 60 years by three manufacturers, and the RMT model with its added details, directional lighting and twin motors is certainly the best-looking, best-running, and most-popular of all Beep varieties. While the prototype diesels that provided the inspiration for the model were the best-selling diesels of the early 1950's they are now nearly extinct, with only a few examples of each surviving in museums or on tourist lines. The model survives the original.

Happy Railroading!

Update: RMT Closing Its Doors

RMT has announced on its web page that it will be ceasing business in early 2016. Hopefully another manufacturer will carry on the legacy of this classic locomotive.