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Century 628 Diesel Locomotive
Burlington Northern
No. 8333
Century 628 Diesel Locomotive Delaware & Hudson
No. T238K
No. 08341
The 1976 Life-Like catalog is that last time the company includes the Century 628 among
its locomotive offerings. The D&H model is found in the '76 catalog and includes both powered and dummy examples
listed.
Century 628 Diesel Locomotive Lehigh Valley
No. 08331
The 1976 Life-Like catalog includes the Lehigh Valley Century 628 offering. Both
powered and dummy examples are listed for the Lehigh Valley model. The Lehigh Valley Century 628 makes a return appearance
in the Life-Like line in the mid 1980s, along with a Santa Fe; Burlington Northern; and Undecorated example.
Century 628 Diesel Locomotive Monon
No. T238R
Century 628 Diesel Locomotive Santa Fe
No. 8332
A mid '80s Life-Like catalog includes the FP45 and
ALCO-628 locomotives on its back cover. This appears to be the second time Life-Like included the Century 628 in its
product offerings.
Century 628 Diesel Locomotive Undecorated
No. T238S
No. 8330
A Life-Like 1973 price listing includes the
Century 628 as a new item for that year. The model retailed for $20 and was listed as available initially dressed for
Monon; Delaware & Hudson; and Union Pacific service, plus an Undecorated version. This
model was produced for Life-Like in Yugoslovia and departs from the company's product line after its appearance in the 1976
catalog.
The Century 628 does make a return run in the Life-Like line in the middle 1980s. Burlington
Northern; Lehigh Valley; Santa Fe; and Undecorated Century 628's are included in this second offering by Life-Like.
I believe the tan boxes with brown stripes are representative of the packaging on this second run.
A review of the Life-Like HO-scale Century 628 Diesel
Locomotive may be found in the March 1974 Railroad Model Craftsman magazine. A notice
appears regarding revised tooling in the July 1974 Railroad Model Craftsman not long after Life-Like's
introduction of this diesel. The original Century 628 tooling lacked the three lights above the numberboards and numberboard
detail was poor. Life-Like apparently had the tooling upgraded and only the first examples would feature these missing
details.
This same European-made HO-Scale ALCO Century-628
may be found in the product lines of AHM, Model Power, and most recently IHC. The recent IHC example retains the same
basic shell, but has an improved all-wheel driven motor and many IHC examples featured knuckle couplers as standard features.
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