3rd Rail announces new run of EMD F7s

I may finally opt in for my ATSF set to pull my El Capitan.  I've been relying on Railking FP45s for that set which are poorly done at best.  Need to think it through though.  There are some other roads that could be of interest.

Is the 3rd rail website broken for anyone else?

@GG1 4877 posted:

I may finally opt in for my ATSF set to pull my El Capitan.  I've been relying on Railking FP45s for that set which are poorly done at best.  Need to think it through though.  There are some other roads that could be of interest.

Would you run the full A-B-B-A?  That adds up quick.

I have always liked the NP two-tone green "Main Street of the NW" scheme.  I don't have anything to pull with it, but they're very pretty.

@BlueFeather posted:

Would you run the full A-B-B-A?  That adds up quick.

I have always liked the NP two-tone green "Main Street of the NW" scheme.  I don't have anything to pull with it, but they're very pretty.

It would have to be an ABBA set to appropriate! 

Great news, surprised how rare you see them up for sale; what’s been done, I’m not surprised they are great models and in many cases the only ever done in 1:48. I love my sunset ATSF warbonnet F7s, just perfect for my era and Hi-Level El Cap etc. I have those warbonnet ATSF 1988 run Samhongsa’s from Key Imports and always been disappointed in them, 1960s era.. yuck! …the Sunset’s are just Beautiful! The stainless panels are so awesome, as real as it gets. Thanks Scott and company.

Should be a great filler run... I wonder why no FT rerun after all these years... but I do love my Grande F7 ABBA

Hah, I was just going to ask: were passenger FT pairs ever mixed with F7 or F3 pairs on the El Cap or Super Chief?

Funny you mentioned that. I was just thinking I have a great 3rd rail FT A unit that I have not been able to add to. Plenty of 18” passenger cars in K-line & Lionel just waiting for a nice long, long train. Was hoping those would get rerun. I guess I could mix n match an F7 so to speak if Canadian Pacific would get made. 🤔

Whoops. Nvm

@rplst8 posted:

Is the 3rd rail website broken for anyone else?

I was having issues.  Both browsers that I tend to use on my desktop were complaining about the security certificate and wouldn't let me proceed.  Very annoying. I eventually found that editing the web address to http rather than https allowed it through.

Those ACL units are beautiful!!

Sunrise

Great models!

How about a C&NW to match the soon (hopefully) to be released bi-level commuter cars (Atlas/MTH) from Mr. Muffins which don’t have any matching recent engines?

put in for SF FM freight, A and B,  Anyone have a guestimate on delivery date?  thanks

@SANTIAGOP23 posted:

Should be a great filler run... I wonder why no FT rerun after all these years... but I do love my Grande F7 ABBA

I was hoping for the FTs. ☹️😞🤔  Still, nice to see the F7s offered again. 😜

I was hoping for some WP passenger units to replace my Atlas F3's, but the NP set is really nice looking. Does anybody know if they pulled anything besides the North Coast Limited?

This is great news I’ve already pre ordered my Wabash AA set .

I’ve seen some photos of 3rd Rail F-units on the secondhand market where the metal grills on the carbody sides have warped and become detached from the shell. Does anyone know if this is a common issue or if there is a reason this happens?

I know the HO Athearn Genesis F-units, which also have etched metal grills, had this issue and there was a note included in the box about it (at least the first few years, not sure if they resolved it).
I assume the problem is caused by a thermal expansion difference between the plastic body and metal grills.

Mr Scott - any chance we can get an FP7 804-805 in the 1950 Western Pacific paint scheme?

I would definitely be in for a WP A-B-B.

Scott and I had a chance to finally discuss this project a little bit yesterday.  Obviously, there are lots of road names that can be done for the F7.  Some will be reruns of course, some will be road names that ultimately didn't run in the 1st or 2nd run, and then there will be potentially some new ones.  As always let Scott know your interests.  If enough people request the same road, there is a good chance it will move forward. 

I know I have a few I am interested in that have not run, but I'm not sure enough others will be to make them happen.  Time will tell!  There are a few factors that will determine timing on these, but it always depends on if the orders are there first and foremost.

Thanks for the comments Jonathan.  This should be a very popular offering.  
Cheers 😉

@seank941 posted:

I was hoping for some WP passenger units to replace my Atlas F3's, but the NP set is really nice looking. Does anybody know if they pulled anything besides the North Coast Limited?

Yes; the "Mainstreeter."

Mainstreeter | Trains and Railroads

Thanks Jonathan for keeping Scott's ear and letting us know

Here's hoping!

The WP FP7's (804 and 805) were done in the first run of 3rd Rail FP7 units (2013). Very nice model, however the B units were not powered, so an A-B or A-B-B consist was not powerful enough to handle a full Atlas-O California Zephyr consist.  I'll be stepping up to a WP F7B powered passenger unit to add to my consist if offered this time.

I'm tempted to order the NP passenger F's in an A-B-A set, but still holding out for F9's!

Thanks GN Man for the history ... and I bet no one wants to part with them!

Do you remember what year?

Jonathan, does this tooling allow the slightly longer FP7s to be made in the same run?  That would open up a number of possibilities for engines to go with some of the recent GGD cars and projects including WR of A, A & WP, L & N, RF & P, N de Me, and a number of others.

@BlueFeather posted:

Jonathan, does this tooling allow the slightly longer FP7s to be made in the same run?  That would open up a number of possibilities for engines to go with some of the recent GGD cars and projects including WR of A, A & WP, L & N, RF & P, N de Me, and a number of others.

The FP7 is a separate tool and as far as I know there are no plans to run that again for a several years at this point. 

Did NP not use FP7's for their passenger trains? I don't know much about their passenger service other than the overall paint schemes.

@BlueFeather posted:

I have always liked the NP two-tone green "Main Street of the NW" scheme.  I don't have anything to pull with it, but they're very pretty.

Did GGD ever make the earlier dark green paint scheme F's and cars? I really like that train.

@The GN Man posted:

The WP FP7's (804 and 805) were done in the first run of 3rd Rail FP7 units. Very nice model, however the B units were not powered, so an A-B or A-B-B consist was not powerful enough to handle a full Atlas-O California Zephyr consist.  I'll be stepping up to a WP F7B powered passenger unit to add to my consist if offered this time.

Was that run from a different manufacturer? Would be nice but I think the tooling and the paint would have to match to get orders unless Scott sold just powered chassis.

@seank941 posted:

Did NP not use FP7's for their passenger trains? I don't know much about their passenger service other than the overall paint schemes.

According to the Diesel Roster compiled by the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Society NP had two FP-7A units, nos. 6600 and 6601:

Diesel Locomotive Roster - Standard View

Answers to some questions in this thread:
1. The first run Western Pacific FP7A and F7B units were delivered in 2013. They were a 3rd Rail product. The paint and lettering were correct and I have confidence Scott would get it right again. 

2. Northern Pacific's transcontinental F unit fleet was comprised of F3, F7 and F9 cab and booster units. These served the North Coast Limited, Mainstreeter, Trains 407/408 (Seattle-Portland), and several other routes including railfan trips.

3. NP did have two FP7A units as Carl noted. These units mainly served the Twin Cities - Twin Ports route for which a single engine, but with additional water capacity, was satisfactory.  The notable exception is 1962; in that year NP had a power shortage for the transcontinental trains because of three major accidents plus the additional sections needed for travel to the Seattle World's Fair. In that year, the FP7's were permitted to go as far west as Livingston, MT. I have seen a picture of an FP7 leading the Mainstreeter in 1962, but I don't know if they ever were in an NCL consist...

1. The first run Western Pacific FP7A and F7B units were delivered in 2013. They were a 3rd Rail product. The paint and lettering were correct and I have confidence Scott would get it right again.

"...and I have confidence Scott would get it right again. " - Agreed!

Thanks!

Please rerun the FP7s! Reading FP7s are undergoing restoration at the moment. They’d be a must have for me.

@GG1 4877 posted:

Scott and I had a chance to finally discuss this project a little bit yesterday.  Obviously, there are lots of road names that can be done for the F7.  Some will be reruns of course, some will be road names that ultimately didn't run in the 1st or 2nd run, and then there will be potentially some new ones.  As always let Scott know your interests.  If enough people request the same road, there is a good chance it will move forward.

I know I have a few I am interested in that have not run, but I'm not sure enough others will be to make them happen.  Time will tell!  There are a few factors that will determine timing on these, but it always depends on if the orders are there first and foremost.

A nice A/A set in M&StL delivery scheme. Be cool thing to have in a collection, rare.

I would be in for the PRR FP7's in Tuscan Red and possibly a DLGE freight version.

I did not see this when I posted the announcement of T&P and Mopac F7 units. So I will add my comments here.

I sent Scott Mann a request for T&P - Missouri Pacific F7's last night and this morning they were added in original freight scheme and Jenks. I am ordering 5 T&P engines (original paint - 4 A's and a B unit) maybe a Jenks unit and some Mopac's. I can't afford all the T&P units necessary for them to make the cut, so somebody please step up and help me!

Joe

@Blue Streak posted:

I did not see this when I posted the announcement of T&P and Mopac F7 units. So I will add my comments here.

I sent Scott Mann a request for T&P - Missouri Pacific F7's last night and this morning they were added in original freight scheme and Jenks. I am ordering 5 T&P engines (original paint - 4 A's and a B unit) maybe a Jenks unit and some Mopac's. I can't afford all the T&P units necessary for them to make the cut, so somebody please step up and help me!

Joe

Joe,  
I’ve placed a note in the long running Eagle thread about the MP, T&P F7. I wanted C&EI in Jenks too but regrettably it is a FP7 - a slightly different tooling. So no-go on that.  As it is, we can be happy going broke with A and B Eagle and Jenks for MP T&P = 8 diesels 😳🫣😵‍💫🫢  🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪   MP and T&P have done reasonably well. I don’t think we will have a problem getting to needed numbers to get em to fly. I’ll prob be in for 4ish units. I’d did this for the E7s (plus 1 Meteor).
Cheers 😉

@BlueFeather posted:

Hah, I was just going to ask: were passenger FT pairs ever mixed with F7 or F3 pairs on the El Cap or Super Chief?

No.  

There was an m-u compatibility issue that would have required a special jumper cable.

And Santa Fe kept the F3 and F7 units together numerically as locomotive consists until around 1960.  If your train was pulled by F7 37L, you could be sure that 37A, 37B, and 37C followed in the consist.

Also, and more importantly, the FT units had manual transition, the diesel"stick shift".  The F3's were also so equipped, but when EMD came out with automatic transition on the later F3 units, Santa Fe promptly equipped the earlier F3's with it.  Not on the FT's, though.

And, the FT's had manually operated radiator shutters.  Also, the shaft-driven fans had to be cut in and out manually, by use of a fan clutch lever at each end of the unit, the Fireman being the employee with that responsibility.  The sooner the FT's were off of the long distance passenger trains, the better Santa Fe liked it.  Two units (A & B) survived in passenger service until 1951 on the all-stops train between San Diego and Los Angeles, and another pair handled the Williams Jct. to Phoenix train until the same year.  They were good freight units, though, and survived until  1960-1965, being traded a few at a time as credit on GP20-30-35 units.