Looking for information on who made these F Unit body shells. They are plastic and the length is approx. 12.5". The top of the front fan of the group of four fans has a hole in it. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Those are the old Atlas/Roco F9 shells from around 1975 or so. P&D Hobby sold them too at one point, and they also sold their own F unit shells that had more detail and could be configured with or without dynamic brakes, high fans, etc. Last time I looked P&D was still selling their own shells in kit form.
There are still lots of those Atlas F9's (with motors) floating around. You can still find them in new condition.
Very much appreciated, thank you!
Agree, and tend to lean toward the P&D version given the uber-clean black styrene injection molding. I'm not aware of the Roco's ever being offered undec either.
Those shells are the Atlas/Roco shells as mentioned. P&D also obtained a run of them and had some custom painted.
They are scale size and as good as any with cast one detail. However they are models of F9s which many RRs did not have. They are the last version of the EMD F-unit offered. Some main spotting features are the Large 48 inch fan in the middle for the Dynamic brakes. Also the there are 5 louvred vents on the sides and the F7s had 4. The front side porthole is too far to the rear.
So if your RR had F9s this is a good model. If they did not, then you need to decide how far from accurate they are for your RR...
Note also they have the Steam Generator exhaust and stuff on the rear, so they are dual service equipped.
@prrjim posted:Those shells are the Atlas/Roco shells as mentioned. P&D also obtained a run of them and had some custom painted.
They are scale size and as good as any with cast one detail. However they are models of F9s which many RRs did not have.
True. Another spotting feature is the large opening in the pilot.
Although often dismissed, I find these old units to be very useful: easy to modify, work on and aren't half bad looking.
To quote bob2 here: "opinion". 🙂
Mark in Oregon
The spotting features I mentioned were related to the prototype, not the model. The large pilot opening was done on the model for the large couplers used.
Years ago, I wanted to make 2 of them as close to F7s as possible. I replaced the pilots with ones with smaller holes. ON the first one, I scratchbuilt a pilot from Styrene. By the time I got the second one, Keil-Line made a cast pilot replacement. Today, P&D had varioius pilots. I sanded off the extra louvres and the steam generator stuff. Then I filled in the front portholes and made new ones according to F7 diagrams. Finally I scraped off the cast on hand rails and applied new ones I made from brass wire. It was fun kit bash project and gave me a set of F7s I painted PRR for a really good price. I got the antenna casting from Keil also. The only thing I could not figure out how change was the 48 inch fan on the dynamic brakes.
As you said lots of play value for the price!
A crappy photo of 2 of mine...
The MEC unit has an 8400 series Pittman; the UP a CLW open-frame motor.
Mark in Oregon
Really nice looking, well rendered Maine Central scheme there Mark.
Wow!
Thanks! I lived in Maine for a few years and have always liked the MEC. This was my first "experiment" in 2-rail O; picked it up (in the early '90s) for 20 bucks and wanted to see what working in 1/4" was like. Installed a Pittman motor (using bob2's suggestion of Toyota hose for couplings), NWSL geared wheel sets (all 4 axle gears were split); wire handrails and brass lift rings and was a first try using an airbrush and O scale-size decals. Still runs great. Thanks again for your kind words.
Mark in Oregon
Yes - very nice paint!
Has anybody ever tried to put a P&D F unit cab interior into one of these units?
Jim
I'm not sure, but I think because of the way the trucks were designed, there wouldn't be room...
Mark in Oregon
It depends what drive you plan to use. As Strummer said the original Atlas/Roco drive has very high truck mounts and they will interfere. You could modify the frame for a different drive and put in the interior. I've modified an Atlas frame for an All Nation drive and there is plenty of room in the cab now. Those engines still show up for sale and with patience you can find them for $50. Typically some of the ladders are broken off but since you aren't using the original shells for anything other than headlights and cab windows (if that even) then possibly a real beater would work. They do have a tendency for the axles to crack. Replacements are avaialbe, but they have gotten a lot more expensive.
Thanks for the replies. I'm familiar with that truck mounting, it's very tall. So it sounds feasible to use the P&D cab but only with modification of some sort to the drive.
Jim
Gratuitous photos of my two Atlas/Roco F-Units; both have been prototype-specific detailed with wire handrails etc, one is converted to an F7 (remove forward body side louvres, new porthole, etc) and the other is an FP7, converted from two F9 shells by someone tallented but unknown to me, I just bought it like that off Ebay. I need to do something about the pilots & those massive coupler holes!!
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