K-Line F-7 A-B-A sets - Reliable Runners?

Mine are the later versions and no problems so far but most of the later ones came with K-Line Cruise which some have had problems with. The ones with cruise will have "cc" at the end of the part number.

Pete

I have three sets. One early three unit set and two later A-A sets. No problem with any of them. The later sets had more detail and three versions of the nose mount couplers. They were sold as a A-A unit but you could get the B unit as an extra. Still look great. Don

I bought the set K25301 A-B-A new when K-line produced it. It has 2 motors each unit. I think it would pull my car out of the ditch? It has run exceptionally well with one repair.  The connector between units had to be repaired. Brasseur Electric trains did the repairs and it has run beautifully ever since - 7 years since the repair. Without question my favorite runner.

Be careful with the later released cruise control electronics. They seem to have a freshness date on them. 

Because of a set of melted boards, I have stayed clear of any K Line locomotives with cruise control, unless you can upgrade them with an ERR board.

I have owned at least four sets, some with six motors and some with four. Three of them are/were pre-cruise; the other is the ATSF Midnight Chief set and I don't know if it has cruise or not - never bothered to check. I've never had the slightest trouble with any of them except for the plastic latch on one of the tether connectors. It still works, it just doesn't latch and you have to be sure it's in firmly. I sold one a while back because it was a duplicate; I plan to keep the other three. In addition to the Midnight Chief, I have the early version of the Milwaukee Road in Hiawatha colors (six motors, no smoke) and the Milwaukee Road UP yellow ABA that came in a set with six yellow passenger cars. 

The only problem I ever saw with these was a guy who was trying to run one of the later sets with a bunch of extra B units. If he turned on all the smoke units, something would burn out in the lead unit. 

I have an early Milwaukee Road 6 motor set with no cruise control. It will run for maybe 20 to 30 minutes before shutting itself down. Then it has to cool off. Someday I will fix it. I had another Santa Fe 6 motor A-B-A set and the two A units ran fine, but the tether in the B unit became intermittent.

They are nice locos in general, but if you have to take them apart, they have lots of wires inside that can get pinched or out of place upon reassembly.

I have the Milw Rd 6 motor set.  Came with TMCC/no cruise.  Terrible runner.  I did some work on the trucks, reaming out some holes, lubing axles etc.  They ran better, but without cruise they were still lacking.  I installed PS2 (pre-ERR days) and now they are some of my best runners.

Dave

I also ahd the Milwaukee Rd 6-motor A-B-A, I was unimpressed.  They used the standard Lionel DCDR to run all six motors, and it was prone to overheating.  I improved it by taking the motors out of the B Unit, but I was never that happy with the running and sold it.

Interesting that some have had overheating problems with the 6-motor sets. I used to run mine at the toy train museum for two or three hours at a time with ten of the big K-Line 21" aluminum cars and never had a problem. I even put in an extra powered B unit once and it ran fine, but stopped doing that after being advised that it would overload the motor driver board. Looks like there was some sample variation there - or perhaps the earlier production runs had problems that were later fixed. As I recall, they were made over a period of years. 

The back of the lead unit on my Milwaukee Road Hiawatha F7 six-motor A-B-A set gets hot while I'm running them on the club layout. But the other two units stay cool. Is that consistent with what others have experienced when there is a heat build-up problem?

I have four sets of the early dual motor variation, Rock Island, Union Pacific, Rio Grande and Western Pacific.  Have had no problems with the R.I. E8, Rio Grande F3 and W.P F3., but have to run the U.P. E8 A-A only, have not determined the problem with the U.P. B unit, yet.  Hope to find time to check it out, along with all else I have "in the shop" for repairs and upgrades with ERR.  But, the detailing and running I do have from the K Line engines is great for me, especially when you account for the bargain they were.

Turtle 2, does your K-25301 Warbonnet ABA that you pictured have only the two A units powered, or is the dummy powered as well? Thanks.

All of the units are powered including the "B" unit. I will attach info from the box

Turtle, thank you for getting that information.

Come to think of it, I only ran my A-B-A once. I ran it as a A-A unit almost all the time. Didn't need all that power. Don