After a bit longer of a wait than hoped, my set of MTH Premier Santa Fe F3s arrived today.
In my collection, I have about 14 F units across N, HO, and O. I did not need another one. About 10 years ago, MTH produced a stunning chrome and high gloss Railking Scale (Postwar clone) Santa Fe F3 passenger set. It takes a lot now a-days for something to be an absolute "must have" but that set was one of them. When it was produced, I couldn't afford it and never got one.
Last year, MTH reproduced the set in the Railking RTR Catalog but it was not chrome and not high-gloss paint. I reluctantly passed and ordered the Pennsy set (terrific!).
Once the MTH Santa Fe F3s were in the last MTH catalog and were advertised as being "plated" I was in. This might be my last chance to get that "chrome" F3.
The decoration is stunning on these. Absolutely beautiful. I can only imagine what they'll look like with Christmas lights reflecting off of them. Nice detail work as well. Really like the grab iron detail as well as the stainless "grills" running the length of the engine. This is not the same as the Railking set from ~10 years ago. It is not totally chrome and high-gloss paint but it is a looker nonetheless. I'm not a big Santa Fe fan and would never have purchased these if they were just painted and there was no plating on the sides.
I was curious, without the tethers, how would conventional operators manage an ABA set? With DCS, you can set up a lash up. I will give MTH a lot of credit for a good design and access hatch for all switches and volume/smoke controls. It is behind the rubber diaphragm on the back. It is a magnetic, swing-out cover. Very well done and can be accessed when the engine is on the track. A big plus IMO. I didn't play with the switches but will do so. I have a PRR F3 with PS3 and I'll try them as an AA set and set the Santa Fe to reverse.
Sound is terrific. Nice horn - excited to have something different than the single-note horn prevalent in F units (prototypical I believe).
Operation - Good to excellent. Not so good upon taking it out of the box but after about a half hour of running at various speeds and it both directions, it was quite incredible how well it smoothed out. I expect it to get even better as it runs more. Love the MARS light!
Issues - two minor issues I was hoping someone else may confirm/deny is the same on their engine
-My powered engine seems to be very sensitive to track issues and the lead truck will start slipping. A hardly noticeable bump and it will slip...anyone else notice this with there engine? I was thinking about getting another A unit but if there is a minor traction issue, I don't want to stress it.
-The gap between the rear truck and the frame/shell is larger than the front. While not very noticeable, certain angles do show the engine "slanted" forward (perhaps the silver paint doesn't help). I'm not against opening the thing up to check the seating on the motor on the rear but it runs fine and there is no excessive/abnormal gear noise, leading me to believe it is OK.
