Scale F3 vs. Traditional F3

Larry,

Williams CP on far track, MTH SF scale F on near track, showing difference in front windows.

Overall dimensions are very close to each other.

IMO, any aluminum streamliners look good with the Warbonnet.

Jim

Thanks, Jim.  Great picture.  I think I like the scale version better, but my Williams will due for the meantime!

Thanks again for the explanation.

Bill

The postwar and postwar clone F3s including the Lionel (non-Standard-O), Williams, and the MTH RailKing Scale F3 are slightly shorter in height than scale as well, I don't recall offhand by how much but you can actually see the height difference when you compare the Santa Fe & CP F's in Jim's picture above.  I've always wondered if the lower roofline is the main the reason the postwar style has the more squinty-eyed windshields.

The older Williams F units were somewhat off-shape in the nose. However, their Golden Memories series versions mimicked the Postwar Lionel traditional version very closely, and were much better. I believe that one of the Golden Memories engines is what the Canadian Pacific version is as shown above. Those engines, as with the Lionel "traditional" F-3s, are virtually scale in size, but with fewer details than today's scale engines.

Also, the front window openings of the Williams and Lionel traditional versions are narrower than prototype, and narrower than the scale versions. It is likely that was due to Lionel designing the engines for ruggedness in the Postwar period. 

The F units you refer to are the F7s that were formerly Kusan tooling that Williams still make.  Those same Williams F7s are also a bit narrower than scale, even narrower than the postwar F3.

Not sure about the WBB F3, but the MTH RailKing F3 is 8 scale feet too short (2").

Hopefully, one of these days, Atlas will offer their F3A in Seaboard Air Line colors, they're possibly the only manufacturer that offers single, painted, powered A units.

I think you're referring to the MTH Rugged Rails F3 that comes in their basic "bantam" starter sets as that is a shortened version of the scale and even the postwar style F3.  Their RailKing scale F3 is the same dimensions as the Williams and Lionel postwar-style F3.