Show Your F3s, F7s and similar diesels

I can't resist piling on with a little more NYO&W! All of these shots are from my old layout.

Chris

LVHR

Triplets with the triple header !

Another great thread Arnold.  I too enjoy my MTH DCS F3s. Here are my two Monon F3s, with special thanks to Mr. Muffin’s Trains special runs.  

Here is a video I made using the PFA feature which simulates the freight train holding up in a siding for the passing passenger train.

@Arnold D. Cribari, Arnold, what a terrific topic, you are always coming up with great ideas for threads…Happy Railroading Everyone (the real f unit in purple is at the North Carolina Railroad Transportation Museum near Salisbury NC.) I took the picture…  ( sent from Busan Korea)

Beautiful locomotives were the first ones I wanted when I became interested in model trains.  Also my most recent purchase-  an A/A pair of "the Santa Fe", warbonnet Lionels from 1952.  Always wanted a set- now I have one.     "

Groooowl"

Great thread Arnold. Probably the most iconic diesel ever produced by all mfr's.

My first set was a Lionel HO Santa Fe AB set with streamline passenger coaches. Just about ran the wheels off of it. The engine had a worm drive that could pull out the proverbial tree stump. Wish I had pix to share.

Can't believe no one posted this one yet. Menards Beta 1 F3/7. I added a Lionel B unit. Mine is wired in series and runs well for what it is (I don't intend to start that discussion again).

Some others in my collection from various mfrs. Santa Fe- Lionel PW, LIRR- K-line (dummy), PRR K-line (powered & dummy).

Lionel MPC B&O

The AFT on the flatbed is a Tyco HO set that was given to me by a co-worker. Gotta see if I can get it running one day.

Bob

From top to bottom:

MTH New Haven ALCO FAs

MTH New York Central E8s

Lionel MPC New York Central F3s

MTH New Haven ALCO DL109-110

MTH NYO&W F3s

Lower right.....Lionel Conrail ABBA F7s

Lionel  New York Central FTs

MTH Fairbanks Morse New Haven C-Liners in HunterGreen

Have a great and safe weekend, everyone!

Peter

I only have one (a pair of F3's). They are of an small railroad swallowed up by L&N. The NC&StL.

Well I thought I would post a few more of my "Fleet".  First is a Japanese floor toy, a Seaboard "76 celebration livery" F3

Finally, I decided to take a HUGE risk and include a series of Alco PA's under the guise of Arnolds "similar diesels".  Sorry if I offend anyone.  Here is the Lionel 210 Texas Special ABA, 212 Santa Fe ABA, 221 Rio Grande A, 2032 Erie AA, and 2023 AA.

Best Wishes everyone...

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

Finally, I decided to take a HUGE risk and include a series of AlcoPA's under the guise of Arnolds "similar diesels"

Best Wishes everyone...

Don

They look like FAs to me.

Beautiful engines all… here are a few of mine!!!

A pair of Lionel E7’s

And a pair of the recent Lionel E8’s

A Lionel Canadian Pacific FA-2 AA w/FB-2

A Lionel Long Island FA Power Cab Car

A pair of Lionel MPC F3’s

And, finally, an Atlas (I believe) F3

I have a few F units. One is the NS Executive train units.  The other is the model of the first FT units, the demo units.  Both MTH PS2.

The demo units are special to me since it’s the only engines I can successfully verify my Grandfather ran during his career as a fireman and engineer.  My son has the operation instructions for those engines Grandfather kept.  They sold by EMD to Southern after their demonstration days m. They were mostly run between Chattanooga and Cincinnati after being repainted and renumbered from 103 to 6100.  If anyone ever makes the Southern set in the correct numbers and paint, it will be a must buy.

Here's mine.  MTH ProtoSound

MTH ProtoSound upgraded to PS3

Here a couple of "similar" type diesels - guess which  brand

Fairbanks Morse C-Liners, possibly the ones imported by AHM years ago.

Here are some more.

MTH PS3

Tyco HO.  I think this is from 1969.  I saved money a long time to buy the Tyco set.  I was 13 in 1969.  Size compared to O Gauge

Here are 2 road names we haven't seen yet.

Chris

LVHR

Here are some more non EMD F unit pics, but still carbody type locos.

FA 1 Western Maryland.  This is a Williams Reproductions non powered unit.

PA 1 manufactured by  Williams by Bachman.   I have these in a set of AA units.

Baldwin Locomotive Works RF 16 demonstrators by Williams By Bachman.  WbB was the only manufacturer I know of that produced the BLW RF 16 demonstrator livery.  I love it!  Had to have the AA set of these on my roster. Perfect design ( like candy cane ) and colors for Christmas trains ... and it's prototypical too!

@PRRMP54 - re your comment on PA vs FA- while you may be correct, I am not that much of a detail fan, I can tell you that iaw the book..." Guide to American Diesel Locomotives"  published by "Trains" magazine, pg 112, "...the PAs had distinctive noses with grilled headlight casings..."  All of the Lionel locomotives I showed do have such grilled casings simulated around the headlight.  I am sure that many of the other details can lead to different conclusions but after all these are TOY trains, not scale models.

Don

How about this Frisco F3 ABAABBA ???     😮😳😵‍💫🫣🫢🫢

Just kidding !!! 🤪😉                                 Left is MTH ABA and right Lionel ABBA. 😜Cheers !!! 😉

I recently saw the first Menards F3 that I have seen running.  I was impressed "with what it is", as RSJB18 posted.

It ran well, had decent sounds, decent cruise, nice paint.  For the money- it is an outstanding value.  I really like the handheld control, much like the Lionel Lion Chief hand held controllers, it is a great thing for young hands.  It's not for the serious O Gauge/ Scale hobbyist, BUT...

...a kid shows up, you can hand him or her a Lion Chief, or LC Universal controller, now a Menards, explain a couple of things, and they can run trains.  MUCH easier than using a Cab 1, Cab 2, Legacy or MTH handheld (although I am sure there are exceptions). 

My personal most favorite F3s - Atlas

Lionel Post War Scale 2373/74

Lionel D&RG 'Bumble bee' Alco PAs   Beautiful seldom seen

Here's a favorite livery of mine ... the D&H  PA 1  by WbB.  I have an ABA set of these.  Both A units are powered.

@c.sam posted:

My personal most favorite F3s - Atlas

Lionel Post War Scale 2373/74

Lionel D&RG 'Bumble bee' Alco PAs   Beautiful seldom seen

I agree about the Atlas GM&O !!!!    
I like your DRG “bumble bee” too. (Perhaps only the “Aspen leaf” seen less.)

Don,

ALCo FAs have 4 wheel trucks while their PAs have 6 wheel trucks. Also, the PAs are considerably longer than the FAs.

For EMD, F units are 4 wheel trucks and E units are 6 wheel trucks. And the Eunits are considerably longer.

The odd ball in the EMD family is the FL9, which has a 4 wheel front truck and a 6 wheel rear truck. AFAIK, there is no equivalent in the ALCo family.

Be aware that Lionel took a LOT of liberties with various engines and their details in the 50s and 60s!

Chris

LVHR

@Mike Wyatt posted:

I recently saw the first Menards F3 that I have seen running.  I was impressed "with what it is", as RSJB18 posted.

It ran well, had decent sounds, decent cruise, nice paint.  For the money- it is an outstanding value.  I really like the handheld control, much like the Lionel Lion Chief hand held controllers, it is a great thing for young hands.  It's not for the serious O Gauge/ Scale hobbyist, BUT...

...a kid shows up, you can hand him or her a Lion Chief, or LC Universal controller, now a Menards, explain a couple of things, and they can run trains.  MUCH easier than using a Cab 1, Cab 2, Legacy or MTH handheld (although I am sure there are exceptions).

Exactly my point. Great looking diesel at a great value. And now that they have released production sets, hopefully some new road names will appear.

I would be remiss if I didn't post my Santa Fe F3's in freight colors. These have been upgraded with ERR AC commander and all LED lighting. The trailing A is tethered to the lead for the electro-coupler and directional lighting.

Fairbanks morse also did a loco with a 4 wheel lead truck and 6 wheel rear truck.   NYC and LI had them.    I think they  were rated at 2000 HP while the regular C-liner with 2 4-axle trucks was rated at 1600 HP.     

FM also did the "Erie-Builts" with 2 6 axle trucks and I think also 2000 HP.   these were about 4-5 years previous to the C-liners.    There was both a freight and passenger version.

All the passenger units (Alco PA, EMD E-Units, and various FMs) had higher gearing for higher speeds for the passenger service.     On the EMD E units and I am pretty sure the PAs also, the center axle on each truck was un-powered.    the longer trucks served two purposes, they spread the axle loading out with the heavier loco, and they tracked better and rode better at higher passenger speeds.

@RSJB18 posted:

I would be remiss if I didn't post my Santa Fe F3's in freight colors. These have been upgraded with ERR AC commander and all LED lighting. The trailing A is tethered to the lead for the electro-coupler and directional lighting.

That is my favorite Santa Fe paint scheme.  

Here is a set of Lionel Legacy Wabash F3s true to the artist’s  concept in the 50’s  catalog but never produced at the time.

Here are my U.P. Premier F3's. I bought each one separately. I got 1449 last week. It has a DCRU. 1448 is a dummy. 1447 is powered but didn't come with a box and I haven't opened it up yet, so I don't know what kind of boards it has. I am going to try to get these all to work together when I figure out what I have. I have a few sets of the RailKing f3's and a dozen F's in N scale.

So glad so many of you, my Forum friends, have enjoyed this thread. I certainly have. Some of these diesels are so attractive, they are irresistable; I see them, then I feel like II I've got to have them.

This is what happened with my MTH PS3 Baltimore and Ohio F3s. When I first discovered over a year ago that JR Junction Hobby had them, then I had to have them:

These B&0 F-3s look a lot like the ones in the photo Mark posted.

Arnold,

This is a terrific thread. I would like to see more F3s and F7s. I'm sure that there are many we haven't seen here.

MELGAR

Nothing beats EMD F Units!!!

Awesome thread, F series are my favorite! I took my first train ride with my grandmother from San Jose, CA to Sacramento and it was pulled by Southern Pacific Black Widow F series AA. I was 5 years old at the time, and I have never forgotten it.

Here's 4 F series sets in motion. First, rebuilt from the 2004 & 2005 catalogs, Lionel TMCC Santa Fe Red Bonnet F3 ABAA with 2 powered A units. Second, Lionel Southern Pacific Black Widow F7 AA set LionChief Plus 2.0 from 2020. Third, Lionel Legacy Western Pacific ABBA from the 2012 catalog with B unit borrowed power from D&RGW (2020 catalog), WP A and B units powered. Fourth) Lionel Legacy Santa Fe Yellow Bonnet F7 Powered AA set with F7B SuperBass from 2022 catalog

Sunset/3rd Rail model of Boston & Maine F3 #4227.

O gauge manufacturers have been making models of F3s for 70 years and people are still buying new ones.

MELGAR

Here are some of my E & F units & Others:

I get my PAs and FAs mixed up, I know FA is for freight and PA is for passengers, but don't know when I see a particular locomotive whether it's one or the other.

What I do know is when I saw these New Haven units, I had to have them:

I have a few locomotives that I consider so desirable, they never leave the layout; they are either running on a main line or parked in a siding, and are never on a shelf. These New Haven units are among those select few that are always on the layout. They are MTH PS3 units that, IMO, look, run, sound and pull great. They are connected so both units have great pulling power in unison. There are no dummies here. LOL, Arnold

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Awesome thread, F series are my favorite! I took my first train ride with my grandmother from San Jose, CA to Sacramento and it was pulled by Southern Pacific Black Widow F series AA. I was 5 years old at the time, and I have never forgotten it.

Here's 4 F series sets in motion. First, rebuilt from the 2004 & 2005 catalogs, Lionel TMCC Santa Fe Red Bonnet F3 ABAA with 2 powered A units. Second, Lionel Southern Pacific Black Widow F7 AA set LionChief Plus 2.0 from 2020. Third, Lionel Legacy Western Pacific ABBA from the 2012 catalog with B unit borrowed power from D&RGW (2020 catalog), WP A and B units powered. Fourth) Lionel Legacy Santa Fe Yellow Bonnet F7 Powered AA set with F7B SuperBass from 2022 catalog

Wow, an espy train ride with your grandma from San Jose to Sacramento pulled by a couple of black widow Fs back in the day, WOULD be memorable. How awesome is that? ☺️

I like this video of your F units, Scott. You’re a great cinematographer in that you use good judgement in a thread like this one, in which you emphasize the engines in each take, without making us watch the whole train pass by. So, your video shows good flow and balance. You have some nice F units there. 👍

You must be a retired Academy Award-winning cinematographer, right? 😉 Love your work.