Sunset DRGW F7 ABB First look. New photo 11/9

Looking good!    I love that the steps are mounted to the body, and not the trucks like a 3-rail model.

 

I ordered the Atlas 2-rail of this in drgw.  It will be interesting to compare both brands (if the Atlas are ever delivered )

 

Thanks for posting.

Am I crazy or is the paint not the greatest on the front of the A unit to the left of the Rio lettering? Tell me I'm wrong and that it's only the lousy photo.

That's just the lights in the room reflecting off the paint. Therefore, you're crazy (kidding).

Well, he posted the same "complaint" over on the 3-Rail 027 Trains Forum, about the Santa Fe units. Maybe he needs to look a bit closer?

Hi Austin

     Where do you run this locomotive at? Club or home layout. I am a big fan of Rio Grande because my wife is from Ouray, Colorado. 

This locomotive has a great paint job, look forward to seeing the A-B-B on a layout.

Gary

• Cheers from The Detroit & Mackinac Railway, “ A Toy Train Layout” 

One of my favorite paint schemes.  Way to go . . .

Those Tiger Stripes look fine!

Thank you for the quality pictures, Bill! They look great! I like that they went with the silver trucks, a more appropriate look for CZ power. My ABBA is coming too, and I cannot wait.

Rats, I get here and the pictures are gone!

Ditto.

 

Allan

Responding to some of the above.  I run the engines on my 2 rail home layout.  The misleading photo has been deleted.  I'm certainly a long way from doing photos like Erik and others but had hoped the first look might prove interesting.  Thanks for the kind words, Santiago. 

 

IMO these are beautiful, well done, good running and sounding (and lights too),  And at a good price point.  I'm pleased to have them.  Thanks, Scott Mann.  

Too bad.  I was enjoying them - very nice photos.  I did not feel "misled".

 

Check out the 3-railers.  They are sort of frosted that this beautiful model is inaccurate.  It looks like a very nice model - too bad I don't collect plastic stuff.

WHY ARE THE PICTURES GONE?

Beautiful, wish the original pictures were still up.  Thankfully, I was able to download prior to removal.

 

3 railers kill me-gripe about minute details but have no problem with 3 rails and grossly out of scale track...not meant to insult anyone...opinion. 

 

 

And now you know why Scott won't post pictures anymore.

Nope - Scott cannot be that sensitive.  Please re-post those excellent pictures.

I sure didn't see anything wrong them. they are fantastic. "Lousy" sheesh; folks are so polite and cordial these days.



       

Bill, people need to see these beautiful engines. Please re post or re take the pictures. There was nothing wrong with them, on closer inspection it's just that a light bulb was reflected on the engine.

Some argue that they are too shinny, maybe they are. But to me this is not an issue, it just gives them a  luscious "right off the shop look". In effect, it gives me a reason  to give them silver couplers.

SANTIAGO and others.  Three pictures are there when I view the topic.  Do you see them now.  If not I'll re-post.   All I attempted to do was remove one.  I wasn't intimidated by one negative comment. Goes with the territory.   Just didn't want to misrepresent a beautifully done engine.

 

FWIW.  I always enjoy seeing photos of other's engines and try to contribute in return.  Sometimes the photo quality others post is professional grade.  Sometimes it isn't. But, it's always informative.  1 picture = 1000 words, right?

 

Bill

Bill,

 

I just logged in and can't see your photos.  Please re-post them.

 

ChipR

 

 

Wow.  I can see them.  Wonder why.  Anyway.  Here goes again.  Can you hear (see) me now?  Is just intended to be a quick look.  When I get time maybe I'll do a video.  Booked today.  Bill

 

 

I saw the photos briefly last night.  And between this thread and the Santa Fe thread, I have only one word to say:  WOW!!!

 

Bill, the photos are no longer showing in the attachment section of your original post, which explains why the inline photo boxes show question marks.  Somehow, they all got deleted.  You may be seeing them on your PC because of a local file reference or items left in your browser cache.  Probably best to delete the inline photo references too, then re-upload new photos.

 

The toughest part of products like these is knowing they're already all spoken for (generally speaking) upon delivery.  The tight production quantities that match actual pre-orders make it tough for folks to get an exact configuration they might want AFTER production.  I guess I just wasn't watching Scott's announcements close enough when these were first announced.  BTW, when were these announced?  

 

I've tried to stay abreast of Scott's announcements since the GM TOT was delivered.  Prior to that, not so.  The level of detailing here is really quite eye-catching.  The challenge, as with all the good stuff today, is these things really set us back big time when you configure 3 power units for those long-haul passenger consists Like the El Capitan and/or California Zephyr.  

 

Beautiful stuff though.  Simply WOW!!!

 

David

 

P.S.  Edited to say that the new photos show up fine now!  Thanks for sharing them!

 

 

For those of us who were into trains many years ago, just look at how far the hobby has come now. These diesels are BEAUTIFUL!

Thanks for reposting those beautiful shots.

 

Note that the 3-railers are finding flaws with these gorgeous models, and the 2- railers are just raving.  Is it that three railers have to focus like a laser to avoid seeing that center rail and giant flanges?

 

I suppose that is good, in a way.  They will drive our suppliers closer to perfection (or nuts?) and we will all get better models.

Hey Bill, what are the MU's made of?

Nice looking model!  Just a nitpick, but should the top of the hood not be dark green or flat gray?

Beautiful glamour shots, Bill, of these awesome models.  Can't wait to see your video of these in action, I bet they run and sound great.

 

Scott K.

Austin, TX

Was there a Canadian National produced in this run ?

If not the next ? 

       
       
Yes- easy fix! Take me 30 minutes.

They were all a light industrial green but a heavily faded flat green due to the type of paints and the high altitude sun fade. Burnham applied most of the antiglare paint.

This is pretty ok...

Santiago, the MU's are brass I'm pretty sure because I've straightened them since the photos and they bend easily like brass. 

 

Erik, good point.  Do you happen to know if ALL Grande F7's had anti-glare paint?  And if maybe they were delivered w/o anti-glare paint and were in service for a while w/o before the Burnham Shops applied it?  No big deal, but interesting. 

 

Scott, and others.  Thanks.

 

Bill

The new SS F-7's are beautiful models, but like many of the brass models of years past they have some incorrect detailing and the issues brought up on the 3 rail side are legit. KEY has been producing E and F units for 30+ years in O scale and the more experience they gain the better the models have become. Their models in the past 10 years or so, are absolutely stunning and have set the bar for covered wagon diesel models that I don't see anyone surpassing.

 

The biggest issue on the current run of SS "F" units is the Santa Fe units have the lifting lugs down by the pilot instead of up by the number boards. Regardless of how beautiful the rest of the model is or how nice the other details look, the lifting lugs are hard to ignore if you're a SF modeler. And to ignore it and say nothing doesn't do anyone any good, including the importer. So, I think saying the 3R guys are nit picking and the 2R guys are thrilled is a misnomer.

 

One of the nice things about modern factory locos is the fantastic paint jobs. For the non-painting modeler, a paint job like this is hard to come by and can cost $200-300 alone. So anything that might screw up the beautiful factory paint (moving the lifting lugs) is a legitimate concern.  

 

One of the other issues being discussed is the vent window treatment. On the earlier E-7's, SS did as Athearn and many quality HO importers have done and do, which is etch the vent pillar in the cab side window which mimics a scale size pillar. On this model, instead of etching the pillar in one piece of plastic, an out of scale side window with silver trim was overlayed onto the side window glazing which put the side window  much deeper in the car body than on the E-7's which are close to flush. The trim is out of scale and it really doesn't improve the window at all. Scott reported he is checking into having some side windows made up with etched pillar to replace the one that came on the model. So, I believe this says Scott is not happy with it either.  

 

Overall, it is a remarkable and beautiful model and one of the best looking and I'm told running (haven't run mine yet) plastic F units produced to date. It has some incredible detailing, mechanics and paint as you can see in Austin Bills photos, but not to mention the mistakes or areas that could be improved on the next run is wrong. 

 

Scott is the kind of person who appreciates hearing the good and the bad on his models or he wouldn't be arguably on of the most successful importers of model trains since Max Gray and Levon K. (sorry didn't want to butcher the spelling of his last name) and right up there with Tom March, Dave Davita (Sp), George Kohs and a few others. So being politically correct and biting ones tongue is not what Scott wants and not in the cards for me either.

 

Butch 

Was all anti-glare green?  Some look flat gray but maybe it is faded green?

My $0.02 regarding the SF lifting lugs, etal. It all depends on what timeframe is being modeled.  For the red warbonnets the lifting lugs are incorrect anyway for units which still have the sidepanels covering the fuel tank and battery box.  So you can just remove the lugs if they bother you.  If there are one or two small pin holes for the mounts they won't be very visible and can probably be covered up by a drop of paint.   

 

For the yellowbonnets they should not have those side panels so they can be removed but it will look bit ugly relative to the prototype and then the lug position concern is legit.

 

While the builders have been doing a better and better job of getting all these details straight remember they don't know anything about trains, much less about details of individual roads and time periods.  So it is up to the folks that help Scott to do the best they can.  And no one is perfect.  When I see a final model I assisted on and all of a sudden all the warts are visible it just drives me to distraction that I missed something.  And I see warts no one else sees.  I saw the vent windows back on the FP7s and yet I never said a word to Scott about it.  My bad.  It was never visible in any or the drawings so it never stuck out as something to be mentioned or changed.

 

And Rocky, On the 3rd Rail website there is a place to sign up for email announcements and then you won't miss any of them.  Just remember the period of time reservations are open is dependent on how fast reservations are made.  Lots of reservations quickly shortens the time and fewer reservations lengthens the time period up to a cut off for lack of reservations. 

 

 

I hope international shipping won't do this to my set ...

 

 

 

 

 

Bill, how about putting this consist together with your FT's?

 

That green faded to a gray in most cases and you are right that's gray in that photo. The official when they left the shop was green.

Erik,

 

   The green was a special textured non slip paint applied  so inspection cleaning crews could do there job.  Trust me.  How ever it sunbleached    I am not aware.

That's what Ron Kieser told me too. And Greg Lapek, Then again Greg worked at Burnham 1950's until Anshutz spun it off to the UP in 1989.




You know I think Ron has some paint from the last batch in 1981 and may have some of the green "anti-slip" anti-glare paint left. I know we at Key matched the Pantone charts to many of these samples and Dan Pantera's library too.

 

There's a prototype for everything.