Who makes the most accurate plastic F units?

ns1001 posted:

Latest Atlas F units have road name specific details but fuel tank seems to be too high just like Lionel's version. Based on catalogue pictures MTH F units seem to have the lowest fuel tanks and appeared to be the most accurate. Is that true?

Sunset/3rd Rail, in my opinion.

If your only concern is the height of the fuel tanks, there have been threads on the 3RS forum on making spacers to lower them.

Hot Water posted:

ns1001 posted:

Latest Atlas F units have road name specific details but fuel tank seems to be too high just like Lionel's version. Based on catalogue pictures MTH F units seem to have the lowest fuel tanks and appeared to be the most accurate. Is that true?

Sunset/3rd Rail, in my opinion.

Vote x2.  I'd be more concerned with the proportions of the nose and windshields than the fuel tank ride height which is an easy fix.  The accuracy of the nose defines the F unit more than any other feature.

Alright who does have the best F unit nose contours. Third rail models are nice but too expensive for me. The distance between bottom of body and top of trucks is another benchmark. More toy like versions such as Lionel's FT units have the side cab windows much to low which means the roof contours are way off. Besides thought O gauge third rail is supposed to be RTR and not ready to fix. If I wanted to improve ready to run models would be in HO. MTH seems to be the best deal with new Premier F units  selling for less than $400.

Well you seem to have already decided, buy the MTH then.

I got lucky a year ago, got an Atlas F3A for $190.  Of course it wasn't in the RR I wanted but nothing an alcohol bath and some paint wouldn't fix.

There's Atlas F3's on Ebay for about the same as what the MTH costs, just depends on how you want it.  I know the RailKing F3 is 4 scale feet too short.

ns1001 posted:

....MTH seems to be the best deal with new Premier F units  selling for less than $400.

The best deal??!! These are selling for $400 on pre-order (some versions are higher) for a single A unit! Get an A-B-A with just one powered engine and you'll drop close to $800.00! Two powered engines and you're nearly at $1,000.00!

I mostly have Lionel F3 and F7 A&B units because they look the best to me.

PAUL ROMANO posted:

I mostly have Lionel F3 and F7 A&B units because they look the best to me.

The Lionel scale F units have gotten a lot of praise for their accuracy.

breezinup posted:

PAUL ROMANO posted:

I mostly have Lionel F3 and F7 A&B units because they look the best to me.

The Lionel scale F units have gotten a lot of praise for their accuracy.

True, they do look nice. However they sure don't seem to pull very well, what with only one unit powered.

The MTH F units are real nice. Just running them today, they look pretty good, and sound great.

I still prefer the looks of the original Lionel F3s like the 2343 with their squinty windshields.  Then I am into post was stuff, so my opinion may be biased.  

Hot Water posted:

breezinup posted:

PAUL ROMANO posted:

I mostly have Lionel F3 and F7 A&B units because they look the best to me.

The Lionel scale F units have gotten a lot of praise for their accuracy.

True, they do look nice. However they sure don't seem to pull very well, what with only one unit powered.

Lionel made powered Bs for the sets. I picked up powered B units to go with the UP and B&O Fs I have, although normally I don't run real long trains, and a single powered A pulls fine with the length of trains I usually run.

Bought Lionel W&M F7s from a dealer advertising here. The units would not run long before shutting down. Called dealer and he would not exchange the units and told me to call Lionel. When I shipped them back to him anyway he had them repaired(Lionel was having trouble with traction tires rubbing up against trucks on F units) and returned with broken horn and grab iron. The loco still does run as smooth as other Legacy locos I have so looking for alternatives - hence MTH.

Hot Water posted:

breezinup posted:

PAUL ROMANO posted:

I mostly have Lionel F3 and F7 A&B units because they look the best to me.

The Lionel scale F units have gotten a lot of praise for their accuracy.

True, they do look nice. However they sure don't seem to pull very well, what with only one unit powered.

Agreed, they are a little weak in the pulling department. I have two Lionel F unit sets A F3 ABA in Burlington Route (CB&Q) and a F7 ABA in NYC, like them both equally. Both can be found running on my youtube channel. 

Although I don't care for the break- down feature I do like running the Lionel "break-down" B Unit with the powered A&B units for the extra prime mover sounds in 5.0.  

Have Lionel ABBA with powered A and powered B and they pull quite well. Have been pulling the Atlas 12 car Zepher Set no problem. Have also been pulling a 9 car  El Capitan Set no sweat. Have to say those Golden Gate Depot El Capitan cars are the best cars I have hands down without a doubt. Not only are they good looking they track very well. They are very well built. I think I might be talking myself into trying  Sunset/ 3rd rail engines if they are made anything like the cars.

I'm in agreement that Sunset/3rd Rail makes the most accurate models and the drive is superior

Matt Makens posted:

I'm in agreement that Sunset/3rd Rail makes the most accurate models and the drive isxsperior

I agree with you, Matt.  I had an unusual experience with mine, though.  I bought a bobtail rednose, ATSF 307L-A-B, all three powered.  Both of the B-units are in the shop, each having experienced a broken drive shaft u-joint, soon after I got them.

Tom, things do happen and that is quite unusual to lose both of em but Scott's customer service is quite good

Atlas O is the best deal for money and detail.

I dunno  Joe, atlas makes some pretty nice stuff but I don't think they hold a candle to the 3rd Rail stuff. In my opinion the 3rd Rail products are orders of magnitude better than Atlas and the owner of 3rd Rail stands behind every one of his products by personally handling every customer service issue himself. Atlas may be more affordable but you get what you pay for and I have several 3rd Rail locomotives and several Atlas locomotives and I couldn't be happier with my 3rd Rail stuff, I do not have the same feelings about the Atlas, I just don't fell it's all that special. It's nice, don't get me wrong, I'm not bad mouthing Atlas by any means. I'm offering my opinion anyone who cares to read it but you may find that once you read it you don't care

Hot Water posted:

breezinup posted:

PAUL ROMANO posted:

I mostly have Lionel F3 and F7 A&B units because they look the best to me.

The Lionel scale F units have gotten a lot of praise for their accuracy.

True, they do look nice. However they sure don't seem to pull very well, what with only one unit powered.

These posts beg the question: About how many 40ft freight cars can a single powered recent Lionel F3/7 pull without issues?