Neither were super easy to convert to DCC compared to other “plug and play” engines with a built-in decoder receptacles, and they are pretty close to the same in detail level. (BTW Bluebox Athearn F7s have come with window glazing for like 40 years, it was only the very early ones that didn’t have it IIRC.)
Better inexpensive choice appears to be the new Athearn-Roundhouse F7As which are replacing the old “Globe” based F7. They have a new improved body which is more accurate, including the cab window shape, and have starter points for all grabs (rather than just for the side handrails). They’re also DCC-ready, set up to drop in a 21-pin decoder.
Detail wise, there is very little difference between Athearn BB, RTR and Proto 1000 F units. The Proto trucks are Athearn clones and I would assume the motors are more efficent. For someone not using DCC, the super power BBs should do the job. If one is interested in the highly detailed modern offerings, these three products would’t recieve consideration.
You might want to also consider the Stewart Fs. Nicely detailed, heavy, and the smoothest running chassis, hands-down. Older models can also be picked up off eBay for a very decent price.
I have a proto 1000 BL2 that the drive is entirely copied from athearn (exept for being a little bit worse quality)The motor looks the same. There is someone I have seen on youtube that has put new motors in some of the BB and proto engines then put DCC in them. Proto 1000 have lots of details but not as much as rapido or athearn genesis.
I guess BB F units are good enough for me. I like to rebuild the chassis with new NWSL wheels and polish the gears. A truck with gears will roll like a hot wheels car after going through the process. A new motor with direct wiring to trucks and frame is next. LED headlight and DCC decoder is next. I haven’t done a sound unit, yet, although that is coming. Exterior reworks include wire grabs and handrails; Santa Fe specific details (no steam generator exhaust on A units and spark arrestors).
I have bought Genesis F units in Monon & T&P paint schemes; very happy with them.
Better than Atlas? If true, I’m impressed. I’ve never owned a Stewart/Kato loco of any kind. Going back to my DC days, Atlas diesels were by far the smoothest runners of any of the brands that made up my roster. I’ve converted several of the Atlas DC locos to DCC and they still run amazingly well. Most of my conversions have been RS-1s and RS-3s.
Don’t be surprised if those smooth running Atlas engines actually have Kato guts in them. Like Stewart (now Bowser), Atlas used Kato drives at one time in the past. My old Atlas GP-7s have Kato motors for example.
Were all Stewart F’s made by Kato? (F3, F7 and F9). I have a Stewart FT A-B-A consist and I agree they run really nice but the FT coupling was kind of a kludge. They came with a drawbar and the conversion to Kadee required lots of Dremel work.
The Stewart branded (non-Bowser) F3, F7, & F9 all had Kato drives. I do not know who made the bodies.
The FTs had a different chassis made by a German company, or so I heard. I do not own any Stweart FTs. Kadee has not made a conversion kit for the FTs that I know of.
My only A/B set of FTs are brass by Hallmark that I got for less money than the Stewart models cost. That was a great find.
The originals were made by Kato. Later Stewart/Bowser used Canon/Buehler motors in the Fs, as well as their other locomotives. The Canon/Buehler motors run equally as smooth as the Kato, IMO.
The majority of the original FTs were delivered with the drawbar between the A- and B-unit. And Kadee states that there is no commercial coupler available for the Stewarts to convert them to coupling.
I don’t have an issue with the drawbars and they work just fine. Course, my prototype (NYC) used drawbars to connect their FTs together. After it was discovered that a major disadvantage of the drawbar was that a A- and B-units couldn’t easily be uncoupled for maintenance or turning around, couplers were added and became standard for the subsequent F-units - i.e. F2s, F3s, F7s, and F9s.
The only mod I made was replacing the drawbars with a modified Kadee #35 between A’s and B’s. You have to grind so much off the shank to clear the trucks there’s almost no metal left. They do work fine though. I didn’t touch the non drawbar ends.
I don’t own any Proto 1000 F units (I recall they were an F3 shell). The shell looked much better than the old Globe tooled blue box F7 shell. The reviews of the P1k F were positive about the running qualities. So if looks and running qualities are important, replace cracked gears and enjoy. It’s an F3 too, if that matters, or not.
But you don’t have to limit your choice to only those models. If price important, as others have noted, Stewart makes some nice F units and they come in multiple phases of F3, F7 and also F9’s. And they run like swiss watches!
That’s actually a very good point, rio. I remember - even with the FTs - there are supplied parts included in the box to accommodate a number of phases for a particular locomotive. Or, the phase is denoted on the exterior label of the box - like they are on some of the Baldwin VO- switchers. You could then added the desired parts to your model using prototype photos from websites like Fallen Flags.
And I didn’t mind purchasing & applying the Cal-Sale detail parts to the A- and B-units myself. Yep, I really like the Stewart line. [Y][8D]
I bought an ABBA set of P1K Erie F3s, numbered 714A,B,C,D respectively. I converted them to non-sound DCC units. They are excellent runners and look good to my eye.
I broke them up into two AB sets and connected the A and B units with a drawbar that I fabricated from a cut up credit card. It gave me a realistic close coupling of the A and B units and has worked flawlessly for what I am guessing is about 15 years. I have run them as an ABBA set on occasion but mostly I run them with one AB set handling a loaded coal train in one direction and the other AB set pulling a string of empties in the opposite direction. Here’s a picture of a loaded train.
The LifeLike Proto 2000 swing hanger hangs out in midair not supporting anything. The plate that the leaf springs rest on should be resting on the swing hanger.
The bottom of the frame between the axle bearings should be arched upward. The LifeLike version is flat.
I don’t know if Walthers has corrected any of this.