I saw a pair of Stewart F-7 diesels in the Southern, black and silver paint scheme, that I would like to get. Any reports on the Stewart F-7 diesels, good or bad?
Hobo,
Stewart diesels are top notch runners and pullers. The Buehler and Canon motors are second to none, IMO. I have a Stewart FT A-B that just absolutely crawls on speed step 001. (I use DCC on my layout.)
Suggestion: Buy the Cal-Scale super-detailing kit for each of them from Bowser. Each kit gives you everything you need and the parts (grab irons, holds, windshield wipers, etc.) are metal.
Tom
[#ditto][:D]
I have several Stewarts, they are excellent runners and pullers. They are lacking in details, though. You will probably want to add the handrails, at least. Southern, in the later years on their F units, had handrails on the side of the nose, along with a foot board, to allow crewmen access to the top of the nose. I don’t recall the exact date when this started, but it was sometime in the early-to-mid 60’s.
Brad
I have a Missouri Pacific A/B combination both powered and they run like a quality swiss watch.In running quality they vie with the best of Altas and Kato. If they weren´t so hideously expensive over here I would buy another one or two sets.
I agree… what’s with the price on these. I have been looking for a nice set of NP FT’s and they are very $$$$
The Stewart locos are definately top shelf! I’d be buying them for use on my layout IF I could afford them.
Expensive? Their A LOT less expensive than like units from Athearn, BLI or PCM. Check M.B. Klein. They always have things discounted by at least 20-25%.
Empire Northern is another good place to shop. Tim updated his web site so not everything is listed. You’ll need to e-mail Tim and ask him what he has in stock as far as Stewart locomotives. Good prices.
Tom
yeah but the Athearn Genesis, BLI, or PCM are DCC ready with and w/o sound. Most Stewarts need these components installed to compare price…
J. Daddy,
Converting a Stewart to DCC is pretty straight forward and not that expensive. Point taken though. [:)]
Tom
I believe our MR forum member from the Netherlands was reminding us, if we think something is expensive on our side of the pond you should see the price in the EU countries. Some of the prices would leave you flabbergasted! [:(]
Jon
I have many of the Stewarts in all various phases and paint for B&O and WM. They are excellent pullers and the drive is supurb. The Genesis/ Highliner shell is the most detailed and acurate. The best F unit would be a Stewart/Kato drive with the appropriate Genesis shell. Actually like to do one sometime. Highliner shells are harder to come by now.
As others have said the Stewarts are seriously lacking in detail, though. I don’t mind adding the details and such. I use the Detail Associates F unit detail kit with some Prototypical other nose ladder/ roof grabs and Overland horns (some Cal Scale just don’t seem to proper proportions for my prototype.
The Kadee #450 coupler conversion is excellent and can be set to 5ft or prototypical 3ft spacing. American limited Operating diaphrams if appropriate are a nice touch also. The diapham faces will actually contact. Even had to burnish them with graphite to allow them to slip better when backing units through turnouts.
B&O F-3 ABA Stewart/Katos
Shows 3Ft spacing and diaphrams
These are just some of the many units I have, some are the newer drive w/ decder plug and LEDs, not as sweet as the Kato but still fantastic runners. The ones pictured have seen 12 years of serious yet flawless use and have run for many, many hours during club shows. Have only had to do lube and cleaning. I’m not sure if any of the other drives will run as well and last as long as the Stewart. You can’t go wrong in purchasing them.
With “Dcc Ready” being a bit ambiguous at times, that argument may or may not hold water. I mean, I have a number of non-DCC ready locos (by any means) and a few pieces of electrical tape later and some soldering, and I had them converted to DCC.
Granted the soldering is a little more time-consuming than plugging in a decoder, but it’s a fairly straightforward and simple process…
AS everyone says here “excellent runners”.
The STEWART SHELL was tooled at a time when see-thru grills,fans. and extral detail was not prevalent
Current F-7 competition offers Handrails, See-thru grills, and better lighting, and Sound with DCC @ extra co$t. Diierences in paint jobs, detail, and running ability are arguable - therefor compatively minor.
Stewarts, because of their age, are largely DC, and can be found used on Ebay. InterMountain and Genesis, being newer, also cost more - they’re available new.
Other than that, certain brands offer certain models that thers do not - example: Stewart’s ‘Baldwin’ switchers with Dong Jin drives (excellent). I bought two.
Stewart F units are available new still, just that they are now owned by Bowser and marketed thru them. The prices are similar to what they used to be which is so say they are less expensive than Genesis, Intermountain and Proto 2000.
I’d say Stewart F units have the best drive on the market and the shell is very decent. You just have to add details but the shell holds up very well even today in terms of fidelity and crispness etc. The worst criticism I could level is that there are mold lines in the shell on the nose that are visible. The paint jobs are very decent but a notch below the Genesis and other competitors.
Hi!
I am extremely happy with my Stewart Diesels. They are all ATSF, and I have a Stewart/Kato f3 and two f7 “all units powered” ABBA combos. Also, I have three of the Stewart/Stewart FT ABBA combos, and have picked up the power chassis separately for the B units.
All have the KD special couplers/adaptors, and American Limited Diaphragms, and are exceptionally good “runners & pullers” and they sure do work for me.
All of the F3s and F7s were picked up on Ebay and for very reasonable prices. The FTs were bought mail order, also for very reasonable prices.
True they lack the exquisite detail of a genesis or BLI, but much of that is in the price differential. Also, you can add detail to the level I have or more if you are inclined.
One point that needs to be mentioned about “exquisite detail” that is rarely mentioned. Sometimes those bells and whistles make for a fragile loco that is not “0-5-0 friendly”!
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
Thanks for all the good info. I have converted probably 25 or more locos to DCC. So that is not a problem. I’ll probably buy them.
At the risk of repeating something said above, Digitrax and NCE make drop in decoders which simply replace the circuit bord in the Stewart chassis. It is nearly plug and play in that you just remove the friction fit wire connectors from the stock circuit board, then drop in the Digitrax or NCE board (or other like brand) and reconnect the wire connector covers with the appropriate wire.
The Stewarts are the backbone of my fleet. They run and run and run. They don’t have tons of tiny details to get broken off. I don’t think twice about buying another one.
I love mine too, mind you the one’s I have are from the last Kato powered runs.The biggest drawback for me is that if I want new ones they are hard to come by. For whatever reason Bowser/Stewart does not have a lot of distribution to Canada and most of the hobby shops up here won’t or don’t bring them in except in small small quantities, therefore they run a tad higher pricewise. That being said I’m waiting for a new A-B set of CNR ones to arrive from the maker.The agony is in the wait, but at least I know I’ll have a proven good runer once they arrive.
Rob