I was pretty interested in the BLI F7 when I would see the preorder ads, etc. Now that they’re out, I can barely find anything on them?!
You never see thembeing sold on Ebay or much place else, the BLI site doesn’t even have photos or anything of the production model, and no one seems to talk about them at all? What happened?
Also, if you’re looking for an F-unit, what brand would be best to go with? Intermountain? Stewart? Maybe Athearn Genesis?
NYC1,
Wasn’t it Precision Craft Models that released the F7 recently, not BLI? I know that BLI and PCM are sister companies. I wouldn’t think that either one would advertise or be mentioned on the others web site.
As far as other F-units. I have a Stewart FT with a Lenz Gold decoder in it and it is a terrific locomotive! The detailing is good and it runs VERY smooth. But the super-detailing kits (sold separately) really dress up the A & B units. I like them very much! [:)][tup]
Tom
Oops! [:I] I guess I was thinking of the F3s. [D)] NYC1, I did find the BLI F7s mentioned on the PCM web site at the following link:
http://precisioncraftmodels.com/Diesel-Locomotive:-HO-Scale-c3060.html
Scroll down to “SUBCATEGORIES”. The F7s are in the left column.
Tom
I just ordered an AB set through www.factorydirecttrains.com last night for $240 + shipping. according to their website they are in stock. I’ll find out how true that is within a week.
The F7’s are still available at a few dealers, but the run seemed to be very small. Broadway is bringing in more in the future. The first run arrived at dealers without any dynamic brakes on all of the models, including the ones that the prototypes had D/B’s. That was corrected by BLI and they replaced all of the first runs that needed D/B’s. I purchased one of the F7b’s with sound and it runs very well. My thought on the BLI F7A is that it has a problem with the numberboards and I was not happy with that detail. The Genesis is better in detail and is the best model F7 made in any scale. The number boards inserts actually stick out instead of being recessed, which to me makes it look bad in that area.
Are you looking for NYC F7’s??? One of the shops has both sound and non sound units for NYC.
| NYC #4012 & #4111 | F7AB | $300 (dummy B) | 1 | $225 |
|---|
BLI has removed the close up picture of the F7A from their web site so the future run might have cor
I would definately go with the Genesis F7s. You aren’t going to find a better F7 (nothin’ beats the Hghliner shells). I really go turned off to the BLI F7s after how long it took them to release them, and when they did, they weren’t even correct. I was interested in the Santa Fe Warbonnet F7s, but the paint is awful.
What would the difference between the new RTR Athearn F7 and the Genesis F7 be? They are both on the website.
http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH80201 (RTR)
http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATHG1017 (Genesis link)
Here is a photo of both the BLI F7 and Athearn Genesis F7. I found the paint and body shell quality to be quite disappointing on the BLI models.
The RTR model is the 1960 era shell and the cab windshield windows are way too large. The side grills are painted and the body lacks detail, but they do have an upgraded drive system. This is the basic shell Athearn used for about fifty years. It is a model that is affordable for many who want to keep the price low.
The Genesis is the one you want if detail is important, but it is more money.
I just got a A-B from PCM, NYC lighting stripe. But they put two headlights in, they should only have one. The sound is so-so the engine sound derowns out the horns big time. They do run good, the A-B plug together and they run as one unit with DCC. Together they will pull a 100+ cars if you have the room. My limit is 55 cars, they do this like nothing.
Fargo
The PCM set is the F3 model, right??? PCM/BLI has made some errors. units.
F3 Prototype below
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc1621arc.jpg
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc1623ads.jpg
F7A below
I got an early Santa Fe Warbonnet F7 AB set in March of 2006. I’ve also got some Genesis units, and some Intermountains. I got my BLIs from Tony’s, but do see some now and then on eBay.
At least in SF passenger livery, the BLI unit looks the best – the “stainless steel” look is by far the best of the three – nearly a mirror finish, as the prototypes were.
I also like the lighted numberboards, which Intermountain has, but Genesis does not.
I did send mine back to BLI for exchange, as they’d used the wrong horn configuration and a couple of other things I forget now. No charge, and the new ones had updated firmware.
QSI Solutions was supposed to have an upgrade chip for the F7 last June, but they’re still shown as TBA. (I guess they’re keeping the Tsunami Diesels company).
So, as with many things, it may depend on personal preference, and which paint schemes you’re looking at.
What happened is Athearn’s model is out at the same time.
Thats interesting about the PCM F3… They’re pretty expensive, and I figured they were really good, but that is a pretty glaring mistake. You can easily see it should only have the one headlight…
BLI/PCM has had some huge quality control issues in the past. The last big one being the lack of dynamic brake fans on F7s that should have had them. At first they were expecting the consumer to fix the problem by swapping out the shells themselves (replacements sent by BLI).
Tom:
I notice you model the Central as do I. The Stewart FT you have - is it one of the ones done in the NYC Lightning Stripes? If so, how do the stripes on the sides match up to those on the nose? I have a pair and had to hand select the best from what the late DK&B train shop had because on most the stripes did not match up well. Some were up to a full stripe-width off! I wonder if the newer ones from BLI/Precision Craft are any better?
The engine on the right with the “green” tinted windows in my opinion looks better. Did I pick the Genesis? What do I win?
Based on this and other threads, the consensus seems to me that Athearn is a much better looking shell but the sound is poor. BLI doesn’t look as good but has much better sound. So much for the cosmetics. What about performance. I haven’t read much about either in this category.
The windows aren’t tinted green. That is the color of the interior, BUT you have chosen wisely. That is indeed the Genesis F7.[:D]
I’ve seen some NYC F units painted all black with just an NYC logo (Cigar band). What years was this scheme used? I think I saw a Stewart model that was like that.