I am planning to model the B&M in New England, and part of it is the Mountain Division through the White Mountains of NH where some former CN FP9’s are used still today on the Conway Scenic RR. So, the questions is…from all those Diesel experts out there in MRR land, who have years of experience…who makes the best quality, best running , FP9? Or, should I buy an F7, and then purchase the add-ons to mount on the F7 to make it look like an FP9?
In this order…
Intermountain
Stewart
Athearn RTR
Hope this helps.
David
You only have four choices:
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Bachmann - A “trainset” model, with pancake motor and all the other troubles of it’s ilk.
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Brass - Do you really want to spend $500+ for an regular F-unit?
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Athearn Genesis/Highliner - The best shell out there, with a good if not great drive. And can be had for reasonable money. If you get the Highliner shell (which is the undec. version of the Athearn Genesis model), you get all the parts to make an F9 (or any other F-unit from the F2 to the F9 for that matter). If you buy an Athearn F9, you have to get a painted version, and you’d have to strip it. But I think you can get the drive from them as a seperate part. Or you can get the Stewart/Bowser drive (probably the best of both worlds…Highliner shell on Stewart drive).
EDIT:
4) Stewart - A great drive, never heard of a problem with it. The shell, however, while very good, is still not as good as the Highliner tooling. It certainly doesn’t have the see through grills and the add on detail parts of the Highliner.
David, in a word…Huh? Athearn RTR is an F7, not an F9. And Intermountain doesn’t make F9’s.
And how you could not mention the Athearn Genesis/Highliner F9?
Oh, and grayfox1119, I would not try to modify an F7 to an F9 when the Highliner shell is out there. You’d have to change body panels, roof lines, fan sizes, etc. to get an F9 out of an F7. It wouldn’t be worth it when the Highliner shell does all that for you.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
Paul covered it well. Much easier to use the Highliner shells. I’ve seen them and the detailing is eye catching.
Tyco made an HO F9 way back when in the 70s. Also a cheap trainset unit with a single truck, 3 pole motor. Sure was comical watching those lurching on the tracks, even with the rubber traction tires.
Still plenty of these floating around at flea markets and swap meets I had one and used it as an airbrush paint tester for years before scrapping it.
Don’t bother with this one…unless you’re looking for a cheap way to “repower” a Tyco RF16. The frame is an odd plastic, which doesn’t respond well to any sort of glue. Trust me, if you accidently break off a coupler pad, it’s impossible to fix. The Bachmann shell isn’t as good as an Athearn one. BTW, is the Bachmann Spectrum F7 still around? I remember hearing that the numberboards on that one looked a bit odd.
Thanks for the info guys, I did have to make one correction edit, the Passenger locomotive is an FP 9 not an F9. It is 4 feet longer to accomodate a steam generator used for passenger service. So, to be prototypical, I would need a “shell stretcher” unless I can find an FP9 shell. Anyone know of any place to get an FP9 shell? So again, what is the best route to take to buy/make an FP9? Highliner as I now found out is made by Kaslow (?) I can’t seem to find their website. Athearn is thinking about producing an FP9 for 2007, nothing definitive yet however.
Are you looking for a F9 or FP9 [?]
I think the subject line has changed [?]
I use the old Atlas FP7 for my CP units.
Taking a F7 or F9 and trying to change it into a FP9 will be very hard as you will need to splice in an extra 4’ to the body and frame.
The last MR had a good discussion on F units (regular and FP’s) and what is available to model them.
So this is what you might need:
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HL-18 |
FP-9 Body Shell Kit (Dual 48" Fans) EMD Vertical Slit Grilles (Farr) As built Late CNR FP-9 |
$99.95 CDN |
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A Central Hobbies Exclusive |
||
They also do FP7’s as well.
PATHFINDER: I “did” do an edit after I realized that the F9 should have been and FP9, as it “is” used in passenger service in North Conway, NH, as well as an F7. Seeing that the FP9 is 4 feet longer than the F9, modifying an F9 is out, as I don’t feel that adding the scaled 4 feet is a resonable solution. I am going to talk with Central Hobbies as you have recommended. Thank you Pathfinder,
What scale are you talking about, from reading the thread it seems like HO? In HO to me the best place to start a kitbash of an FP9 would be the Atlas FP7. Or maybe the shell mentioned above would fit on the Atlas FP7 frame.
Glad to help, I think my and your posts got crossed, so sorry for any bad feelings you may have got.
I see that InterMountain makes a FP7 in HO, that may also be a good starting point or a good power chassis for the Central Hobbies shell.
Pathfinder: No bad feelings good buddy, quite the opposite, when I looked back at what I typed, I thought “wow” I am going to confuse a lot of guys out there. In talking with Athearn today, they have an FP9 in the planning stages , for potential release in 2007. But, I don’t want to wait, as it can take longer if they get delayed, and we all know that routine. So taking the Intermountain FP7 driver, and kitbashing it into a Central Hobbies HL-18 looks like the best approach at this point. Does anyone else out there in MRR land have any other experience with this conversion, or similar conversion for an FP9?
Looking on walthers.com, I’m seeing that the Intermountain FP’s are sold out or special order items, E-R model importers are sold out, Model Power has FP7’s but I doubt you want that.
The Atlas FP7 is a late mode Phase !! FP7 and should be quite close to the CN FP9. Not having a picture of the ex-CN unit, I can not tell. The Canadian FP’s were a little different than the US units.The upper grills had a ‘Canada only’ 3rd variation, and they did not like the F9 style vertical slit grills between the port hole windows(kept using the F7 style in Canadial production). I am sure tha Central Hobbies conversin kit is accurate, but you do need a power chassis as this is just the shell kit. Most folks use old Atlas chassis, or maybe you can get the IM chassis as a seperate part. The IM FP7 comes in two variations(early/late UDS car bodies).
Jim
Thanks for the good info guys. I am now researching Intermountain (IM) and Atlas FP7 power chassis. I am wondering if ANYONE out there in MRR land has actually kitbashed an FP9 using the Central Hobbies FP9 shell, and which power chassis they used, and what tips they may have for construction?
E-mail Hal at Central Hobbies with your questions, he is pretty good at responding.
The Atlas FP7’s are good runners but rather light. The couplers mounted on the shell, so that is another question for Hal: do the couplers mount on the FP9 shell? This may influence your choice of power.
Pathfinder: Good point…I will email Hal with my questions. Thanks Pathfinder !!
Glad to help, hope it works out for you.
Let us know how you end up doing, esp. re. the power chassis
I sent Hal an e-mail with a link to this topic, so he will be ready to answer your questions.
Pathfinder: Here are the links to the FP9 that I am trying to build: http://www.divisionpoint.com/photos/EMD_Fs/CNR_6516.jpg http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=117426 You may have to copy these to your browser to open because I am Beta testing the new Vista OS for Microsoft, RC1 version, and things may not agree with this forums new software.
I am not a CN guy [:)] but those look very nice.
Your links:
