SteamPower4ever

He does nice work indeed. I have a similar case for my BR50 steamer. To avoid the hassle of lifting out the engine and tender, I've fitted a length of track to that case. That way I can drive the engine straight into and out of the box. You can see it at the end of this video:

Today I received carrier and storage cases for the F7s from my favourite woodfitter. European readers may recognise the cases as being the work of Mr. Jorissen of the Netherlands. Jens

It's printed on the body. I do in fact have some 2400 and even 4000 "sand paper" that I bought a long time ago and which - according to the LHS dealer at the time - can be used for the exact purpose. I also have silver and steel paint for the paintbrush. So that's going to be plan A ... when I get around to it.

Right - late sixties into the seventies. That is consistent with the numbering of the A units (311 and 310C) as the 300 series was delivered as LAB sets and not LABC. 310C was born 42C but renumbered in 1971, only months before being leased to Amtrak. Delivered back to ATSF in 1973 and rebuilt to a CF7 in 1974. I was thinking about renumbering the A units which would have been no biggie, but it seems I need to figure out how to remove the bar codes also. I want a late fifties train. Thanks for the help, Joe. Muy obligado. Jens

All my F7s have a coloured barcode next to the road name. Surprising. Ugly. Never saw that on a picture. Does anyone know what that is for? Some late Amtrak thing? A manufacturing blip? Does anyone know how to remove it without damaging the silver coat? Jens

Thanks, but I shall pass the kudos on to my friend Stefan whose layout it is. Stefan's layout building skills are way better than mine, but as I am leaving my club which currently seems to have neither rudder nor men at the helm, Stefan's layout and garden is the home turf

Just for fun, here's the F7 side by side with my N scale Super Chief. The scale difference is exactly 1:5 ...

First run - on Stefan's layout. No cars in tow, just a test run.

Thanks :-) Here's a slightly better picture ...

Noisy critter, too I can't program the DCC CVs as my ECoS is shorting out, but it says so in the manual that might be the case. I'll wait until Sunday when I get to a friend who has a booster. Man, this was worth the wait

Here's my five unit F7 consist Crappy picture, I know, but there'll be others ...

Aaaaaand ... touchdown !!! Next post will be in the "show us your engines" thread (hehehe), but I have to visit family today. Jens

I does look cool. But what is it, then? Two Daylights in one? A Frankenlight? There's some Allegheny mixed into the breed, methinks.

Ketchup effect in progress Ray just informed me that he's received my units. Mwaahahahaaaaaaa ...

Here is the MTH release list for the week of September 4th. The F7s are on the list - among other things.

We do in fact have a lottery, but for most people it's just a tax for having no sense of statistics At least with this order I've had probable cause for hoping that eventually they'd ship something. Man, I've been thinking about cancelling many times ... but I'm glad I didn't. Jens

Thanks, Ray Looking forward to it

It would seem that hell just froze over. Just got a mail from Kirstin at MTH saying that the Santa Fe F7s are currently being inspected at MTH and will trickle out to dealers soon. COOL !!! Jens

Assuming the shipment does arrive today, they probably need to inspect and test them before listing. If it's a full shipping container, there's probably lots of other stuff in it. Nothing to do about it either way. They arrive when they arrive, but yes - it was surprisingly specific info.

Not too long ago I sent a mail to Kristin at MTH asking if she knew about the arrival of the Santa Fe F7s. To my surprise, she said they were en route and should arrive at MTH on September 5th. Today. Any takers on a bet the consignment was handled by Hanjin Shipping? Jens

According to the German text, it's a filter from an AEG GR19 handheld accu vacuum cleaner. Jens

Here's a track vacuum cleaner built by a guy in Germany: http://www.spur-1-freunde.de/Bilder/staubsauger/gleisstaubsauger.html

Maybe Bob (rbrown7713) will be able to help? See this thread. Jens

It still needs tweaking, but when I'm happy with it, I'll make it available on Shapeways, so anyone can order as many as they like. My plan is to also release the CAD drawings as open source, so anyone can make modifications or print the trucks elsewhere if they find a cheaper or better service. Jens