MTH F7 review in GR

[enginear joe]

 I like the review and honesty that Kevin Strong brings to the mag. Reading his comment about how only the lead unit has the speaker, does ring true with what I've experienced and thought about myself. I've always wished that MTH would put speakers in new places like right in the boiler on steamers.

 The fact that each engine of this reviewed set adds pulling power and makes it a good deal. Of course he's exposed to the deficit of this pair's flaws, as it is a discounted set, rather than 2 separate engines as he and other readers, might have expected. There is economy in purchasing the set that way. I think it should have stated that the units are also available as separate purchases and could work independent of each other that way. Obviously they each would have their own speakers as well.

 I think the exciting thing about the whole article, is the discussion of the inclusion of DCC onboard, which might make these units more desired by more people now. It would help them enjoy all the features that otherwise might have been stuck in DC use only on some RRs.

 I have two MTH "F" sets already and an extra single powered unit. I still drool at each new paint scheme and offering though. Having the modern NS paint scheme would be more appropriate on my desired modern theme. Because of the scarcity of available modern variety, I'm still looking closely at this new offering. It's funny to me that the Dash 8s were never upgraded with better detailing, yet some of the older era's detailing looks right on the mark to me? I'll always hope that MTH stays committed to G and this new release should help sales.

 I do feel that the way he handled the traction tire issue he experienced was not written with a good full description. He did state that they came off as he tried to tie down the units to measure stall. It implies that the tires maybe a weak link and I have not found that to be true on my RR. He actually did state that they are a con, and prone to fall off, which is not true in my experience. It is true that when they get really old or have been stretched that bad, they MAY become a problem.

[Rayman4449]

I appreciate your sharing about what you read as I haven't seen the article.  He reached out to me a few weeks ago asking for reference and technical information but didn't indicate what it was for and I never received an acknowledgement/reply to my email with the information I provided.

 

I agree, the traction tires are not a problem nor are they a weak link as that is not the norm.  It is unfortunate as I'm sure many will walk way from reading that article mistakenly believing that's just how it is, but that's exactly why this website is here.  I have seen this only a very limited number of times where the rubber wasn't made with the right proper compound mix and weren't elastic enough and would come off.  If the traction tires actually did come off the engine being tested then that was the reason.  Just needs a proper replacement set and would be good to go.  I still have the original tires that came with my Challenger that is 10+ years old they don't slip or come off even at held in place with wheels spinning.  (Same for my Big Boys, Hudson, GS4s & GS2)

 

Agree too that when pointing out the set only has speaker on one engine that if person did want a second A and wanted sound then simply buy two A's separately.  As you said, there is an economy in getting AA sets with one being a slave but also added simplicity.  In those sets you only have one engine to add to the remote and thus only one to worry about setting up to control.  I have learned from my experience in dealing with a wide range of people & customers that most simply want their trains to work and they either don't want or will have trouble figuring out more advanced settings and configurations.  They at most want to be able to add their train to the remote and go.  (What seems easy to some of us isn't for everyone.)  So that's another big reason why those sets exist and exist in that way.  For those of us who are particular and want to have the sound out of every A unit we have the option to get them that way ($150 more) and for those who want pure simplicity and lower cost they can have that too.  

 

Thanks for the post and pointing these things out.

[enginear joe]

Thanks for that post Ray. I wouldn't have said "old" in the traction tire's description on my own engines that I purchased new. My factory new bought engines have all their original tires and like yours, some are around the ten year mark for the older ones. They still have their stock tires on.

 I have recently got a couple of engines that I can only guess, came up from the hotter areas of the country. These tires look dry and cracked. They are on the first releases of engines from MTH so I can guess at their age. So I use the term "old" to describe these tires that came on used engines that I bought.

[Rayman4449]

I had one diesel motor block I obtained as parts from an engine that had two tires that were dried and cracked like you noted too and I bet it was from a first run diesel too and so far it's the only drive block I've seen with them like that.  I think the issue again was a bad compound mix.

[du-bousquetaire]

I have had problems with tires coming off my GG1 which is 7 years old now. One day It slipped so badly up my 1.8% grade that I looked for a quick solution to the problem (ordering from Midge can take a long time for me). I had some old bicycle tubes, that I keep if I need to make some safety valve joints for my steamers.It turns out that by cutting as straight as I can a small slice off the old bicycle tube, I made a good new adhesion tire. And these being good rubber don't come off, too!

 No problems on the F3, the VO1000 or the PA1 so far.