Surprised at how well it ran. Very heavy for an F unit... due to the metal body and chassis... of course. Had it going for about an hour on the club layout pulling a small consist (17 cars) of older Atlas and LifeLike cars with Rapido couplers. It ran flawlessly up 2% grades with ease. I Didn't like the standard Rapido couplers... but it appears that they can be easily changed out...that is... if there is a drop-in Micro-trains or Accumate coupler that will fit. (I don't know if there is and it is not mentioned in the accompanying information). I'll have to check with MT for the correct one. The five pole slow speed motor with dual flywheels gave the FP7 a very good crawl and realistic top end speed. The model is made in CHINA instead of KOREA... it runs like most of the Atlas/Lifelike models which have recently been made. The chassis frame is NOT the typical split frame design... it is more like the old ConCor/Kato frame used in the old ALCo PAs. The motor sits in a cradle with a few braces above it screwed into the cradle. It looks like there will be space for a decoder... but... the lighting is 'old school' incandescent bulb... not a PC board. The model is very well done and nicely painted. I got the Northern Pacific Loewy two-toned green (Yaayyy... NCL power finally!). While Model Power had mentioned free standing details (which we assumed to mean grab irons etc)... it appears as they have cast on these items... yet they are well done and almost have a three dimensional appearance. With the exception of the Rapido's... I have to give this Model Power engine a thumbs up. I can't say for sure whether a similar model produced by Intermountain or Kato would be "mechanically superior" to what I've seen in this offering. As I mentioned before... the model ran very well and the mechanism looks like the old reliable Concor/Kato PA... with a few twists. The only things that I think could have been better are aesthetic items that some would expect on a higher priced model. At a street price of between $40 to $50 bucks... you have a very servicable FP unit.
I fully agree with your review, my PRR version runs very well, too. For Micro Train couplers I used the original coupler boxes and took a MTL 1129 for the front and 1128 for the back. This is not ideal (a bit stiff) but working fine for me. There was another thread about it, which led to controversal results mg: :zip: : http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=57595
OH YEAH... I remember that thread... I was looking for it before I started this one. As a matter of fact... these pre-production photos of the Pennsy units being made in India was a classic! Gee... Is that really Tuscan Brown... Maybe a diet in greens would turn out DGLE versions. I'm glad that they were recalled and made in China instead. BTW. the one's I got are pretty good... perhaps not worth waiting 4 years to get them... but they were not as big a disappointment as many had expected. Of course... only time will tell if these units will be good enough to put in the 'modelers' catagory versus 'toy' catagory. Still have to see long term performance and adapability to knuckle couplers and DCC.
I have been running the MP FP7s for a few weekends. They are smooth runners and I am happy. I have been awaiting their arrival for quite sometime. Being a Reading fan and wanting to build a push-pull, these indeed fill the bill. The fuel tanks are a little squarish- but at N Scale- I can hardly notice unless I am holding them in my hand. The neat thing is that theyv are available in PH I and II- Reading had both. Thank you Model Power! Mark
I got one too, in the NP Loewy scheme, to go with the box full of Con-Cor NP NCL cars I've been hoarding all these years. It runs pretty well. it'd run better if my track was cleaner. Under magnification the details aren't as crisp as they can do in plastic, but in normal operation, my tired old eyes can't tell much difference. The paint colors aren't an exact match for the Con-Cor cars, but they're pretty darn close. All things considered, I'm happy with it and if they'd make a B unit I'd buy it.
