Interesting and rather disquieting news for me. I have not seen any such bad comments on those models. But I have only followed the N Forum intermittently, and a quick search did not lead to a conclusion that one should better not buy them. Usually, there are just comments like that they are "a tad noisier" than Kato, or that some seem to derail easily.
I have a KCS Gevo that I use to pull my circus train, everything that MTL has released so far for the red train plus 6 additional flat cars. It will outpull the Kato's and I've never had any noise issues. They are a little stiffer than a Kato out of the box but with some break in time, that clears up, and you don't have to deal with a loco that runs at light speed like the Kato's. My only complaint is the dim lighting to the ditch lights.
I only have one GEVO so I can't really judge the whole production on it (it runs quite well BTW) but after the FVM Hiawatha and freight cars I'd have no qualms about ordering the GP60's.
I have 5 BNSF Gevo's and all run fine. Stiff to begin with, a little more noise then some Kato but not bad. JSL
I think its really important to support FVM and the ambitious projects he is bringing to N scale. (Gevos in IAIS? Would Kato have done that?) There are always problems in every run of a product, but it is important to put them in perspective. My CRIP(IAIS) gevo did not run, but he is sending me a new one. I own several and with be on the GP60s like "elvis on a jelly doughnut". I believe the pros greatly outweigh the cons. Remember, the "other guys" would not bring them to N scale.
I have 4 of the BNSF GEVOS and I had problems with 3 of them derailing where no other loco (any manufacturer) ever did. I sent them back to FVM because I thought the wheelsets were messed up. I got them back and they still derailed. I was able to swap over some KATO SD70MAC trucks and guess what? No problem.... that was wierd. I then thought that maybe there was too little play in the vertical movement of the wheels. Well the reason that the KATO trucks worked is because the actual diameter of the wheels are a little bigger than the FVM wheels......... Now before I let you know what the problem was...these were from the first release of the GEVOS and the derailments only happened when the direction of the locos was going forward. The PLOWS were attached too low so that ANY small change in the rail height would cause the front wheelsets to ever so slightly lift from the rail and derail (on certain gentle curves)!!!!! It was a simple fix but I would have never imagined or ever had that as being an issue. For the longest time I was pissed that I couldn't figure it out. Strange thing is the plows attach like all others so I don't know why the snap in holes would have been lower. I'm partial to KATO's "running characteristics" but these run a definite 2nd. The low gearing in the trucks really enhance the low speed operation. I am not overly enthusiastic about the BNSF paint colors or ditchlight dimness but...the shell details, decals, MT couplers and the nifty dcc plugin capability along with the smooth operation will keep me continuing to support FVM. They aren't inexpensive but you get extras that nobody yet is offering. That's a trade-off that I'm willing to pay more for. Brian
