<font color="336633">At the weekend I got the first of my F units, it was an A and B set of F7's made by Stewart, it has their drive in it , not the kato one, and WOW its way smoother and quieter than the Kato made F's I have seen. Did i just get lucky or is this a typical of the new drives??</font>
I have an FT set with the Stewart drive, run smooth and pull like a charm. Only the A unit is powered, and it pulls about 35 cars across the layout. I did a trick with the B unit though. Since it has the brass pickups, I wired it for pickup, and ran the wire through the door windows between the A and B unit, so I have pickup over the entire length. No more stalling for me! It works great, and I recommend it for unpowered B units. The wires aren't noticeable, especially with the 2 foot drawbar installed (something the FTs had which other Fs didn't).
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Harron: I did a trick with the B unit though. Since it has the brass pickups, I wired it for pickup, and ran the wire through the door windows between the A and B unit, so I have pickup over the entire length. No more stalling for me! It works great, and I recommend it for unpowered B units. The wires aren't noticeable, especially with the 2 foot drawbar installed (something the FTs had which other Fs didn't).<hr></blockquote> Do the wires have connectors on them? I'm interested in finding some tiny connectors to allow me to be able to parallel the pickups on whatever locomotives I MU together using some fine stranded wire. I'm hoping that if I do it right, it'll look prototypical, with the brake hoses and controls connected between. It'll also greatly improve the pickups and the smoothnes of both engines. Any suggestions? Mark
No, that's what I was initially going for, but since it really is a permanent coupling, I didn't bother. This would be doable though, with connectors from someone like Miniatronics.
I would have to agree, the Stewart drive in the F units is the smoothest and quietest in all my locomotives. Much better than any of the P2K units I have. The only problem with Stewarts is the lack of detail on there locomotives. I have always had a problem decalling so having to put numbers on each of the Stewart locomotives, including number boards, was a real pain. I took an excellent runner and ruined it by putting the numbers on. Now I only buy Atlas and P2K that are already numbered.
<font color="336633">The lack of detail dont bother me, as I redetail my locos to match a specific prototype, in this case its going to be Burlington Northern #704 and Burlington Northern #741
