Lets see your New FEF-3

[BeastofTheEast]

I got 2. I must say they run as good as any N scale steam I've ever encountered. Smooth as the Kato Mike. As quiet as the Bachmann EM-1. Solid electric pick up. Good weight, level traction tire. Tender is an appropriate distance from the cab. Bright White LED headlight. This may be the best N scale steamer in existence to date IMHO.

[peteski]

Unless some nasty flaws come out later, I have to agree that this might be best N scale steam loco ever!  Is EM-1 really *THAT* quiet?  It just doesn't  feel right comparing possibly the best N scale steam loco ever to a .... Bachmann model.

What makes it so good is the design of the drivers. It is similar to GS-4 (which was also a revolutionary design) is that most of the loco's weight rests on the traction tire driver.  The 4th driver is cosmetic (and riding on a soft spring suspension).  GS-4 has a vertically floating 2nd driver (again, cosmetic) and the 1st driver was functional, but it didn't carry much weight.  The FEF design took this one step further by equalizing the 1st and 2nd drivers. Just when I thought that GS-4 design was as far as one could take a 4-driver design, Kato engineers outdid themselves. 

[strummer]

This is all very nice to hear.
I dabble in S scale (a little), and it seems every time a new product is released, there is some major or minor flaw which leads to many unhappy buyers.
So now when one of the big players has obviously done such a great job,both in design and production,it's a breath of fresh air....like what we have here on the Coast!

Mark in Oregon

[peteski]

This is all very nice to hear.
I dabble in S scale (a little), and it seems every time a new product is released, there is some major or minor flaw which leads to many unhappy buyers.

Um, what you see is a very small group of very vocal participants of the online forums. Perfectionists and grippers like me.  Ones who even find problems with the box a model comes in!    The average model railroader doesn't even realize that their new model has flaws.  They happily buy those new and flawed models and they are content with their purchases. Flaws? What flaws?

[BeastofTheEast]

Unless some nasty flaws come out later, I have to agree that this might be best N scale steam loco ever!  Is EM-1 really *THAT* quiet?  It just doesn't  feel right comparing possibly the best N scale steam loco ever to a .... Bachmann model.
 

Dead silent. I've seen 5 different units run in person. And I own 3 myself. Of my 3, 2 has warped traction tires that had to be replaced. But the gears and motor operating produces NO noise. Quiet compared to my Bachmann 2-10-2, 2-8-0s, and the J. Bachmann has raised their bar. Can only pray the new Berkshire runs like the EM1

[Nick Lorusso]

Just an observation. Kato screwed up on the paint for this loco. Looking at photos through out the years, and I've not found a picture with silver smoke box only graphite gray. Am I wrong? I own 2 of these and the are good looking but need work.

[peteski]

Just an observation. Kato screwed up on the paint for this loco. Looking at photos through out the years, and I've not found a picture with silver smoke box only graphite gray. Am I wrong? I own 2 of these and the are good looking but need work.

The great thing is that the smokebox is a separate snap-on part (as are all the other items on the nose). So you can easily disassemble them, paint it whatever color you like and snap things back together. No masking!     Another Kudos for Kato! 

[nstars]

The great thing is that the smokebox is a separate snap-on part (as are all the other items on the nose). So you can easily disassemble them, paint it whatever color you like and snap things back together. No masking!     Another Kudos for Kato! 

I agree it's great that it's so easy to repaint. Pity it may be necessary at all.  . In the pictures I have seen the loco did always had an anthracite gray smokebox.

Marc

[EspeeGoldenState]

I agree it's great that it's so easy to repaint. Pity it may be necessary at all.  . In the pictures I have seen the loco did always had an anthracite gray smokebox.

Marc

Lots of little nuances in this release, but not surprised, seems like fairly rushed release. From CAD to release in less than 6 months it seems.

If you look at the big picture on the whole release, there is some issues, but I can deal with them  for the most part. Pre2005 844  with a 2010 "paint scheme" pulling a Post 2009 Excursion set. The "silver" trucks on the water tenders and excursion set should be aluminum, the Dome-Coach and Coach cars with wrong trucks.

All this I can live with as most of it is fixable. I'm surprised not many have complained about how shiny the gloss black paint is on this thing either. Honestly I'm grateful what we did get and I get plenty of awe's from the public when I'm running a 14' train. I still have a lot to do to my business train fleet like painting and swapping out trucks, but I don't recall where I said it, but I'll end up with a fairly correct looking train without the expensive price tag of brass.

Chris

[peteski]

I'm surprised not many have complained about how shiny the gloss black paint is on this thing either.

LOL, this is shiny paint:


The black paint on Kato's FEF-3 is more of a semi-gloss (definetely not glossy).  I have never seen it in person, but going by the photos, the black paint on the 1:1 loco is also quite glossy (compared to regular steam-loco black finish).

[C855B]

Yes, quite glossy:



One thing I noticed in some of my pics is that the black takes on a hint of blue. It's probably sky reflection. It was overcast in this pic, so it appears less blue overall. You can still see a little bit of the hue difference from this effect comparing the firebox and upper boiler area versus the smoke deflector.

[arbomambo]

it's this type of thing that really frustrates me about Railwire, and the folks who post very frequently here...
Here we have a thread titled 'Show me your FEF-3"...so I'm expecting to check this thread for pics and videos of folks' FEF-3...
Now it's FILLED with discussion on the FEF-3, when a product Discussion thread was started for JUST this thing...in addition to an FEF-3 Review discussion thread.
The moderators have attempted to subdivide thread outlines to prevent this, but, here we are again...
frustrating,
Bruce

[Teditor]

Yes, quite glossy:



One thing I noticed in some of my pics is that the black takes on a hint of blue. It's probably sky reflection. It was overcast in this pic, so it appears less blue overall. You can still see a little bit of the hue difference from this effect comparing the firebox and upper boiler area versus the smoke deflector.

Yes very glossy, also a lot of dents, not very prototypical at all.

[peteski]

Yes very glossy, also a lot of dents, not very prototypical at all.

Those aren't dents - it is stressed sheet-metal!   

[Teditor]

Those aren't dents - it is stressed sheet-metal!   

What! Not Plastic?