BLI announces 4 more highly saught after N scale models..

[wcfn100]

1) Correct nose shape
2) Correct ride height
3) Sharp molded details
4) Fuel tank at correct height over rails
5) No blobs for lift rings
6) Flush windows
7) Correctly sized truck side frames
8 ) Runs like a Kato
9) Separately applied details.  Maybe some above window grabs.
10) Scale coupling distance between units

11) Fuel skirts set back from the car side not flush.
12) Truck frames that have non-roller bearing journals.

Jason

[peteski]

Yes, that list is really nice but I'm afraid it is just a pipe dream. Some of those items are pretty tall order. While I hope to be proved wrong, at least I am pretty sure it won't run like a Kato. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Being an F unit lover, since the BLI F's are being designed now and hopefully aren't tooled yet, I wanted to make a list of things they should definitely get right to become the leading standard F for N-scale.

1) Correct nose shape
2) Correct ride height
3) Sharp molded details
4) Fuel tank at correct height over rails
5) No blobs for lift rings
6) Flush windows
7) Correctly sized truck side frames
8 ) Runs like a Kato
9) Separately applied details.  Maybe some above window grabs.
10) Scale coupling distance between units

Feel free to add to the list but these are short-comings with currently available F units. No current F has all these features.

And for all that's good and holy, paint up some Reading units with the correct color green and yellow striping!

Fuel tanks that have actual tanks behind the skirting, so you can do later modifications that have had the skirting cut away.

[Mark5]

Bruce I love what you've done with your Kato F units, but I gotta say my Intermountain F units run just as well as my Katos.

Mark

[asarge]

Given their track record. Will they work.

[atsf3751]

Item number 10 on that want list hits one of my complaints directly on the head. Car body to car body is not five feet on the prototype engines, however in N Scale it is. The distance is nominally 30". I need to rework every F with Unimate couplers or drawbars to fix that most irritating problem before I can run them. After getting them close enough I add American Limited diaphragms because only FTs ran without diaphragms.

In fact, diaphragms could be another item to add to the list.

[OldEastRR]

Being an F unit lover, since the BLI F's are being designed now and hopefully aren't tooled yet, I wanted to make a list of things they should definitely get right to become the leading standard F for N-scale.

1) Correct nose shape
2) Correct ride height
3) Sharp molded details
4) Fuel tank at correct height over rails
5) No blobs for lift rings
6) Flush windows
7) Correctly sized truck side frames
8 ) Runs like a Kato
9) Separately applied details.  Maybe some above window grabs.
10) Scale coupling distance between units

Feel free to add to the list but these are short-comings with currently available F units. No current F has all these features.

And for all that's good and holy, paint up some Reading units with the correct color green and yellow striping!

You forgot the $250 list price for that much precision.

[tom mann]

To my eye, the trucks look too big and wide on the Kato.

Edit: but I agree: the overall shape is much better.

[Maletrain]

You forgot the $250 list price for that much precision.

Well, if they met those 10 quality issue items, then a $250 price tag would be a bargin, considering that the list price for these new BLI locos is $299.99 for a powerd-A/unpowered-B set, with actual reservations going for $224.25.  Just a powered A (or B) lists at $229.99 with reservations at $172.49.  And they probably do NOT meet all 10 criteria, either.

[Missaberoad]

Ryan
I've been working with Broadway Limited on the N Scale F Unit Project and you hit the nail on the head when you describe the ideal result to be "Highliner"-like.
The various "phases" and options make such a project very complicated.   One customer just wrote BLI that the Santa Fe didn't order any Phase ll units....which is technically true.   But the ATSF was the testing laboratory for F units that caused their units to morph thru the external spotting features from Phase l F3 to F9.
Some significant road specific details will also be tooled such as front and rear lifting lugs, rooftop cooling coils, radio antennas, pilot variations, and a couple of cut- back tank skirts.
While I agree that the Kato units have held up pretty well considering their age and the InterMountain units aren't bad, I think there is room in the market for state-of-the-art units....especially if they are made a little more frequently.
I think to retain some sanity at the factory they'll likely be released in groups of similar phases to keep the tooling changes to a minimum....thus the first production of Phase ll F3 and Phase l F7 units.  Anything from F2 through F9 and mixes in between should be possible and I'm sure BLI will listen to suggestions for roadname, paint job and even engine numbers for future production groups.
Charlie Vlk
Railroad Model Resources

Charlie

Thanks for the contribution to the discussion, It's good to hear that there is alot of thought going into these... I will definitely be watching closely, There's alot of exciting and expensive possibilities here...

Agree completely on the complexity of the project, even in HO the Highliner model almost never happened...

[wcfn100]

11) Fuel skirts set back from the car side not flush.
12) Truck frames that have non-roller bearing journals.

Since this is BLI, I guess I need to include having a pilot that you can't fit a family of four underneath like their E units.

Jason

[thomasjmdavis]

"1) Correct nose shape
2) Correct ride height
8 ) Runs like a Kato"

Wondering if anyone out there who has both Kato and BLI E8s would like to chime in on how the E8s stack up on these and the other points raised.  Strikes me that a comparison of past production might give us a fair idea of how the F units will compare.

[atsf3751]

I can give you a quick eyeball of a BLI Santa Fe E8 and a Kato UP E9. The one thing I noticed right away is that the BLI engine sits lower on the trucks than the Kato engine. This is obvious by comparing the pilots before looking at the trucks, the BLI pilot is much closer to the track. The space between the top of the truck and the bottom of the shell is much closer with the BLI engine. Since I am getting ready to leave on vacation tomorrow, I will let someone with more time compare the model appearance.

From my quick visual comparison, the BLI engine looks better. The Santa Fe stainless steel sides are very well done.

[3DTrains]

Wondering if anyone out there who has both Kato and BLI E8s would like to chime in on how the E8s stack up on these and the other points raised.  Strikes me that a comparison of past production might give us a fair idea of how the F units will compare.

I had one of the early run BLI E8 sets and it would stall over Atlas turnouts - same thing with another club owner of the set. I sold mine, but he wound up wiring the A and B units in series and solved his stalling issues. I don't know if this was limited to the E8s, but there was plenty of noise about the issue several years back. A shame, since I thought the sets looked and sounded great.

Cheers!
Marc - Riverside

[jagged ben]

...but he wound up wiring the A and B units in series and solved his stalling issues....

More likely parallel.