The FA-1 / FB-1 Locomotive is Back

[daniel_leavitt2000]

OK, I'l give you the ten wheeler, the 2-8-0, the 4-8-2s, and the EM1. My experience with the GE industrial switchers was horrid, but besides the steam, what have the Bachmann Boys done for us lately. 

Alco 2-6-0, quite possibly the best running small stream ever produced in N.

Acela and HHP8.

That PRR heavyweight.

[nkalanaga]

Not having a need for steam, at least standard gauge, I haven't had any experience with the Bachmann steamers.  However, from the comments I've read here, I get the impression that they would do very nicely of they forgot about cars, and maybe diesels, and concentrated on steam.  There seems to be a good market for N scale steam, and nobody seems to be trying to fill it.

The only Bachmann steam locos I've ever bought were some very early 0-6-0s, at junk prices, to convert the bodies to Nn3 2-8-2s.

[robert3985]

Bob, I'm curious about the drivetrain upgrade - can you elaborate on that a little more? This is the first time I've ever heard about it.

Thanks,
-Mark

Mark, Welllll....it's been a LONG time since I took my brass OMI Centennials apart.  Before I painted and added detailing to them, I made sure they were running okay and installed the "upgrade".  The only thing I remember about it was that it replaced some universal joints with Neoprene tubing.  Several of the club members and people I associated with in the hobby had direct connections with the owner of OMI (I don't remember his name) and told me about the fate of many of these models that remained unsold.

What "wires" are you referring to in regard to the FA-1/FB-1 chassis?
http://www.spookshow.net/loco/llalcof.html

Since I'm running on ten-year-old memory here, I don't remember specifics.  This remark was a friendly dig at Peter @peteski because of his obsession with wires running to trucks and their potential problems.  My LL FA/FB's are buried somewhere in my trainroom as I stated in one of my posts, and from your photos on your website, it appears that there aren't any wires. 

I do have one Alco FA/FB model that has wires, but it's a brass model (my very first brass engine bought in the middle 80's sometime) ...Ahh...I just found it...a Key Imports model in a nice little red box, factory painted with all of the detailing preferences I listed...very very fine screen on the sides with visible structures inside and a nicely etched circular screen up top....with U.P. style numberboards too!  Maybe this fine little model is what I hoped for in a newly tooled plastic model.

In any case, you are entirely correct questioning me about "wires" in the LL FA/FB, and I will edit my previous post. 

Frankly, I have never had "wire problems" with any of my brass models which I run all the time, and I don't perceive that as a detriment other than taking longer to make...thus increasing the cost.

Merry Christmas!
Bob Gilmore   

[spookshow]

Mark, Welllll....it's been a LONG time since I took my brass OMI Centennials apart.  Before I painted and added detailing to them, I made sure they were running okay and installed the "upgrade".  The only thing I remember about it was that it replaced some universal joints with Neoprene tubing.  Several of the club members and people I associated with in the hobby had direct connections with the owner of OMI (I don't remember his name) and told me about the fate of many of these models that remained unsold.

Thanks, Bob. This is the one I tested a few years back - looks like it has the aforementioned Neoprene tubing installed?







-Mark

[robert3985]

Thanks, Bob. This is the one I tested a few years back - looks like it has the aforementioned Neoprene tubing installed?







-Mark

Mark, Yup.  Brings back some good memories... 

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[spookshow]

Thanks, Bob. That's a nifty little nugget of trivia for my website 

-Mark

[OldEastRR]

There were two versions of the LL FAs -- first the "70's tech" one which had wired trucks, wiper pick-ups, plastic frame, and huge lead weights; the other was the "Kato-style tech" version with full metal frame, pick-up strips, end-axle pick-up, and better motor/drivetrain.
I had DCC and sound added to my LL FA2 and it still pulls like a mutha. On the flat it pulls fourteen Rapido passenger cars plus some headend cars without a problem through 18" curves. And I don't worry about the large wheel flanges since I rarely lie down on my N track to watch the train roll by over me.
As long as Atlas doesn't go retro and put TTs on them, I don't see the new FAs being seriously compromised in pulling power.

[bbussey]

If I remember correctly, the FA2/FB2 was the model that was Life-Like old-school, with plastic chassis and wires.  The FA1/FB1 always had the split-frame wireless mechanism, and the reissues of the FA2/FB2 followed suit.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Yep. I think they upgraded the tooling on the FA2 with the second chassis - filled in pilot and maybe crisper details on the hood and back end?

FWIW, the shell detail on these two engines is killer. These and the Kato F3/7 were the first to have the "see though" effect of support braces behind the screens.

[basementcalling]

There were two versions of the LL FAs -- first the "70's tech" one which had wired trucks, wiper pick-ups, plastic frame, and huge lead weights; the other was the "Kato-style tech" version with full metal frame, pick-up strips, end-axle pick-up, and better motor/drivetrain.
I had DCC and sound added to my LL FA2 and it still pulls like a mutha. On the flat it pulls fourteen Rapido passenger cars plus some headend cars without a problem through 18" curves. And I don't worry about the large wheel flanges since I rarely lie down on my N track to watch the train roll by over me.
As long as Atlas doesn't go retro and put TTs on them, I don't see the new FAs being seriously compromised in pulling power.

Brian and Daniel are correct. I still have my plastic FA/FB2 ABBA set. They run surprisingly well given the limitations of the mechanism: no flywheels, over lubricated, pick up wires, high friction trucks. I powerd my FB2s with FA2 chassis and the 4 unit set could pull the wallpaper down, easily pulling 100 car consists on my NTRACK club layout back in the day. They didn't purr like a Kato or deal well with dirty track or plastic frogs, but for a young guy getting into the hobby in the late 80s, they were the motive power of choice at $20 bucks for an A unit.

[bbussey]

While I do prefer the Kato split-frame design that LL adapted, the old-school LL PAs also pulled a ton. And the LL body tooling quality and deco quality leaped forward tremendously around the release date of the old-school PAs.

[Curtis Kyger]

I don't get the plastic frog comment.  Seems only one wheel can be on the frog at one time; so what are the other three wheels (minimum) on that side of the locomotive doing?  Don't waste time worrying about the plastic frog... spend time working on why the turnout isn't conducting electricity to the closure rails and/or why the locomotive isn't getting electrical pick-up from all wheels. All of my locomotives can creep really really slow through my insulfrog turnouts.

[nkalanaga]

I'll agree that checking the turnouts should be the first step, but, if you always run your locos as a set, you can also wire them as A-B pairs, leaving the two pairs separate for easier handling.  That would give 8-axle pickup, and should eliminate any possibility of stalling on frogs.

[Joetrain59]

" I corrected the first issue by swapping in Walthers RS-2 wheelsets when they were available, as the models shared the same truck components otherwise." Would Kato RS2 wheels work, or anything else? Does NWSL make low flange wheels for the FA/B's?
 Thanks,
 Joe D

[bbussey]

Joe, did you check with Walthers to see if they do or don’t have the wheetsets?  Admittedly I last checked a while ago, but they had ample stock on the RS wheels (for FA) and were out of the DL109 wheels (for PA). I was fortunate enough to get a sufficient quantity of both styles.   I suspect the wheetsets of the new Atlas mechanism will work for those modelers that wish to hold onto their LL units.