The FA-1 / FB-1 Locomotive is Back

[CBQ Fan]

Can only surmise, but long-in-the-tooth by then, displaced mostly by DDs, etc. Their GP20s were also relegated to the LA&SL pool, same thing. UP power racked-up miles quickly and wore things out a lot faster than other roads of the day. Plus I suspect some of the motivation given the isolation of L.A. relative to the rest of the network was maintenance, that there was value in having fleet commonality so less training, parts and so on would be required at the distant service point.

Interesting and makes sense. 

[Missaberoad]

IIRC the SD24 and GP20s had issues relating to the turbocharged 567 engines. These issues got worse as the engines aged, a number were rebuilt and deturboed.

[thomasjmdavis]

About a third of them are showing as "sold out"- did some eBay dealer just buy up the whole production, or is that just a glitch?  Seems like it should be announced before it is sold out.

[wm3798]

I'm glad there are people who will pay $200 + for an engine.  I'm not one of them.  Even at street price of $160, I'm not willing to give up good Scotch and the occasional dinner out to get back into current events N scale.

[rrjim1]

About a third of them are showing as "sold out"- did some eBay dealer just buy up the whole production, or is that just a glitch?  Seems like it should be announced before it is sold out.

They were announced I pre-ordered mine, Order # Placed Friday, December 14, 2018

[thomasjmdavis]

They were announced I pre-ordered mine, Order # Placed Friday, December 14, 2018

Long enough ago that I forgot about it.....

[mmagliaro]

I'm glad there are people who will pay $200 + for an engine.  I'm not one of them.  Even at street price of $160, I'm not willing to give up good Scotch and the occasional dinner out to get back into current events N scale.

Buy the "silver" version, without the decoder and sound speaker pre-installed.  List is $109 on those, so street prices might be what... $85?
That ain't bad, and you could always put a decoder in later if you want one.  If they all have the same frames with milled cavities for the decoder and speaker, it wouldn't be bad at all.  I am 95% a steam lover, but if they do these in SP&S, I may well bite.  They are, after all, suitable for the transition era.

[OldEastRR]

That's what the worst part of being in N scale is: somebody is (finally) making the techo-current model you want, but the road name you need isn't among the first batch. And with 6+ months between releases there's no telling when your road may show up, even (as seen here) for UP. So do you buy any model and repaint it? Or wish upon a star?

[C855B]

That's what the worst part of being in N scale is: somebody is (finally) making the techo-current model you want, but the road name you need isn't among the first batch. And with 6+ months between releases there's no telling when your road may show up, even (as seen here) for UP. So do you buy any model and repaint it? Or wish upon a star?

Easy answer: you wait for the prototype-correct version. A key component of "techno-current" is manufacturer attention to more accurate RR-specific detailing. Take note of what we have discussed up-thread, the number boards and other details for the upcoming release are wrong for UP. As far as repainting, that's up to you, but smart money is on ordering an undec version.

[Missaberoad]

I feel like that is an issue in any scale, not just N Scale...   

[thomasjmdavis]

That's what the worst part of being in N scale is: somebody is (finally) making the techo-current model you want, but the road name you need isn't among the first batch. And with 6+ months between releases there's no telling when your road may show up, even (as seen here) for UP. So do you buy any model and repaint it? Or wish upon a star?

They may have figured with Athearn's big boys coming along, that UP budgets would be tied up for the immediate future.

[C855B]

They may have figured with Athearn's big boys coming along, that UP budgets would be tied up for the immediate future.

Probably not. One online shop is already sold out of their allotment of undecs, which I attribute to folks wanting to paint a UP version, wrong number boards and all.

[Missaberoad]

Probably not. One online shop is already sold out of their allotment of undecs, which I attribute to folks wanting to paint a UP version, wrong number boards and all.

I reject your hypothesis... It's clearly the pent up demand for Soo Line FAs 

[Missaberoad]

To be a bit more constructive, on the subject of number boards Kato PA shells provide removable angled number boards that fit the FA shells.
Miniatures by Eric also makes FA angled number boards.
Part NN2

I have a couple undec shells and a couple Kato doners, might get around to them some day...

I'm definitely tempted to get some UP units aswell...

Recreate shots like this... 



I also found this quote describing the UP FAs from CPs perspective...

These first leased diesels were taken from the UP scrap line in Cheyenne, Wyoming pending retirement/scrapping.
Nothing else was available and CPR had a dire need for power to move a vast amount of export grain due to a massive crop failure in Russia. Plans to use long-stored steam locomotives held in a strategic reserve were cancelled by CPR.

Due to poor condition all were given an unprecedented 10% tonnage reduction. A further problem was the lack of automatic downward transition requiring engineers to manually perform this unfamiliar task.
For this reason these units were kept in matched consists never in m.u. with other units

Source: http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/CPR_Lambton/road_diesels.htm

Bruce Chapman who worked the CP power desk in the 60s and 70s confirmed these sentiments on old CP sig list discussions...

Interesting side note these UP units killed the final plans to reactivate CP steam for the grain rushes in the early 60s. Beginning a trend of leasing power on Canadian Pacific that lasted well into the 1970s...

[Point353]

I reject your hypothesis... It's clearly the pent up demand for Soo Line FAs 

Either that or Tennessee Central: