I had spent the better part of September waiting for this to arrive. Somehow, between the time it was purchased on the 3rd and when it finally arrived on the 19th, it was lost in the postal system purgatory, apparently stuck in Indianapolis. What normally would have taken three days took more than two weeks.
Once it arrived, I was very relieved.
This is a Rosko brand, Nomura manufactured HO scale EMD F7. By the time Nomura manufactured this model they had moved away from lithographed tin and into plastics. This came with three cars which will be the subject of another review at some point in the future, but for now, I want to talk about the locomotive.
This one has a small degree of damage. A tab that held the shell down broke off at some point, and some small pegs on the frame that kept the shell from slipping down were damaged as well. At some point the forward frame was cracked as well (old styrene becomes rather brittle).
For a "toy" it looks rather nice. Internally, things get interesting.
As with my previously mentioned Rosko/Nomura "Hudson", this uses a rather robust Mabuchi motor, apparently a model 45. These were popular with slot car enthusiasts back in the 1960's, and are frequently sought after for 1/24 scale Japanese kits. It's also a full twelve volts.
The universals, though, are unique - springs. This isn't the first time I've seen this setup. It is an inexpensive and easy solution to the problem of transmitting power to the wheels. But while the universals might seem cheap, the gearing in the power trucks are anything but.
Machined brass gears, again rather robust, if slightly noisy.
I had assumed that like many of these inexpensive toy trains from the 1960's - 1970's, the locomotive's shell was a copy. The tab arrangement suggested Athearn, so I brought out my B&O Hi-F drive F7 to compare it, and indeed, it's pretty similar.
Yet it is not identical. Not only does it lack horns, it is very slightly shorter.
There are other differences as well.
Nomura made these trains to go around very tight radii, 10" (25.4cm). This locomotive has to able to negotiate such tight curves. Nomura accomplished this without sacrificing detail by being rather clever - instead of deleting the steps, they moved them out slightly. Here they are compared with their Athearn counterparts.
That solution is ingenious, and I think I might just copy it on some repair jobs.
As to how well the locomotive runs, so far tests indicate that it performs well, though I myself am not up to 100% visual acuity yet (one cataract remains to be removed). Hopefully in a few weeks this little diesel will be tested in full.
I found your blog. :) I love comparing the F units made by the various manufacturers; it is fascinating how close they are, yet especially under the shell how much they differ.
ReplyDeleteThere are variations in the shells themselves, for example, some have deleted the steam generator in the back of the locomotive, and replaced it with a blank sheet of metal on top. But I think these differences have to do with differences in the F Units themselves they are modeling; the Stewart Brothers F units where modeled after Phase 2 F9, I believe.
That is a chunky coupler on the back! Obviously not horn hook nor Kadee type knuckle. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteThat coupler is a beast, isn't it? The matching cars have the same design. I want to write about them at some point. Because I have to run such a ridiculously tight radius at the moment, these couplers are great, as they allow the cars to work those curves with ease, even better than truck mounted coupers. I see why they were so popular in the early days of HO.
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