# 3rd Rail F7's - Santa Fe Warbonnets



## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

a few cell phones shots after work


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## Mario_S (Sep 22, 2015)

Looks great, Doug. A little clean, but nice looking.


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## 86TA355SR (Feb 27, 2015)

Curse you LOS!

Now I want SF war bonnet stuff!

3rd Rail nailed it. The cab window profiles look dead accurate and it has the distinct look of the F7. And those polished panels-damn, they look good.

I knew you guys would get the best set of F7s made in 3R when Scott produced them. He delivered and then some.

I can't wait to see your ABBA set with your GGD EL Capitan cars! Please do a video of that at the SD 3Rs and post for us.


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## Kmac (Sep 19, 2015)

Very nice, looks great! Enjoy!


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

With 4 powered units, I can pull stumps out of the ground!


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## SantaFeJim (Sep 8, 2015)

Beautiful engines. Not just saying that because I love Santa Fe, they are truly magnificent looking engines.

However, at first glance I did spot two problems. 

1. The indian head logo on the B-units should start behind the verticle rivet line NOT over it.

2. The yellow strip did not go across the doors on either the A or B.

The second problem is an easy six. The first one, well you just might want to live with that.

The stainless steel looks GREAT and the side lettering on both units looks perfect.


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## SantaFeJim (Sep 8, 2015)

After spending a few minutes, I did spot some other problems but I choose not to bring attention to these as I do not want to be accused of being a rivet-counter.

The pluses *far outweight* the flaws.

You defintely got your moneys worth with these locos. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

The Indian Head on the B unit really bothers me and there is NO easy fix for that. With the stainless panels, I could never get that decal off and replace it without being noticed. 

For th


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## MOVL (Aug 23, 2015)

Beautiful finish on these.
Sorry there are issues with these. Really a shame as they cost so much.


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## Brother_Love (Dec 23, 2014)

Somewhere back in the gray matter of my brain I think I remember someone made the Indian Head logo in thin Stainless steel with the red color. I think I have a set of them in HO scale. I will look for them and hope they are still in the package so I will know who offered them. I thought they were available is O scale too.

Disclaimer: My gray matter is old with gray hair over the top so I could be WRONG.

Malcolm


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## California RailFan508 (Jul 2, 2013)

Outside of the unfortunate flaws (logo on B Unit, along with what SantaFeJim and others have posted), those are fantastic looking F-units, Laidoffsick. Man, seeing those sharp-looking units from 3rd Rail makes my wait for the two Atlas O F7 Santa Fe units I ordered (1 Powered A, 1 Unpowered A) somewhat harder.

Can't wait to see them after you replace the couplers with Kadee's and add the fixed pilots. Looking forward to your next layout update video that showcases these stunning beauties in action!


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

Thanks Malcom.


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## steam chaser (Feb 21, 2011)

Very, very, nice.whatever you paid , you have some fine looking locomotives.:appl:


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## PatKn (Jul 14, 2015)

GEORGEOUS! ! ! :smilie_daumenpos:


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## Bill Webb (Sep 14, 2015)

Doug these are beautiful engines. The detail is exceptional. How about sharing some video when you get them running. Thanks.


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## Ricky Tanner (Sep 19, 2015)

Wow those look super crazy great! Scott (With help from John P.)hit a home run with those locos! Just agnificent models! Those are going to look super on your layout! Lets see a video of them in action!


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## Guest (Nov 5, 2015)

Absolutely stunning, Doug. Scott hit a grand slam with these beauties. :appl::appl::appl::appl:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Looking good Doug, in spite of the small issues with the details.


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

Great looking units, and I'm sorry to point out one more flaw. But isn't anyone going to mention the wrecking lugs above the pilot? They are way too low.

But as GRJ stated, "in spite of a few small issues with the details," they do look good.


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## Mario_S (Sep 22, 2015)

You can always put Lionel shells on them, so they're correct.


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

Mario_S said:


> You can always put Lionel shells on them, so they're correct.


Now _that's _funny!


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

Mario actually you're not the 1st person to tell me that lol

I know the wrecking lugs are too low.... that punched me in the face when I took the 1st A unit out of the box. Not sure I can pop those off w/o messing up the paint and nose decal. Hmmmm


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## Mario_S (Sep 22, 2015)

Laidoffsick said:


> Mario actually you're not the 1st person to tell me that lol
> 
> I know the wrecking lugs are too low.... that punched me in the face when I took the 1st A unit out of the box. Not sure I can pop those off w/o messing up the paint and nose decal. Hmmmm


oh.

I thought it was an ex-PRR unit.

hwell:


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

I've really learned something here. I didn't know that the PRR had lower-mounted wrecking lugs on their F7s until Mario's comment. But I Googled some photos and sure enough, there they were. Interesting that SF had the higher mounted ones and the PRR had the lower mounted ones. So, thanks for the enlightenment, guys.


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## Mario_S (Sep 22, 2015)

Yellowstone Special said:


> I've really learned something here. I didn't know that the PRR had lower-mounted wrecking lugs on their F7s until Mario's comment. But I Googled some photos and sure enough, there they were. Interesting that SF had the higher mounted ones and the PRR had the lower mounted ones. So, thanks for the enlightenment, guys.


Funny you should mention that, I never noticed that the ATSF had them on their units until this post...

Thanks,
Mario


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## Brother_Love (Dec 23, 2014)

Doug, 
I have looked all day for the chief logos but have not found them yet. I will not give up.

Malcolm


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## SantaFeJim (Sep 8, 2015)

Malcolm & Doug

There is a guy "Dave" that has produced several decals for me in the past.

His email address is: [email protected]

Connect with him. I have sent him color pictures of what I wanted (special Santa Fe stuff and Norfolk Southern). When you email him the item (in this case the indian head) also tell him the dimesions. In a day or two he will email yoiu a "proof". If changes are needed let him know otherwise ask him for a price and you can usually get your decals in a week.

My advice, take a digital pic of the indian on your Lionel F's.

Just tell him that SantaFeJim referred you.

GOOD LUCK.


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

Hey Jim, I bought decals from Dave before. I had him do a custom decal for my Santa Fe stack that I am doing for our engine facility.

I have Microscale Decals, and plenty of Indian Chief logos..... the problem is getting the old one off, a new one on, without NOT ruining the stainless panel finish. That's the tough part. 

The lugs on the nose were not there when the units were delivered. They were added later like all the other nose grab irons, eye brow grab irons, and MU doors in the nose. Since these models are more of an early Phase, than later Phase, although really, they are a combination of both, I might just pop the nose lugs off.


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

Dave made the decals so I can renumber them now.


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## chipset35 (Sep 4, 2015)

That is a nice storage box or is it what they shipped in?


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Ah, geez. I want them! Gorgeous!

You are a lucky, lucky guy!


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

Those are the transportion and storage boxes I sell, but I added the decals to my personal boxes. The O Scale Hauler


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

Some progress has been made. The list of mods is a mile long, and the hours are countless. The #37 is just a test fit, as I'm actually using #40.


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## Todd Lopes (Nov 11, 2015)

Doug, those look great. Have you been happy over all with this production of these from 3rd Rail? How do they run?


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

That's a tough question Todd. I don't sugar coat it when people ask that question. A review isn't worth the effort of it being written if it's not honest... just my opinion.

For the money I paid for 4 powered units.... there were a lot of errors. Nothing that I haven't been able to fix, but for $600 a pop... I shouldn't have to. Scott has explained in detail what and why, and has done everything possible to make things right. I was ready to box them up and send them back. Then I ran them. 
With 4 powered units, and ERR boards... I love they way they run. They will handle my 22 car GGD combined Super Chief/El Capitan set no problem. 

I will make them look exactly the way I want...but I was disappointed when I opened them up.


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## Guest (Feb 3, 2016)

I give you a lot of credit Doug for sticking to it and making them the way you wanted them in the first place.


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## 86TA355SR (Feb 27, 2015)

I've been following the progress since you originally posted these and I'm impressed with all the great modeling that has been accomplished. It's really interesting to watch different modelers 'think outside the box' and what they come up with to correct factory items. Santiago's idea of the printed number boards was one of those. I'd never thought of that. 

One of the great aspects of this hobby is sharing and building your skills for future projects. I've learned a lot from watching your F7 effort (not to mention youtube videos) and the effort of others. Great stuff. Keep it up for those of us who can't get enough!

Can't wait to see more.


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## Hudson J1e (Nov 19, 2015)

Doug you did a fantastic job on that locomotive. It looks stunning!


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

Thanks Phil, still a work in progress. Cut new styrene and replaced the # boards with number 40 today. Took me three times until I was satisfied with it. Thats why I did the trailing unit first because I knew it would take a few times. Also added the new numbers to both B units.


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## Ricky Tanner (Sep 19, 2015)

Great work! Beautiful loco's. Thanks for sharing!


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

You did a beautiful job, Doug, and didn't even have to swap out the shells for Lionel ones after all. 😀 Nice going.


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

All four engines are now complete, except for weathering a tad. I want to put some hours on them to make sure all is good because I hate taking the shell off once they have been weathered.

It always worries me a bit when I put stuff back together and I have some left over parts....









Mods include:

1. renumbered all 4 engines including the # boards
2. removed node lift lugs, filled holes, paint touch up
3. replaced 3R pilots with 2R pilots, painted to match thanks to Mario
4. converted to close coupled Kadees, paint to match... removed 3R couplers & wire harness
5. removed battery, harness, and battery holder
6. removed back up lights... its an ABBA, no need for them
7. removed cab lights....you don't drive your car with the interior lights on
8. rewired the number boards so they are connected to the headlights... rear unit lights out
9. removed side steps from trucks, plugged 32 holes
10. drill/tap 16 holes to chassis mount side steps
11. remove vent windows and swap them to the correct side
12. removed the sill stripe from all the doors and painted the door frames to match
13. lowered the fuel tanks
14. removed the steering wheel (hand brake wheel) from fireman side of cab...not there in F7s
15. removed smoke units (well only 1 of them) I don't use them anyway
16. cleaned up the mess of wires inside each one... no hope for the nose wires though
17. removed all 8 stainless grills because they were wavy (poor glue job) re-glue so they are straight
18. replaced the A unit grills and cut to fit because the A units had different grills than the B units.... who knows why they did that
19. painted cab handrails, steps, and top of wipers red as they should be
20. decided not to paint the front port hole silver because this run did not have silver port holes for some reason #37-40
21. added MU hoses to each engine... they were included but not installed


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

A lot of left over parts to be sure! 

I'll bet there's a market for the trim parts like the pilots, etc.


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## Guest (Feb 19, 2016)

Old expression, parts are parts.


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## Charlie (Sep 19, 2015)

Inspirational work Doug. I have been stalled on mine due to other issues at home/work. Hope to get back on track later next week.

Let me know how they run when you have a chance. I thought I had one squeaker of the ABBA, I have come to find out both “A” units omit a high pitch whine when moving. So far no luck on finding and removing the sound. “B” units are fine.

Thanks again for sharing in the progress to make these correct.

Charlie


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

even with all the extra parts that were left over.... they ran just fine


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## Pingman (Aug 18, 2015)

Your devotion to the prototype is amazing--pity the product from the vendor fell short of your expectations necessitating your exceptional efforts.

Well done, and thanks for detailing your work for us to enjoy here.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Funny thing about that, reminds me of some of my upgrades!


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## Laidoffsick (Sep 20, 2015)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Funny thing about that, reminds me of some of my upgrades!


I don't doubt that for a second :laugh:


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