F7A SLSF 18

Discussion in 'F7' started by paul, Sep 16, 2001.

  1. friscobob

    friscobob Staff Member Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    You and I are on the same page of the hymnal there.

    Jim and Dave are two of the good guys. If I recall correctly, he did some pretty decent Frisco modeling back in the day.

    I would sure like to contact him again some time, now that I am in the general neighborhood. Muskogee, OK is only a hour out of Ft. Smith, AR.

    With a granddaughter down in Huntington, I make as many trips to Arkansas to spoil the kid.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  2. Rick McClellan

    Rick McClellan 2009 Engineer of the Year

    Andre,

    Tell Jim, I would like to see his slides again sometime.

    Glad someone in the Frisco nation knows him.

    He is a good guy.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  3. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Re: F7A 18 in Black

    You guys are always coming up with the pictures I needed 7 months ago. :D

    Anyway here is my F7A SLSF 18.

    Tom
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  4. Frisco2008

    Frisco2008 Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Re: F7A 18 in Black

    Love those F units..

    Even that Mandarin orange and white one!

    Glenn in Tulsa
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  5. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Thanks Glenn,

    When you get that shell, be careful taking the cardboard strip off that I put inside the shell and wrapped around the bottom of the ends.

    I tried to protect those miserably delicate MU hoses. You will see what I am talking about.

    Happy New Year everyone!

    Tom
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  6. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    The Mandarin orange and white one is a F9B SLSF 147, I finished last evening.

    The shell went on the chassis your shell came off. :)
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  7. friscochoctaw

    friscochoctaw Member

    Howdy folks, it has been awhile since I have been on. I have kept quite busy.

    A friend of mine, who used to work on the Frisco's Central Division and A&A Subdivision out of Hugo, OK is switching from HO-scale to O-scale. He is giving his son and grandson his brass locomotives :(, but has given me the opportunity to purchase his train cars and plastic locomotives.

    Now, down to business. I will be obtaining 2 F7As that he painted and decaled himself in the as delivered scheme. They are older Athearn shells with the molded on steam generator equipment.

    My question is, were Frisco's F7As ever equipped with steam generators?

    I know Frisco had FP7As, so my assumption is the F7s were not so equipped, but I want to make sure for the models are accurate.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  8. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    No Frisco F7As or F7Bs had steam generator equipment.

    Also, none had dynamic brakes. The Athearn F7 has both.

    The steam generator stuff is not hard to take off of the Athearn shell as long as you are neat with a file and sand paper.

    The dynamic brake is slightly harder, but can be done easily. Neither the steam generator or the dynamic brake leaves you with a hole when removed.

    You will likely lose the lifting lugs in the process, but those should be replaced anyway.

    I have done this "surgery" successfully on units that were already painted.

    I think I have a picture of one in my album or F7A SLSF 5033 which I have had for about 40 years!

    Ken
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  9. friscochoctaw

    friscochoctaw Member

    Sounds good, thanks!

    One other question, could a regular F7 be found on a passenger train with an E-unit?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  10. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Not to say that it never happened, but that would be quite unusual.

    FP7s, F9Bs, GP7s on passenger trains with E-units - yes.

    Though again, it is not normal.

    Ken
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  11. DanHyde

    DanHyde Member

    I thought I read here somewhere that the F and E units could not be run together because of either the gearing or the brakes.

    Something was not compatible.

    I will have to go snoop!

    Dan
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  12. DanHyde

    DanHyde Member

    Back from my snoop!

    I could not find an " incompatible " thread, but I found that all the E & F units had the same brakes 24RL.

    The difference was the gear ratios. The F and GP units had a 62-15 gear ratio. The E-7 had a 57-20 ratio, and the E-8 had a 55-22 ratio. If the GP units did run with the E units, then the F units probably could as well.

    I would love a picture of that.

    Later,

    Dan
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  13. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    The GP7s had 6BL brakes, the F and E units had 24RL.

    That meant the GP's could not run with F and E units in the lead position.

    The Frisco E7As, and Katy's two as well, were regeared to match the E8A gearing at the time they were rebuilt to match the look of the then new famous horse or "racehorse" E8As.

    The F, GP and E units could run together, but not efficiently. A F or a GP in a consist with E units would help the train start up quickly, but at speed, they contributed very little.

    One way to summarize it is the E units were race horses, the F and GP units were plow horses.

    Ken
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  14. gbmott

    gbmott Member

    A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words.

    The presence of the three office cars on the rear necessitated extra power, so there is no question that both units were working power.

    Photograph at the Fort Smith depot, July 1963.

    Gordon

    SLSF 2010.jpg
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  15. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Gordon,

    Beautiful picture, thanks for posting.

    That had to be neat listening to that combo starting up from a station stop.

    F and E units sounded differently even though they all had 567 engines as the E units had two separate engines.

    Ken
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  16. gbmott

    gbmott Member

    Ken,

    You are certainly correct about F and GP units sounding distinct from E units.

    I agree that the E and FP combination would have produced an interesting combination of sounds. But in my humble opinion nothing equaled the sound of multiple E units. The photograph below is actually preferable to me. In this case, one of the E7As (EA7) had failed the previous evening and No 710 went out with a GP7, so now power was getting back in position.

    In the late 1960s I was living in Chicago, working for the Burlington. The schedule of the commuter train that I normally took home in the evening was such that I would get off Westmont, IL. I had just time to walk to the end of the train, cross the tracks to the parking lot, when the Denver Zephyr would come blasting down center track. It was 3-main track territory. At 70 mph with three or four E8A or E9As it was absolutely flat out moving in Run 8.

    If that did not send a chill up your spine you just plain were not alive.

    Gordon

    Edit: Note the ladder with the cross over hoops going up to the roof of the depot. (klrwhizkid)
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  17. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Gordon,

    Another great photograph.

    Always good to see two Frisco E7As (EA7) together, even though one was sick.

    You took pictures from that location often, eh?

    Ken
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  18. gbmott

    gbmott Member

    It was from atop the Garrison Avenue bridge over the Arkansas River into Oklahoma.

    Afternoon sun was good from the side but a little behind the locomotives. Still, it was a handy spot from which to shoot, especially if you wanted more than just the locomotive. There was a pedestrian stairway leading from just in front of the depot up to the bridge, so it was pretty handy.

    The depot still stands, though in one particularly unfortunate reincarnation as a restaurant. They completely gutted the interior so that there is nothing left that is historically significant inside.

    Only the track farthest from the platform remains, now owned by the Arkansas and Missouri (A&M) Railroad.

    Gordon
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  19. Hi Gordon,

    It is really a small world.

    I love to take pictures from that same spot. I can get the Ft. Smith Railroad, A&M, and UP from that one spot.

    The Ft. Smith Historical site includes the depot which has been taken care of lately. I saw some people painting the old coonskins back on the southside last year.

    I would give all the money I had to trade a pair of C420s for a set of Frisco E8As to photograph off that bridge.

    If they ever fix up the SLSF 4003 2-4-2 Mikado type steam engine to run again I want a picture of her next to this depot.

    Thanks for sharing these pictures.

    Ship it on the Frisco!

    Murphy Jenkins
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024
  20. gbmott

    gbmott Member

    Just like I would have given all the money I had fifty years ago to trade that pair of E7As for SLSF 1049 or one of the other 4-6-2s to photograph off that bridge.

    There is a lesson there.

    Your grandchildren will one day say how much they would give to have been able to photograph a pair of C420s.

    Get them while you can!

    Gordon
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 5, 2024

Share This Page