I was searchinhg the InterMountain web page today in hopes of finding out when they plan to release their upcoming Frisco FP7 and F7B units. I found them - they both show a projected January, 2007 release date, four numbers each. They also include pics of both units. I'm not sure I like everthing I see on the pics - yellow very pale, font a bit thick, no SS coloring on the grill, no green anti-glare color on the nose, but these are pilot model pics and may not reflect the actual model. In any event, I'm sure they will run well - the other IM's I have do. I'll for sure have at least one FP7, maybe two, and several F7B's. Pics follow. |-| Ken Meteor910 Edited PS: I also just noticed the F7B pic shows dynamic brakes. Hopefully, they will have an insert to allow a non-d/b F7B. The FP7 releases for the other roads already out are both d/b and non-d/b, depending on the road. The Frisco FP7 is correctly without d/b in the pic.
Hmmmm.........I was going to work up an Atlas/Roco FP7 I bought at a swap meet here in Oregon (two headlights, no DBs). When did the second headlight get installed on the F-units? I want to model an FP7 as it appeared in the early 1960s, still in full black & yellow and with its original 4-digit number. |-|
Since you have it already, I'd keep the Atlas FP7 and have the fun of fixing it up. I've had one for years ..... it's an OK unit, single headlight. Problems I see: the nose shape is a bit off, the windshields are too narrow, it has Farr side grills, the nose number boards are not done well at all, plus mine has d/b which I never removed. It runs OK, as well as the old Athearn drive (which it usually runs with - F7B, F7A). BTW, if any are interested, I will shortly be posting my other Atlas FP7 on eBay - this one is a mint, undec, two headlight unit, never run (tests OK) that I have had sitting around waiting to be "Friscoized" for several years. The new InterMountain units will certainly be a lot better - much more accurate, correctly fitted, and a far superior drive. But, the offset is COST! - the FP7 will be list priced at ~$130. The F7B will be list priced at ~$100. If they are like the other IM F's, they will look great and run like a watch. But, for the money, they should! So, "you gets what you pays for". I'll probably list the Atlas at an opening price of $25-$30. Hopefully, it will sell for $35-$45 like recent Atlas FP7's on eBay have. |-| Ken Meteor910
Ken and Co. - It's been a long time ago but I once recall seeing a pair of Frisco Stewart F-units (would that be correct?) and the yellow looked way too pale to my eyes. Seems from most photos I've seen, even if the unit were grime-encrusted, it was still darker than the IM units. I'm sure I've said this before, but I thought I acheived good results using Scalecoat's CN Yellow (especially in matching the lettering). I'm wanting to think the green anti-glare was ditched from the paint scheme sometime in the later 60s - maybe right before the advent of O/W? Maybe a discussion for the prototype section... Thanks for sharing!
I have seen pics of the Frisco FP-7's at EMD ready for delivery with only one headlight. However, all the pics I can find of the FP-7's in Frisco service show two headlights. They must have added the second headlight in the nose door of the FP-7's fairly shortly after delivery. Does anybody know the specifics? |-| Ken Meteor910
I received the InterMountain SLSF FP7 and SLSF F7B today that I had on order. The unit numbers are 5048 and 5126, respectively. Though I greatly appreciate IRC doing these units in Frisco colors, I'm a bit disappointed. I know ... I'm a perfectionist and I'm hypercritical of the various HO models that have been done in Frisco colors (because many of them deserve it!), but I guess I expected more from IRC. Following is what I see from a quick inspection after opening the boxes: o The yellow is a bit pale, but I guess it's OK. The yellow was non-uniform in the real world, and faded and weathered all over the map. o The FP7 yellow "cigar band" nose looks very good - it has the correct slight point. o The lettering and number fonts (sigh!) are poorly done. Too thick, too big, not the correct font. Oh well, probably easily fixed by applying Microscale decals, but why do I have to do this? o The FP7 does not have the green anti-glare mask applied to the top of the nose. Did EMD do this, or did SLSF paint those on after receiving their F-units? I would think by the time the FP7's came along, they would have had EMD do this as part of the factory paint job. o The FP7 w/s wipers are a bit overdone. o Both of the ss side grills on the FP7 are wavey. One of the two on the F7B is wavey. Does anyone know how to fix this? o The F7B has dynamic brakes!!!! Come on IRC! At least they did not put d/b on the FP7. o The FP7 has a back-up light. Cool, but did SLSF have these on the FP7's? There may be other minor problems - the above is all I noted at the moment of first opening the two boxes. I have not run them yet, but they should run OK as the IRC drive is a good one. I was going to get two more F7B's (they have them in four numbers) and maybe another FP7 (also four r/n's), but I think not. I like the Athearn Genesis F3's way better, even though Athearn made the yellow too dark. Ken |-|
Many thanks for the update and review, Ken. Dynamic brakes? I guess I can see number fonts, etc. being a bit off but that seems like a biggie. I'll be eager to hear more about the green anti-glare shield, as I've wondered this myself. Best Regards,
As a follow-up to my posting above about my concerns with InterMountain's (IRC) recently released Frisco FP7 and F7B: After some time, as the models assumed room temperature from their cold temperature during shipment, the waves in the stainless side grills have diminished. After a few days now, my F7B is almost wave-free and looks OK. The FP7 still has slight waves in the grills, but is greatly improved. I'm still very upset, however, by IRC's gross mistakes on these units: o The Frisco F7B's had no d/b's. The IRC F7B has d/b's. A serious mistake! o The Frisco had EMD paint the green anti-glare mask on the top of the FP7 nose on the as-deliverd units. The IRC FP7 has no green anti-glare mask o The EMD FP7 and F7B as-delivered paint decor had black hand rails. The IRC side hand rails are yellow on both the FP7 and the F7B. The grabs on the nose of the IRC FP7 are correctly black. Go figure! Ken
This is not my era so therefore I don't plan on buying these but would like to make some suggestions if I may. Someone should call Intermountian and see if there can be some form of remedy. By reading the posts, it seems like the major problem is the dynamic brake on the B unit. Is the unit painted or is is just black plastic? Also did someone open a shell and determine if the brake blister can just be popped off or is it glued on? Is there a parts schematic with the loco showing the availability of a non-dynamic roof section? Either these or Athearn's F-units use a shell that was purchased from another company that for years only made B-units and the name has left me. On the subject of the green anti-glare shield, doesn't someone like Microscale make a decal in one of their sets for this? On the handrail isasue, that seems like the most minor of the problems. Concerning the wrong paint color on the yellow, weathering may help there. The grill warpage problem seems to be correcting itself. Having said that, I did talk to the Intermountain rep at the OKC Train Show and he suggested I call about a situation I was having and gave me the following numbers (303) 772-1901 or (800) 472-2530. Whoever chooses to call may want to post his findings on this forum. Robert Hoover, Jr. FriscoFriend
Robert - Thanks. Good suggestions. I'll give InterMountain a call. I did e-mail them, but have not received a reply, so I'll call as a follow-up. I'll advise as to what they say. The FP7 looks a whole lot better with those horrible w/s wipers replaced! Ken
To Ken and All: Microscale does make anti-glare panels for diesels. I’m not sure if any of these would work, but there is one that might. Here is the link: http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2...e=87-431&Category_Code=ANTIGP&Product_Count=3 Robert Hoover, Jr. FriscoFriend
Robert - Thanks much for the MicroScale reference. These all look like they are sized for newer hood or cowl units. Unfortunately, I don't see anything that looks like it would fit a F-unit nose. In the days of my old hand-painted Frisco Athearn F7's (I still have one F7A-F7B set left for nostalgia purposes!), I got to be fairly skilled at hand painting the dark green anti-glare panels on the F7A noses. I'll have to see if I can revive that touch. I'll need a strong libation, I'm sure, to keep my hand steady for the FP7! I called InterMountain today as you suggested. The lady I was given to talk to was not too aware of what I was talking about, but checked with somebody and then agreed to send me a non-dynamic roof panel for the F7B. It will be unpainted, but she thought it was black plastic. I'll have to add the lifting lugs - not a big problem. IRC makes the F7B without d/b - see the MP and RI units as examples. What they were thinking about with the Frisco F7B units we will never know! At least they did not screw up the FP7 with d/b's. If the panel swap-out works out OK, and the decal relettering goes OK as well, I'll probably order at least one other F7B. The ss side panels on my F7B have now calmed down such that there are no ripples. The FP7 panels do not look quite as good. I'll let the board know how this all turns out. I've run the IRC FP7-F7B set on the layout - they are a bit sluggish, perhaps they will smooth out as they are run in. They are slower than the Athearn Genesis F3's (which run like a Swiss watch), but the IRC's do run well with the P2K FA/FB's. That's good, since the IRC's look better with the FA/FB's anyway given the shades of yellow involved. Ken |-|
I received an electronic catalog update from Intermountain today - it indicates they "plan" on releasing the Frisco b/y FP7 and F7B models again - they were originally released in January, 2007. I say "plan" because it indicates a "TBD" release date for these additional models. Recall, a year or so back, IRC announced the FP7 and F7B in o/w colors, only to withdraw them from release a few months later. If IRC goes forward with release of the new b/y FP7/F7B models, that is both good and bad. I say "good" because they are decent models, though some detail upgrades are required, and they run very well - IRC has a very good drive. I do have some issues with the shade of yellow they used and with their lettering/numbering font on the earlier release. But, I say "bad" because of the following reasons: 1) The pic of the b/y F7B in the IRC catalog update STILL shows it having the d/b fan! Good grief !!! If these people do the F7B wrong AGAIN, it proves they are dead in the head! I, and I'm sure some of you, have talked with IRC multiple times about this mistake - they even sent me a bunch of non-d/b roof panels to correct my F7B's that they put d/b's on in 2007. 2) IRC Frisco FP7's entering the market again will delay, or eliminate, the chance for Athearn Genesis to release their FP7 (a better model) in Frisco b/y. This might be IRC's strategy, as the Athearn FP7 has been offered so far in only a few roads. But, we'll see what happens. It is good that Frisco models continue to come our way from the premium firms. Ken
The N scale version (Black & Yellow) were opened for pre-order this Spring--Mine have been ordered since May! When somebody finds out how Intermountain actually operates, let me know! Tom
If it has gone to the TBD category that means that it is probably dead in the water. Intermountain is very determined to have enough pre-orders to cover themselves and more than likely this one fell short. They had announced another run of the big grain hoppers a couple of years and they went TBD for several months and then disappeared. The theory about blocking Athearn may have some merit. The ACF 2-bay is still listed for Feb/Mar of next year.
The N-scale version currently says March on the IRC website. I've had mine ordered since announced as well. Paul
I got an email from one of my pushers today about deep discounts for these Intermountain F7B's I know they are not correct but I visited with Ken Wulfert and it might not be all that hard to just convert these to F9B's, at this price for sound (under $80.00) and non sound (under $50.00) looks pretty interesting. thought I would share this with the Group. Tom Holley [FONT="]HO SCALE[/FONT][FONT="] - [/FONT] [FONT="]Eastern Classic Model RR Products[/FONT] [FONT="]2023 Madison Avenue, Montgomery AL 36107[/FONT][FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]NEW PHONE#[/FONT] [FONT="](334) 356-4680[/FONT] [FONT="]MASTERCARD / VISA / DISCOVER / PAY PAL[/FONT] [FONT="]PAYMENT REQUIRED WITH ORDER PLEASE[/FONT] [FONT="]49545[/FONT] [FONT="] HO Assembled EMD F7B Locomotive - Frisco[/FONT] Your Cost $49 Any 2=$93 SAVE UP TO $45 ON THIS PURCHASE [FONT="]4[/FONT] [FONT="]$94.95[/FONT] [FONT="]49545S[/FONT] [FONT="] HO Assembled EMD F7B Locomotive w/Sound - Frisco[/FONT] Your Cost $79 Any 2=$155 SAVE UP TO $95 ON THIS PURCHASE [FONT="]4[/FONT] [FONT="]$164.95[/FONT]
I just got an email from Hobbies USA informing that the Intermountain FP7s in Frisco livery have been cancelled. Verification: http://www.intermountain-railway.com/newshocomingsoon.html
Keith, if I have my story straight that is the new run they cancelled. I believe that the disscounted units are from the old run. Enlighten me if I have my info wrong. Ethan
