LGB F7

[Adam1989]

When I was 9 I was bought my first train set a Bachmann n gauge Santa fe set with a f7 loco in it. Ever since then I have wanted another, am I right in thinking for the sound to operate I need to have a B unit as well.
Thanks Adam

 

[Neil Robinson]

When I was 9 I was bought my first train set a Bachmann n gauge Santa fe set with a f7 loco in it. Ever since then I have wanted another, am I right in thinking for the sound to operate I need to have a B unit as well.
Thanks Adam

Yes, that's the way LGB made them with the B units having sound but no motors.
However that isn't to say that you can't fit a DC or DCC sound board and speaker(s) in an A unit.

 

[Sean.]

USA Trains ( Charles Ro ) makes F-3 's
F3 AB Unit Locomotive

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Yeah, more to scale and less expensive.

 

[JimmyB]

Not being very well informed about American locos it was nice to see a photo to understand the thread, Greg (as usual) nice video that provides even more context.

 

[PhilP]

But..........
Will the USA Trains version go round LGB R1 curves? - We don't tend to have the amount of real-estate around our properties over here..

 

[beavercreek]

Ye

But..........
Will the USA Trains version go round LGB R1 curves? - We don't tend to have the amount of real-estate around our properties over here..

Yes...but...no
Individual locos (F3A or F3B) will go around on their own...just... but the bogies can snag, but when connected they will have a tendency to force each other to ride over the rail as the couplers are mounted on the body not the bogie so less centre of swing travel distance between the two locos.
This also mostly goes for the first one of a rake of following freight or passenger cars, where the loco body mount restricts the coupler swing centre distance.

I did do an experiment once where I put an extra long coupler tang on each loco to increase the distance between them and this did manage to go around an R1 circle BUT it looks a wee bit silly as the gap between the two locos is rather large!

I run minimum R5 curves (and up to 20ft diameter) for the part of the layout where the big diesels run as they all (besides the LGB Amtrak Genesis) have body mounted couplers.
The LGB Amtrak jobbie can do R1, even connected to another Genesis loco...but it looks MAD

 

[gnm109]

I've owned both the USA Trains F3, A & B and now the LGB F7 A and B. I have moved away from USA Trains, although they are wonderfully detailed and run well because the rest of my roster is all LGB. The difference between 1:22.5 to 1:29 was rather noticeable, especially in the locomotives.

In May, I picked up a used F7-A Santa Fe unit in the red Warbonnet trim and just last month a new matching F7-B unit so that I could use the sound. The sound will run in DC analog with a minimum of 6.5 volts on the track. it's simply amazing how well it sounds from the horns to the turbo and powering up. With judicious use of the throttle you can get the sound to start before the locomotive starts moving. (I have a home-built dual 10 amp 12/24 VDC power pack).

Interestingly, both the A and B units are dated 1988 on the undercarriage and state "Made in Germany" and they are quite convincing.

There are two cables provided to connect the two units. There is a 2 pin and a 4 pin cable with a volume pot at the rear of the B unit. The cables provide track power to the B unit for sound and also turn on both the A and the B speakers.

I highly recommend the LGB F7's but make sure that you get both A and B so that you can enjoy the sound. As a side note, there are many other sounds inside of the B unit that could be utilized with a DCC layout, but with 12 locomotives, I'd have to mortgage the house to change over. Since I'm not very good-looking and have few friends, DC is OK for me. LOL.

P.S. These units are apparently no longer made and if you have DCC, make sure that you obtain the correct part numbers for your system.

 

[Dan]

The newest F7 from LGB_Marklin has the sound and elctronics in the A unit. B unit only has a speaker. Wires are different so the New F7A can not be cabled to the old F7B.

 

[gnm109]

The newest F7 from LGB_Marklin has the sound and elctronics in the A unit. B unit only has a speaker. Wires are different so the New F7A can not be cabled to the old F7B.

I did some research on the F7 Units from Makrlin on Google. There were both HO and G Scale offerings but the ads I saw said that they were no longer produced.

One A-B-A HO combination (also out of stock) had a price of 599.99 (600) Euro!!! (Something like $680 US) That's a lot of money for HO. One can only imagine what a G Scale combo like that might cost if sourced from Marklin (sorry, I don't have an Euro sign or an Umlaut for our European viewers. LOL.

The best course, in my opinion, would be to look for the LGB versions of the F7 units, since Marklin don't seem to be readily available and the prices are out of this world. I'm sure that the Marklin units are well made but it appears that the Marklin name has raised costs for the LGB line.

 

[palmerston]

Marklin F7 spur 1 rather then G

 

[Adam1989]

Thanks for all the replies and useful info, being in the UK i am restricted to using 5ft R2 curves in my garden so I think that I would have to have an LGB one for reliability on the tight curves.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

yeah, don't have experience on less than 8' diameter.

What scale is "spur 1" interpreted as? Unfortunately, the F7 is 3 different scales if you look at length, width and height, roughly 1:26 overall...

 

[gnm109]

Thanks for all the replies and useful info, being in the UK i am restricted to using 5ft R2 curves in my garden so I think that I would have to have an LGB one for reliability on the tight curves.

Three of the four turnouts on my layout are R-1s. My F7 A-B units go through them nicely with their four wheeled bogeys. My other curves are R2 and R3 so no problem there.

 

[beavercreek]

Unfortunately, the F7 is 3 different scales if you look at length, width and height, roughly 1:26 overall...

Classic LGB rubber ruler.......

The LGB F7's larger size does command a little more 'presence' than USAT's F3 and does look a little better passing or sitting alongside 1:22.5 steam locos.
It also does look good hauling LGB's or Aristocraft's ruber-rulered streamliner passenger cars (even if they are a smaller scale) ... BUT .... USAT's F3s seem to be just perfect, visually, for their own brand streamliner cars (as does Aristocraft's E8 diesel).

 

[Greg Elmassian]

The aristo streamliners are indeed shorter than the prototype, but the other dimensions are pretty accurate, and their heavyweights very accurate.

Not trying to argue, but put the LGB F7 next to the Aristo's first to see if you like the look. Typically Aristo products are pretty well scaled at 1:29, but often they are too high (too much space between truck and chassis)

In this case, the LGB F7 and the shorty Aristo streamliners, the extra height of the Aristo may make it work visually with the taller bigger F7.

Many people lower the Aristo streamliners (easy to do) to match other 1:29 stock, which can be reversed if you buy used.

Greg

 

[beavercreek]

Here is a photo of a USAT streamliner end to end with an Aristocraft late model streamliner (with the lowered bogies.
The Aristo one is little higher.



Here is a measurement of all three Brands of streamliner (excluding American Great Trains)

 

[Adam1989]

Wow that is a huge difference

 

[Shunter22]

Wow that is a huge difference

 

[Greg Elmassian]

at track level it can be very noticeable to some, and some people it does not bother. It's very noticeable to me.

the question comes up often, in the other direction, using 1:32 locos with 1:29 passenger cars.

When the car towers over the tender of a steam loco, it looks wrong, again my opinion.

The best thing is to get a picture of the consist, and preferably close to track level.

Greg