I bought 3 MRC Platinum Series F7's about a year ago ($30 each on Ebay, all new) and haven't run them since I got them. Today I decided to see how one would run on my layout using a Zephyr DCC using '00' address. It started smoothly and runs very well except it goes backwards when my throttle is telling it to go forward. I removed the body and it has a pcb similar to Athearn with the little plastic covers to hold the wires in place. Oddly, all the connection points on the board are labeled (etched wiith copper!) as to what color wire goes there. The motor wires, orange and grey were attached where it was labeled red and black. I removed the wires and switched them, crossing each other on the board. All of the other wires didn't match the labeled colors either? I put it back on the track and it runs as it should. I haven't tried the other 2 yet, but was wondering if anyone has these locomotives? They are quite well detailed with SS grilles, open fan moldings and very well painted and lettered (not as good as a Genesis by any means!). They are also very heavy and have plenty of room for DCC conversions. Any reports about them or why they didn't sell?
- Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
On address "00" forward doesn't really have meaning. If you put the loco on the track facing the other direction, it's going to go backwards from what your controller says yet again!
Jeff But it's a dry heat!
The MRC F7 received very poor reviews due to the shell and details. Even Model Railroader slammed the model, and rarely do you see negative reviews in those pages. I don't think that the model was ever well regarded when compared to other F units on the market. This probably explains why MRC got out of the locomotive business. But also explains why they can be picked up at bargain bin prices.
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
I bought one of those many years ago when MRC first began to attempt marketing a DCC decoder. They had a special introductory offer of the F7 with a factory installed decoder, plus four extra decoders for the price of the locomotive alone. The decoder that was in the locomotive was totally dead on arrival, as were three of the four spares, but that's another story.
The F7 mechanism was actually a Walthers Trainline product that didn't run too poorly on DC once the decoder was ripped out. I eventually gave mine away to a person who couldn't afford anything better, because even an Athearn Blue Box locomotive had more detail.
If the F7s you have purchased have MRC decoders in them, change them to something better and the locos will run much more smoothly.