I just picked up a pair of Stewart F-7 A/B set stock number 5912 from my LHS. Owner was not there today and person that checked me out was the R/C person. He knew nothing about the engines. We did open the box and saw they are DCC ready.
How would you folks rate them? What I have to compare them to are Athearn RTR, I really don't care for these engines and will not buy any more. I all so have Proto 1000's and 2000's, I love my Proto's, good pullers, little power draw and never had to fix one.
Would you rate these closer to the Athearns or the Proto's? I am not going to open them till I get a few answers on there quality.
Far as details on the body, they seem a lot a like to Proto 1000's, not much detail but I am fine with that. I like the road name Rio Grand and the colors schema. Prices seem fair at $59.99 for the pair, B is none powered.
Thanks for the coming answers.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
In my experience Stewart engines from the mid-90's on are very quiet and smooth runners, among the best out there. When they first came out their F unit shells were considered very good (20 years ago); they're still good IMHO but don't have the detailing of say Athearn Genesis shells, which are actually Highliner shells. You can add handrails, grabirons etc. yourself using the Walthers "Diesel Dress Up Kit" from the LHS. It only costs a few dollars and works quite well on Stewart F units.
Ken, I have a pair of their FT's, so you can borrow them if you like to see if they run to your satisfaction. I find them to be quiet smooth runners, a bit better in detail to the P1K F units. Drop me a PM and we can figure out when they can come over. I have some of your Amtrak passenger cars that need to come home as well.
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
Simon, keep the Amtrak cars and come get the rest! You can have there FP 45's as well if Crisp or Andrew would like them.
Ken
Hi Ken,
just talked to my hobby shop about this manufacturer. He had some big 6 axle alcos for sale and on the box it said that the can motor was a Buehler that they now use. Here is a web site http://www.buehlermotor.com/C12572C600247071/CurrentBaseLink/W27VQK55490WEBREN . These motors are supposed to be of quite good quality. Also they are supposed to be coming out with some more variations on the six axle Alcos in Canadian paint schemes.
Please keep us posted on your thoughts about this manufacturer.
Thank you
Frank
"If you need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm."
The 5912 D&RGW F unit should serve you well. These engines are extremely good runners and with proper maintenance last almost forever. This engine is as mentioned an old 20 year old shell and somewhat lacking in detail by todays standards.
Stewart/Bowser has released a new series of F units in their Executive line, these units certainly in my opinon rival either the Proto 2 or Genesis F units in detail. There are also DCC?sound equpped units available as well in the new line.
http://bowser-trains.com/Stewart/Stewart%20Exec%20F7.htm
FYI they are also coming out with FT units which are supposedly to be released this winter.
Ken,
All of my F units (FT's, F3's and F7's) are Stewart. I don't care what detail they have, I wouldn't have any other. They and my Atlas engines run better than any other locos I've had in my 50+ years of model railroading.
Dale Latham, Piedmont Southern Railroad, Great Model Railroads 2009
The only Stewarts I have are some Baldwin switchers(6) and a Baldwin RS(1). All are great runners. Best slow speed and quiet to boot. They all came with a 8 pin plug and LED lights. IMHO they are way better than Athearn and P2K.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
I have a Stewart FT A/B and it's the best running and most reliable diesel unit I own. It was my first loco purchased about 4 years ago.
I have a Stewart FT A-B and a VO-660 switcher. Great locomotives! Yes, Stewart locomotives are more spartan on the detailing than, say...a Proto 2000...but you can purchase a superdetailing kit for the F-units that really dresses them up quiet nicely.
And their Canon and Buehler drives are the best on the market, IMO. My FT has a Lenz Gold decoder in it and it's scary how slow that thing will crawl at speed step 001.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I have a Stewart Baldwin switcher and an RS3 kit which both have what is essentially an Athearn drive.
Aren't the F units from the 90's supposed to have Kato drives?
Ken:
I had a set of Rio Grande F-3's from Stewart in the original black and yellow paint scheme. I gave them to my grand-nephew when he started in model railroading, and I'm still kinda/sorta kicking myself. The shells were nicely detailed (if not up to current super-detail standards), the mechanisms were quiet, smooth, and AMAZINGLY powerful.
If I were into diesels, I'd contact my grand-nephew and negotiate for their return. However, he's in Guam right now, and I'm still not into diesels, LOL!
But they were darned good units!
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Well, sure sounds like they are a keeper. Better than Proto's yet? My Proto's Mono F-3 F/A (both powered) pull 50 cars with no effort. If the the one Stewart A can pull 20 cars I will be happy.
wjstixIn my experience Stewart engines from the mid-90's on are very quiet and smooth runners, among the best out there. When they first came out their F unit shells were considered very good (20 years ago); they're still good IMHO but don't have the detailing of say Athearn Genesis shells, which are actually Highliner shells. You can add handrails, grabirons etc. yourself using the Walthers "Diesel Dress Up Kit" from the LHS. It only costs a few dollars and works quite well on Stewart F units.
I agree with your assessment of the first Stewart F units and they were great runner, and they made by Kato. I ended up buying about thirty of those units and most still run like new.
When Stewart started making their own units, they were almost copies of the Kato and ran very well also. The latest ones are now by the new owners and I do not have any of those, but have heard they also run well.
The dress up kits work well on the Stewart F units and I installed several of those including all of the handrails and other details. l they are a great model to use on club layouts where they can be handled more often than the highly detailed Genesis or Brass.
They are a good overall model but do not have etched grills and details like the Genesis or Intermountain and the last Walthers.
CZ
Details: lacking, but easily added. Mechanism: first class all the way, super quiet, low current draw, and great slow speed running (and mine are the new ones, not the Kato motor - compared to Kato motors in older Atlas locos, I have to give the edge to the Buhler motor in the Stewarts).
The Stewart Baldwin switchers adn road switchers - probably the finest plastic models of those locos you can find, especially the DS and S switchers which were actually made for them by Ajin, known for their top-notch brass, plus they have Canon can motors which when I tested one on DC drew .1 amps. Yes, my Zephyr would run out of loco slots before it ran out of power runnign those babies. Definitely the best diesels I own.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
cudaken I just picked up a pair of Stewart F-7 A/B set stock number 5912 ... How would you folks rate them?
No F-units, but I have a trio of C-628s and a few Baldwins. They all run well.
I have a Bowser (Stewart) ARR F-7A, bought recently. Here is my evaluation:
Running performance:
Sound (Tsunami):
Pulling power:
Lettering:
Parting lines of colors: - sometimes "fuzzy"
Detail: - for me, but no see-thru grilles
Color of trucks: - look too "plasticky"
Loco was delivered with snow plow broken off - - could easily be fixed, though, just a drop of CA.
In general, I am quite happy with tho loco.
Hi!
A few years ago I "stepped up" to Stewart F units for my HO transition era ATSF collection. Today I have 6 ABBA consists - with all units powered. Three of the consists are F3/F7s, three of them are FTs. The F3/7s are all Kato powered, the FTs are Stewart powered. Operationally, all run really nice.
I had to purchase the motor chassis separately for the FT B units, but got the F3/F7 B units already powered.
For the money, these are absolutely terrific! You can still get units on Ebay for $40/$50 each. The detail is not the same as Genesis or others of that ilk. So, I added the special KD coupler sets and American Limited diaghprams to mine, and IMHO, they turned out pretty neat. Yes, you can add additional details, but I am not ready for that (yet).
These are fairly easy to convert to DCC. I picked up NCE DASR and NCE D13SRP decoders and they installed with no significant difficulty. One type is for the F3/F7 units, the other for the FT units (forgot which is which).
In short, for the money, these are absolutely great - and I highly recommend them.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Milepost 266.2 I have a Stewart Baldwin switcher and an RS3 kit which both have what is essentially an Athearn drive. Aren't the F units from the 90's supposed to have Kato drives?
The very first Stewart engines from about 20 years ago had Athearn motors and drives, which at the time were considered to be good. My SOO AS-16 came with Athearn drive. In the early-mid nineties they switched over to Kato drives and used them for about the next 10 years. They were quite an improvement.
I recall there was some trouble with the big Alco C-628s when they came out, something about the gears or something?? I didn't get my pair until they came out with the high-nose ones a few years later, and both my CNW units run and pull great.
cudaken I just picked up a pair of Stewart F-7 A/B set stock number 5912 from my LHS. Owner was not there today and person that checked me out was the R/C person. He knew nothing about the engines. We did open the box and saw they are DCC ready.
Are those the old white box Stewarts? I bought most of mine in the 90's. They don't have a DCC plug, but you can swap out the circuit board for a DCC board fairly easily so I'd call that nearly DCC ready. NCE and Digitrax and others make a drop in circuit board DCC decoder that simply replaces the existing circuit board. It has posts on the sides that you pull off individual wire plugs, and replug them into the DCC board that replaces. That is the older KATO chassis. The newer, late 1990's version after Stewart began making them in the US uses an updated chassis with a different motor, but runs as quiet if not quieter, and may have DCC socket. All of my original Stewarts have KATO drives, only the F9's which came in A/B sets in one box has the updated chasses. Dunno what Bowser has done to them since buying Steve Stewart out.
How would you folks rate them? What I have to compare them to are Athearn RTR, I really don't care for these engines and will not buy any more. I all so have Proto 1000's and 2000's, I love my Proto's, good pullers, little power draw and never had to fix one. Would you rate these closer to the Athearns or the Proto's? I am not going to open them till I get a few answers on there quality.
Chassis: I'd rate them WAY better than Athearn RTR F coffee grinder units, and the Stewart chassis is also much better than Proto 2000. In fact the Stewart F unit chassis is probably in the top two HO chassis ever built IMHO. Runs quiet, silky smooth and very powerful. Only my KATO GP35's compare.
Shell/Body:
We are talking an F unit for starters. The Athearn RTR F shell is 1950's technology and very crude, and it shows. IMHO, it should be retired 15 years ago. Stewart did an excellent job with the difficult bulldog nose and it compares favorably with the latest Genesis and others. It does have the mold parting lines that can be sanded down if you paint your own. It doesn't have the etched metal side air grills. But it is an excellent shell and if dresses up very nicely if you add details. Even by 2009 standards, it can be dressed up to hold up very nicely to the current state of the art.
Far as details on the body, they seem a lot a like to Proto 1000's, not much detail but I am fine with that. I like the road name Rio Grande and the colors schema. Prices seem fair at $59.99 for the pair, B is none powered. Thanks for the coming answers. Cuda Ken
You got a good price on them. I paid $99 for a pair of single stripe Rio Grande F9's A/B set, with the B unit unpowered The Proto 1000 F3's can be had for less money street price, and they are quite nice for a lower cost F unit. But the Stewarts have more crisp molding in the shell, and again the mechanism is extremely buttery smooth and powerful (I only had one noisy one which they replaced). The black Rio Grande had mismatched yellow stripes on one side of the nose, but the yellow/silver ones are done quite well. I have 5 AB sets of F7's in 4-stripe and they are keepers. I did sell off most of my F9's because I got the Genesis version.
You should be very happy with them.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Thanks again for all the answers.
Reason I have not opened them is so I can take them back if there where bad reviews form you folks.
Quality I was worried about was the drive train, that worry has been put to rest. Far as shell detail, I don't see great, most of the time I am 8 feet away from the bench. So I cannot see lift hooks and gap irons anyway.
cudaken Thanks again for all the answers. Reason I have not opened them is so I can take them back if there where bad reviews form you folks. Quality I was worried about was the drive train, that worry has been put to rest. Far as shell detail, I don't see great, most of the time I am 8 feet away from the bench. So I cannot see lift hooks and gap irons anyway. Cuda Ken
If your boxes are like mine, they aren't sealed. Besides, I should think you can take them out and look them over carefully and test run them without jeopardizing them being "returnable". Rarely there are noisy chassis but most are nice, quiet and smooth. You need to test run it to make sure its all good. But as for quality, Stewart F7's drive trains are the best there are, at the top with KATO and Atlas so long as you didn't get the rare one which slipped through quality control. All brands have those so just test and be sure.
As far as detail, Stewarts don't have much factory applied. But that doesn't make them bad quality. In a way they are like the Athearns of the 80's, the shell is high quality, well dimensioned and crisply molded. There just isn't a much things like lift rings, grab irons etc, applied, but you can apply them easily enough. There are dimples for drilling the small holes molded in, so no molded on grab irons to shave off either (a plus). So consider them high quality shells with decent paint jobs that need extra details applied by you. But you didn't pay twice the price for them either. Good news is they are good quality and dress up very nice, and run as good as the best.
Oh, and one advantage they have over Athearn Genesis is Kadee makes a nice close coupling conversion kit which gives them a nice 3' distance between the A and B unit. Its harder to get a good conversion on the otherwise superior and more expensive Genesis F's. Look for KD #450 conversion kit.
If I am feeling better Saturday I will break them out and take some pictures. I have a infected root, there is no tooth. When it was pulled part of the root did not come out. Dentist that did the work died 10 years ago. On my third round of antibiotic's now, each has been different. I hope this one kicks the caboose out of the infection. Looking for a oral surgeon in the area.
On the box, it was sealed and engines are in plastic bags. Box is white with red X running around it if that tells you any thing.
Must be new boxes. I don't recall mine sealed but it certainly seems you should be able to examine them, run them and be certain all is well. Let us know how the fair when you get a chance to look. Good luck on the infected root!
Help needed! thank you!
I have a stewart (chassis only) marked as stewart 1 7447s in two lines (the middle one with silver weight). I tried to find the diagram to repair it, does any one know what model I should look for? Thanks!
P.s> I also don't know the model for the one in the bottom, the green circuit board said Atheran but I couldn't figure out the exact model #, when I put an F unit shell, the steps seem to limit the rotation of the trucks, any clue will be highly appreaciated. thanks!
Holy necro topic batman.
I would contact Bowser for assistance. They have taken over the Stewart line of F units and probably can answer your questions. They continue to sell Stewart F unit under their name but likely have diagrams and documentation for the older (Stewart revised and Stewart KATO) chassis.
Some units, particularly multiple unit sets are or were shrink wrapped as delivered from Bowser.
(Some dealers also do shrink wrap after they receive models.)
The Kato motors in those old white box original Stewart engines should last a long long time. They are just great engines!
List price was $150 for the A/B 5912 set.
John
Any help will be highly appreciated.
LEOFUTURE Help needed! thank you! I have a stewart (chassis only) marked as stewart 1 7447s in two lines (the middle one with silver weight). I tried to find the diagram to repair it, does any one know what model I should look for? Thanks! P.s> I also don't know the model for the one in the bottom, the green circuit board said Atheran but I couldn't figure out the exact model #, when I put an F unit shell, the steps seem to limit the rotation of the trucks, any clue will be highly appreaciated. thanks!
Some one dug up a old post. The Stwearts I bought (4 of them) where junk! While it took a while all the motors burned out and ate there decoders. They are long gone now, traded them to Jeffery. May he RIP.