intermountain n scale

[Anonymous]

need info. on how they compare to kato or atlas f units. not familar with regal drive.

[Adelie]

I've got an ABBA set of FT's. I haven't really run them out yet, but my initial impression is they are very much in the same class as Kato or Atlas. The Regal Drive seems quiet and smooth. I have been impressed with their slow speed capability (responds to single digit settings on a Digitrax throttle). I haven't hooked them up to a string of cars yet to be able to comment on their pulling capacity, but the locomotives are similar weight-wise to the Kato F3s. I have an AB set of Kato F3s that I have not run much yet, either. Both are relative newcomers to my roster.

Assuming IM is using the same guts in their F3s as they have in the FTs, a choice between Kato or IMs would be a tough call. I don't think you could go wrong either way.

One note that may be particular to the FTs. IM uses a white LED for a headlight, which tends to burn bluish. That is obviously not very prototypical. They may have switched to a yellow-white LED in their F3s, I don't know. The LED is wired to the light board, not connected directly to it. It is located in a housing that is inside the frame assembly and the headlight housing also acts as the insulator between the two halves of the frame. So replacing the LED requires disassembling the locomotive enough to get the two halves of the frame apart. This is not a particularly tough job, though, since it is pretty well designed.

The DCC coversion is probably easier on the Kato since it comes with the headlight LED attached, so once you install the decoder (a simple light boad replacement) you are done. On the IM wires from the headlight LED need to be soldered to the decoder. This is not tough, but it is delicate since the contacts on the decoder are small and can be damaged easily. They can also be damaged if you wire the LED backwards and need to remove them, reverse and reattach them. The hint here is to get it right the first time, although you can get a second chance if you are careful.

There is no frame modification required to install decoders in either of these units, and other than the LED wiring in the IM, they are both extremely easy to do. The hardest part of the IM FT-A replacement was getting the stinking body off the frame (another hint: use toothpicks near the four corners and it will eventually slide off. The B units come right off).