santa fe f7

[baldwinmikado]

Ok so when I first decided to dive into n scale (about year and a half ago) I wanted to start out with what I knew worked. I.E get a train set and some track and go from there. I purchased the bachmann super chief train set (santa fe f7, rio grande box car, bn gondola,  sf caboose). I was amazed with the loco's detail and was  surprised when it was a spectrum. I liked it enough that now I want more of themn but I can't seem to find them on bachmann's site or anywhere else (ebay, local shops, online retailers). I wanted to know why you can't find them or if I'm doing something wrong to not be able to find them. Any help?

[James in FL]

Hi baldwinmikado,

Here's but one place;

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/N-Scale-Diesel-Locomotives-s/1458.htm?searching=Y&sort=3&cat=1458&show=30&page=1&brand=Bachmann

[brokemoto]

The Standard Line factory equipped with DCC F-7 has superceded the SPECTRUM F-7.  The newest issue runs much better than the previous two on DC.  I do not know about DCC, as I do not use it.  All of the B-mann DCC equipped power has a smart decoder:  the power will operate on either DC or DCC.

The SPECTRUM and the newest issue will not operate well together, unless you add a decoder to the SPECTRUM.  If you do that, and use DCC, you can set the speed on each unit to match the others.  Stay away from the Plus F-7.  They had a problem with cracking gears.  The SPECTRUM issue corrected this problem.  The shells from all three issues are interchangeable.

You can find the SPECTRUM F-7s at shows.  I am surprised that you can not find them on FeePay.  There is a seller there who sells a large quantity of Bachpersonn items, he is called The Favorite Spot.   If you send him an e-Mail asking about these, he may have some in his inventory, somewhere.  Some of the model railroad forums have a marketplace.  You can post 'wanted' adverts on these marketplaces.  Ya-HOO! also has a group called 'N Scale Yard Sale'.  You can post 'wanted' adverts there, as well.

As I recall, Bachmann sold the SPECTRUM F-7s in a long plastic box that contained an A-B pair.  There were two different road numbers available, so you might want to ask for the other road number.  If you can not find the other road number, changing numbers is not difficult.  This would allow you to run A-B-A.

I do not know if the B-mann ATSF units are numbered for passenger or freight units.  Few, if any, ATSF EMD four axle A-units had steam generators; general ATSF practice on EMD four axle cab units was that the steam generator went in the B-unit.  There are manufacturers that sell the s/g stack details.

[ALCO539]

The new version of the F-7 is not really a Spectrum, but is part of the Bachmann regular line. It also comes standard with DCC, although it is a dual mode controller.

I run mine on analog DC and it runs good, but I don't know how well it will speed match with a Spectrum that was DC only. The DCC version has a higher starting voltage.

Others that have both versions will have to comment. Spectrum's maybe still available on ebay, but you have to get a newer Spectrum with "black" gears. The older "Plus" and "Spectrum's" had white gears that crack.

See this site, http://www.spookshow.net/loco/bachf7.html for a complete review.

I hope this helps.

Charley.

EDIT; brokemoto beat me to the punch, and goes into more detail. I re-read the review myself and I quess all Spectrums had black gears, so your safe in that regard.

[baldwinmikado]

Mine has the white worm and black drive gears. No dcc. I do have the ez command begginers and it handles pretty welln just the light gets hot after time but that's normal. I was just mainly suprised at the minor details you get. Even my 120.00 ho f7 doesn't have that detail.

[Albert in N]

The March 2014 Model Railroader magazine has a Product Reviews section with a review of the Bachmann DCC Santa Fe F-7.  This review may be of interest to you.  Also, you can Google "N scale forums" to find other on line modeler comments, such as Railwire, Train Board, and others.   For what it is worth, I looked at the Bachmann Santa Fe F7 three freight car DC train set at Hobby Lobby and noted that it has non-magnetic (dummy) couplers and scant modeling details.  However, it no doubt would be a rugged fun train set to run.  If you like prototype modeling like me, check out F7 Kato or Intermountain offerings.  These two are DC, but can be upgraded to DCC by adding a good decoder, usually easily done. 

[baldwinmikado]

I haven't looked at the kato locos yet but I've been weary because back when I did ho they had good quality but the price was just a little high. I just chcked them out and they are considerably more in my range now. Thanks for mentioning that. The only thing was dcc. Most low but not cheap cost locos weren't dcc, and the bachmann ones I liked but had no idea how to dcc it with the split frame chassis. I've seen videos on how to dcc them and it  looks pretty easy. I think ill use the decoder install video by Mike Fifer of Fifer hobbies. He has a youtube channel with some really helpful videos and he models n scale. Thanks for the help you all.

[Mike C]

  The TCS website also has good installation instructions for a lot of locos...Mike
   http://www.tcsdcc.com/public_html/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/N_Scale/N_Search/search.html

[baldwinmikado]

Since I brought up the topic, has anyone dcc'd this locomotive or know how to? What chip should I use if you know?

[skipgear]

Since I brought up the topic, has anyone dcc'd this locomotive or know how to? What chip should I use if you know?

Any small / micro solder in decoder will work. The smaller it is, the smaller space you need to mill out for it. The worst part is attching the frame pickup wires to the frame. I ended up drilling and tapping some 2-56 holes in the frame and then screwing the wires down.

[baldwinmikado]

Alright thanks. It just looked really complicated because of the split frame chassis. I know its already insulated between the two halves to protect from shorts but trying to work in that small are might be hard. Do you know what kind of micro decoder I should use? I know people use them for light control and switch control in larger scales...

[skipgear]

Digitrax DZ 125 would be fine. Any other similar would also work. Just depends on your preference.

[baldwinmikado]

Alright thanks. Ill look into it for a possible future project.