Does anybody here own a AEM-7 Electric Locomotive? If so How is the Performance? I hear that the AEM-7 is not that powerful at all, Is this true? I also heard that in order to pull 7 Amfleets up a grade, you need a Doublehead.
I don't own an AEM7 but have operated one, and I do own some Walthers Amfleets. The AEM7 was beautifully smooth and powerful. We had it hooked up to a set of twelve superliners, two viewliners and a couple of MHC's as a test and it showed no signs of struggling. It was a really nice loco. I have no hesitation in recomending one. I suspect what you have been told about an AEM7 + 7 Amfleet is true, but for a different reason, the Walthers Amfleets are lead sleds. They do not roll at all. The inside bearing trucks have way too much resistance, I run a set of three with a baggage car and an F40 (with a cab car on the way) and I don't think it would like to be hauling 7 of them!
"They do not roll at all. The inside bearing trucks have way too much resistance" What do you mean they don't roll at all??? So Maybe the AEM-7 & Amfleets don't make a good Metroliner in HO Scale.
What I mean is that pulling one Walthers Amfleet car is like pulling 4 or 5 "normal" passenger cars as the wheelsets do not roll freely in the trucks. Not rolling at all was a slight exaggeration on my part, sorry An example, I have a set of three Walter's Amfleets with a "heritage fleet" baggage car (the baggage car is excellent BTW) and using your hand to pull that 4 car train along the track, it has more resistance than some of my other trains, including a 25 car unit coal train! When you say that your friend's Atlas AEM7 won't take 7 Amfleets up a sensible grade, I'm guessing the reason is Walthers Amfleet cars, just from my own experiences, as all my experiences of the Atlas AEM7 have been very good. There are other options if you do want a Amfleet/AEM7 metroliner set, Bachmann does an Amfleet car, (but no catering vehicle), and they looked okay to me (not great, but okay). If they roll better than the Walthers then they might solve that problem. Another alternative would be to try and find a solution to the Walthers friction problem, I haven't found an easy one yet though. Or a third option would be to run a slightly shorter train if it will not handle them on your layout... Just some thoughts anyhow...let us know how you get on. I don't think you'll be dissapointed with the Atlas loco as a model anyhow... Oh, here's a couple of pics you might like while we're on the subject! The first is a southbound train somewhere in Conneticut, taken on a holiday back in 1994, and the second is an AEM7 cabside profile, taken at Washington Union Stn in Sep 2000. Oddly enough 923 was also at WUS that day, in the same paint job, just with ditch lights added!
Yep, I took both of those pics. I have a few more AEM7 pics but those are two favourites The Amfleet trucks have an inverted U shape of the plastic truck that the axle sits turns in, (there's a flimsy bit of metal to stop the wheel falling out of the U when you pick the car up!) I think the weight of the coach causes the friction between the axle and the truck frame as there is a large point of contact between axle & truck frame. That's my take on it at least. IHP did a little "infomercial" on here the other day as he is selling drop in replacement trucks for these, don't know how much better they are? They are not cheap but if they solve the problem.....
