I recently seen the MTL and Marklin f units side by side and the Marklin is noticebly longer. On ebay I have seen the Marklin F listed as an F7, so I measured one of my MTL F7's and it is a scale 50'8", which is correct for an F7. I don't have any Marklin F units yet, but was thinking of getting one to use as an Northern Pacific FP7, and am wondering how long it is? From what I have read the F-7's are 50'8" and the FP-7's are 54'8", with the extra 4 feet being required for a larger steam generator as used in passenger service. Does anyone know how long the Marklin unit is? Thanks, Robert
Robert, The Marklin F7 is supposed to be an F7, but the chassis was stretched so it would fit one of their existing German chassis. the wheel base on the trucks is too long as well. I've thought of using for FP7's too, but they don't pull anywhere near as well as MTL's do. MTL may actually re-master their F7 so the detail is more clear and they may start using the new Maxon motor that is going in to the GP35 to get an economy of scale on the motor.
That would be real cool it they redo the F7. Everyone I talked too said that their F7's were the best runners they had, however all 5 of mine are erratic runners. I bought all of them new, and they are all about 1-2 years old, but out of the box they just grind coffee. 3 wont run well at all. I tweeked one and got it to run better, but for how long. I live with them because there is not much else yet, but I look forward to the GP. -Robert
I never thought of that, but I guess that makes sense. They could redo the F-7's. That would be nice. I already noticed that in the latest releases the number boards are painted. It would be great to see free mounted horns and the lights covered as well and window glass. That would be nice.
