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Post by BEDT26 on Aug 6, 2022 18:04:04 GMT -8
I wonder why Bowser hasn't released the old Stewart EMD FT locomotives ? I'd like to hear your thoughts and comments.
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Post by Baikal on Aug 6, 2022 18:12:48 GMT -8
I wonder why Bowser hasn't released the old Stewart EMD FT locomotives ? I'd like to hear your thoughts and comments.
Has anyone asked Bowser?
I'd welcome a re-run, the shells are very nice. They used to be very common on the used market.
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Post by theengineshed on Aug 6, 2022 20:01:26 GMT -8
I suspect Intermountain is the reason that Bowser hasn't released any recent FTs.
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Post by rockfan on Aug 7, 2022 7:52:07 GMT -8
I think a new run of Stewart F's has been in the works for a while. I never really looked at them because the other locos they made just didn't look right.
And I think the current F's are the F9, not the FT.
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Post by Baikal on Aug 7, 2022 8:19:05 GMT -8
I think a new run of Stewart F's has been in the works for a while. I never really looked at them because the other locos they made just didn't look right. And I think the current F's are the F9, not the FT.
Can you expand?
What Bowser locos didn't look right? (Other than the too-flat roof profile on the BLW roadswitchers)
F9 not FT? What?
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Post by locomotivebreath on Aug 7, 2022 8:20:23 GMT -8
I have been doing a LOT of Stewart Fs lately. I prefer the older Kato drive ones. The Buhler motored ones that came in the A Powered B Unpowered box are a nightmare. Every one had broken pins on the sideframes, poor packaging. Steve goofed when he did that. The plastic on those is more brittle. The only nice thing on them was better electronic boards and LEDs. I'm sure Bowser would offer the FTs in their Executive Line, so getting a Chinese factory to drill and apply details that is a tedious job might slow them down. Plus most want sound now, there is little room in those for speakers and all.
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Post by rockfan on Aug 7, 2022 8:33:45 GMT -8
I think the F9 is coming from Bowser, not the FT. Was announced years ago.
Look at the executive line U25B, you'll see what I mean.
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Post by riogrande on Aug 7, 2022 8:54:30 GMT -8
I prefer the older Kato drive ones. The Buhler motored ones that came in the A Powered B Unpowered box are a nightmare. Everyone had broken pins on the side frames, poor packaging. Steve goofed when he did that. The plastic on those is more brittle. The only nice thing on them was better electronic boards and LEDs. I never heard that about the Stewart sets with powered A and unpowered B. I had 3 Stewart F9AB sets but sold them off after Athearn Genesis produced their Highliner based F9's. I still have a number of the older Stewart F unit with the KATO drives which are very nice runners. |
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Post by locomotivebreath on Aug 7, 2022 9:28:13 GMT -8
I prefer the older Kato drive ones. The Buhler motored ones that came in the A Powered B Unpowered box are a nightmare. Everyone had broken pins on the side frames, poor packaging. Steve goofed when he did that. The plastic on those is more brittle. The only nice thing on them was better electronic boards and LEDs. I never heard that about the Stewart sets with powered A and unpowered B. I had 3 Stewart F9AB sets but sold them off after Athearn Genesis produced their Highliner based F9's. I still have a number of the older Stewart F unit with the KATO drives which are very nice runners. I could show you pix but I don't know how to do that on here. Those are quite old now, they mostly come off ebay, but that Delrin type plastic gets brittle with age. Even Atlas handrails on old GP40/38s snaps during shipping. The 1/2" foam between the F AB sets is usually all broken up as well, no protection=broken stuff. When Kato started their own line of HO, Steve Stewart and Atlas had to go somewhere else. |
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Post by riogrande on Aug 7, 2022 10:23:50 GMT -8
I could show you pix but I don't know how to do that on here. Those are quite old now, they mostly come off ebay, but that Delrin type plastic gets brittle with age. Even Atlas handrails on old GP40/38s snaps during shipping. The 1/2" foam between the F AB sets is usually all broken up as well, no protection=broken stuff. When Kato started their own line of HO, Steve Stewart and Atlas had to go somewhere else. No need. Probably because I sold mine off while they were not very old, I never saw the issues. The foam was ok still. |
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Post by lvrr325 on Aug 7, 2022 16:35:53 GMT -8
I never heard that about the Stewart sets with powered A and unpowered B. I had 3 Stewart F9AB sets but sold them off after Athearn Genesis produced their Highliner based F9's. I still have a number of the older Stewart F unit with the KATO drives which are very nice runners. I could show you pix but I don't know how to do that on here. Those are quite old now, they mostly come off ebay, but that Delrin type plastic gets brittle with age. Even Atlas handrails on old GP40/38s snaps during shipping. The 1/2" foam between the F AB sets is usually all broken up as well, no protection=broken stuff. When Kato started their own line of HO, Steve Stewart and Atlas had to go somewhere else. A little checking, the Atlas RS3, RS11 and RSD4/5 came out 1992, the Kato NW2 1993, so they both sold HO engines at the same time. I always thought that Stewart went to the Kato drives after Atlas went to China for production, but researching that is going to take more time than I want to spend on right now. |
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Post by Colin 't Hart on Aug 8, 2022 0:22:19 GMT -8
I think a new run of Stewart F's has been in the works for a while. I never really looked at them because the other locos they made just didn't look right. And I think the current F's are the F9, not the FT. Can you expand? What Bowser locos didn't look right? (Other than the too-flat roof profile on the BLW roadswitchers) F9 not FT? What?
This forum is rife with speculation and weird opinions. As you know. Bowser has done Executive Line F3s, F7s, and F9s. Surely the FTs are just a matter of time. But now it's me doing the speculating. Like you said earlier, just ask them! |
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Post by NYSW3614 on Aug 8, 2022 5:16:11 GMT -8
I was half-ready for Rapido do announce FTs when they hinting at an 8 axle offering which turned out to be the GP A/B set a little while back.
Sort of surprised the FTs haven't been done within the past 10/15 years considering the other F releases, higher quality steam, and period cars. I'd seriously consider an A/B set for my home road (DL&W).
Joshua
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Post by lvrr325 on Aug 8, 2022 5:36:22 GMT -8
Bowser has offered the AS16, AS616, various Baldwin switchers, F3-7-9, C628, C630 and U25B locomotives all from former Stewart tooling, most have had upgrades made; the U25B they fixed a lot of things; guys object to the class light position but IIRC they can't fix that due to how the dies are constructed. But you have to look at them more often than the original Stewart run.
Bowser's website shows still taking pre-orders for a run of Fs that includes F3s, F7s, F9s and RI/ex-UP F9AMs with the big branch line plow. They say this run's changes are a cab interior with figures, a hostler light where applicable and improved diaphragms.
The FT has not been run with a Bowser type product number, the most recent runs have a Stewart type product number 691-xxxx and are "traditional" type models.
I would just send an email to them, Lee himself will probably answer you back.
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Post by locomotivebreath on Aug 8, 2022 8:26:58 GMT -8
I could show you pix but I don't know how to do that on here. Those are quite old now, they mostly come off ebay, but that Delrin type plastic gets brittle with age. Even Atlas handrails on old GP40/38s snaps during shipping. The 1/2" foam between the F AB sets is usually all broken up as well, no protection=broken stuff. When Kato started their own line of HO, Steve Stewart and Atlas had to go somewhere else. A little checking, the Atlas RS3, RS11 and RSD4/5 came out 1992, the Kato NW2 1993, so they both sold HO engines at the same time. I always thought that Stewart went to the Kato drives after Atlas went to China for production, but researching that is going to take more time than I want to spend on right now. I'm sure there was overlap, contracts to fill, etc. Kato's first loco was the SD40 in 1991. Kato also did the C424/425s and I'm sure all those Alcos were before 1992. But I'm old and that was long ago. When Stewart first started, the Baldwins and U25B had Athearn motors/drives. He switched at some point, the U25Bs I did were all Katos because I ran them with my EL trains, F7s, Atlas RS-3s, Railpower SD45 bodies on Kato SD40 drives, Kato GP35s, I could run ten locos on Tech2s no problem, why I love Katos. Steve never divulged much behind the scenes business, but the Buhler motor units came last, right into Bowser after Steve sold the business. Big difference was advanced electronics, LEDs, and that double boxed AB set. He did sell B unit drives separately, as did Bowser. The FTs were never done by Kato, you can tell by the lighter gray plastic on Undecs, plus the glass castings were squirrely, not crisp like Kato did on Fs. They also came as AB sets with unpowered Bs. John Bezuyen Southern Tier Modelworks |
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Post by lvrr325 on Aug 10, 2022 0:43:31 GMT -8
1992 isn't even correct, I am not sure why the source I found for that says that. It seemed late to me. Per an RMC Collector Consist article, the Atlas RS3, RSD4/5 and RS11 were first introduced in 1985. The C424/425 follow in 1986 and the GP7 was the final Kato drive model in 1990. This article includes the RS1 as a Kato drive but I had always believed this was initially a Roco piece. The China version "Classics" line came about 2000. rrmodelcraftsman.com/collector-consist-the-atlas-kato-connection/There also were some Con-Cor models with Kato drives - they had the tool for the old Revell NW2 shell and sold it with both Athearn and Kato drives and then sold an MP15 with a Kato drive. Like the others there are subsequent production runs with clone drives. These too date to about the mid-1980s. Con-Cor also sold a couple runs of the same Roco GP38 and GP40 models Atlas previously sold (and there is even a Roco-branded version of them with DCC no less). Atlas I believe may have had Kato cut the tooling for the engine shells and frames and Atlas retained ownership of it, which is why they were able to transition to the China versions. Con-Cor and Stewart, though, appear to have produced their own tooling (or used their already existing tooling) for body shells and the only thing Kato supplied was trucks, motors, and related pieces. Unfortunately Atlas' archive only runs back to around 2000, so short of a stack of old Walthers catalogs or train magazines to scan through I can't pinpoint when the last Atlas-Kato runs were sold. |
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Post by edwardsutorik on Aug 10, 2022 7:47:42 GMT -8
Not important until it is:
Atlas sold phase I C-424's for quite awile before they got into the later phases, and the C-425's.
Ed
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Post by craigz on Aug 15, 2022 5:42:20 GMT -8
Bowser has offered the AS16, AS616, various Baldwin switchers, F3-7-9, C628, C630 and U25B locomotives all from former Stewart tooling, most have had upgrades made; the U25B they fixed a lot of things; guys object to the class light position but IIRC they can't fix that due to how the dies are constructed. But you have to look at them more often than the original Stewart run. Bowser's website shows still taking pre-orders for a run of Fs that includes F3s, F7s, F9s and RI/ex-UP F9AMs with the big branch line plow. They say this run's changes are a cab interior with figures, a hostler light where applicable and improved diaphragms. The FT has not been run with a Bowser type product number, the most recent runs have a Stewart type product number 691-xxxx and are "traditional" type models. I would just send an email to them, Lee himself will probably answer you back. Bowser HAS run FT drives with sound installed - I have one. It's in a green Bowser box that's properly labeled. But I don't recall complete FTs. |
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