Review

Athearn introduced their F7 Genesis Iocomotives last spring, along with their F3 and other F units. This is my first look at the Genesis F7 series. Roadnames currently available are: Pennsylvania, Denver & Rio Grande Western (D&RGW), Baltimore & Ohio (B&O), Great Northern, Boston & Maine, Rock Island Passenger, Rock Island Freight, Chicago, Burlington, Quincy (CB&Q), and Santa Fe Passenger (Warbonnet).

The Prototype

In the four years immediately following the end of WWII in September 1944, General Motors Electro Motive Division (EMD) learned a great deal about what railroads wanted and were willing to buy. They enjoyed enormous success with their F3 update of the original "Diesels That Did It," the FT. Although originally intended to be freight locomotives, many were tricked out with boilers and other equipment to allow them to head up passenger trains.

They really outdid themselves on the F7 version, introduced in February 1949. From then until December 1953, EMD turned out an astonishing 2366 A units and 1483 cabless B units. While EMD had originally thought of delivering a single locomotive model to all railroads, each railroad began having its own way. So it was that Santa Fe, who had been using some of the early F-units in a passenger role, wanted stainless steel panels on the sides of its F7 passenger locomotives.

Of course, the Santa Fe passenger paint scheme was their famous red and silver Warbonnet, perhaps the most famous paint job ever. The stainless steel panels ran from just behind the front crew ladder all the way to back of the locomotive, passing below the portholes and vents until the back door but rising to the stainless steel grille behind the rear door. Tow things were accomplished by this interesting addition. First, an already striking appearance was made even more so. Second, the brushed stainless steel shed of dirt and toad grime while being easier to wash.

Number 304L was EMD construction number 8716, delivered October 1949. It was turned into a CF7 in July 1974 and was renumbered as ATSF 2512. This made it into the equivalent of a GP7 with an odd cab. It went to the TennKen Railroad as 2512, then to the Nashville & Eastern RR also as 2512, and was last seen on the Commonwealth Railway as number 512.

Before this locomotive prince was kissed by ATSF's Shelburne Shops and turned into a froggish CF7, it was indeed royalty of railroading. While some of the later F3s appeared to be nearly identical, the actual F7s in Warbonnet were numbered 300 to 314 (4 of each number, L-A-B-C) and from 325 to 344 (mostly 4 of each number). While Santa Fe bought 35 A and 66 B Warbonnets, they bought 162 each of A and B units in their yellow and blue freight colors. The principle difference between the freight and passenger versions was the steam supply for passenger trains. B units had steam boilers where cabs might have been, so they and the A units had piping and plumbing for the steam.

The Model

Perhaps the hardest thing to model on the Santa Fe Warbonnet F7 is the brushed stainless steel panels. Yes, the actual Warbonnet scheme is challenging to get right, but brushed stainless steel? How do you model that? It took Athearn three years to work out a process. They started by chrome plating the specific area, which will give that "toy pistol" look. To tone it down from the wavy mirror effect, they used a semi-secret process involving some sort of varnish (my word, not theirs) to make it look like brushed stainless. The effect is stunning, to say the least. In my opinion, it has captured the prototype perfectly.

To complement this effort, the rest of the paint job is just wonderful. Of course, I'm the kind of person who keeps hoping they'll make Warbonnet Underoos (in adult sizes!) but that didn't stop me from getting very close with some 8 power magnification. Generally, the masking was perfect and paint was applied thickly enough to coat but not so thick it plugged details. On the big arc on the left side below the grille, there is a small red "peek" which look like a bit of overspray, but you cannot see it without magnification.

Detail is scrumptious, beginning with the virtually scale windshield wipers. The pilot step on the side has a see-through plate with an applied wire grab above it. The handrails up the sides are separate and very fine. The air intake grilles along the sides are made of real metal. Roof fans have grilles and you can see down in to the blades. The model sports the as-delivered two horn system; later modifications saw them with 5-tone chimes. The glazing is smooth and free of casting wiggles, and the frame on the cab side windows is delightful. Even the lift rings on the roof are modeled.

When I reviewed the F3s last year, I covered the measurements, which do not change from F3 to F7. The very good adherence to the prototype's dimensions results in a very good scale representation. The model comes out of the box, not only ready to run, but ready to enjoy because no further assembly is required. If you wish to add more details, you could look for aftermarket MU hoses, cutbars, and some of the F7As of ATSF had ladder rungs on the side of the nose and safety grabs above the windshields added later on.

Operation

If this model looks like someone thought you were a collector, it runs like they figured you were actually going to use it - a lot! I have some Genesis F3 units around and this new F7 flew in formation with them, matching lower, speeds right out of the box. At 17.7 ounces and running on Athearn's centered iron wheels, it delivered a solid 4 ounces of pull, which on my layout would be good for about 40 NMRA weighted 40-footers with metal wheels. This means they slightly outperformed their early F3 relatives but not by much. It is much more temperate at 12 volts, managing a sedate 66 scale miles per hour as opposed to the earlier F3 which cranked up speeds in excess of 135!

The model wears plastic magnetic-type knuckle couplers, and these seem to work well enough; I had no problems with them. The lighting is both directional and impressive. So-called constant-intensity lighting has been applied here and one wonders why anyone ever makes a loco without it anymore. This lighting pops on when you crack the throttle, before the engine actually moves, and gets very little brighter as we advance the power. It shows white light in both headlight housings going forward and only red in the upper housing in reverse.

I ran it around the layout, in various assignments and kept waiting for it to show some sort of bad behavior. It pattered happily through switches and over the diamond without any flickers in the headlights or hesitation in the motors. It doesn't seem to care if it's pulling a load or not; it runs the same wither way when it come to tracking and power pickup. Since all 8 wheels are drivers and pick up current, this contributes hugely to this stable performance.

Summary

Small, incremental improvements under the hood match Athearn's restless search for improved, almost museum quality appearance. With this loco arriving assembled, the buyer can take it home an run it right out of the box. This unit is DCC-ready by using a replacement decoder for the power board. Perhaps the popular diesel model every - the ATSF Warbonnet F-unit - has just stepped up to a high level. Even if you have others, you're probably going to want this one. It's that good.