|
|
Post by dave on Jun 25, 2015 17:33:41 GMT -5
While browsing through the product announcements, I saw that the Dallas TRE and Sounder F59PHi and passenger cars are now only $99 for a set. These look to be a great value for getting started in Z scale. I have done some research on these and can't find a lot of information. I think these have been out for about 10 years or so. What I would like to know is how well these locos run in addition to how well the cars track. I am not a good tinkerer and like locos and cars that run well out of the box. I would appreciate your input.
|
|
|
|
Post by markm on Jun 25, 2015 19:25:15 GMT -5
Dave,
The F59 sets are nice and would make a good starter set. I have an Amtrak California set. Yeah, they are old, I think almost one of the first injection mold products. The engine runs well and easily pulls the full set, plus a car or two more. Excellent details for my set, matches the prototypes well. There are some known warts. Somewhere out in train land there is a file: AZL_F59PHI_upgrade.pdf that is page 18 & 19 of some copy of Ztrack magazine, that talks about these warts and how to remove them.
Overall I'm happy with my set and have been thinking of buy a set myself. I would turn it into an Altamont Commuter Express train set.
Hope this helps,
Mark
|
|
|
|
Post by bloodynose on Jun 25, 2015 22:46:22 GMT -5
I bought 2 Amtrak West sets (not Bombardier cars) because I wanted to double head the locos and pull more cars (Amtrak commonly does this on the Sunset Limited) and I was really disappointed! The cars would not stay coupled especially going over a switch and the rear coupler on the loco was misaligned with the cars (way too high) so it needs work. I use Rokuhan track and all of my other AZL locos and cars run pretty good on this track. So for now they will stay in their case until I get time to "tinker" with them!
Mark
|
|
|
|
Post by zscalehobo on Jun 26, 2015 11:27:31 GMT -5
While browsing through the product announcements, I saw that the Dallas TRE and Sounder F59PHi and passenger cars are now only $99 for a set. These look to be a great value for getting started in Z scale. I have done some research on these and can't find a lot of information. I think these have been out for about 10 years or so. What I would like to know is how well these locos run in addition to how well the cars track. I am not a good tinkerer and like locos and cars that run well out of the box. I would appreciate your input. Dave: Welcome to the board and welcome to z! Yes, this is an amazing value since they used to retail at $399! Buying a set at $99 allows you extra cash to send AZL a tip in appreciation for the value they are providing. :-) I believe they are a 2004 release, the first injection mold from AZL. I am surprised you cannot find much information ... here are some searches I did at Google to get more details on these sets: www.google.com/search?q=azlforum.com%3A+f59phior www.google.com/search?q=azlforum.com%3A+f59In those Google search results, I found this article from not too long ago, which catches most of the issues: azlforum.com/thread/411/azl-f59phi-tips-tricksSo, actually, there are quite a few "out of the box" issues that can potentially be in each set, but there are fixes posted all over AZL's site and via Ztrack. Here is the link to the Ztrack article to which markm refers: www.ztrack.com/articles/azl/AZL_F59PHI_upgrade.pdfAZL's main website has a lot of the basic information about each release, here is the link to the F59 page (1994 refers to the year when the real F59PHI's were introduced to American railroads, NOT the year AZL released the set!): www.americanzline.com/locomotives/f59phi/On AZL's release description, I don't see the same description I have on my product pages. Here is I what I have: AZL's F59PHIs and coaches are injection molded and produced by Ajin of Korea. This represents the first injection release from AZL. The locomotives feature a 10mm Mabuchi can motor, brass flywheel, direction controlled lighting, and come DCC ready. The couplers can be replaced with Micro-Trains® Magne-MaticTM couplers. Passenger cars include interiors.Note that the most common issue is with the back porch (I observe this on most of the units I receive), and I have posted a video on how to do fix that in under 2 minutes seconds from start to finish, counting opening the package and doing it one-handed. That video is in the comments of the tips post I linked to above. Good luck and enjoy! |
|
