Review: 1.6" Scale F-Unit Diesel Locomotive

Today we're reviewing a 1.6" scale F-Unit Diesel locomotive built by L & B Trains. This unit is an electric locomotive, painted in the Santa Fe War Bonnet scheme. Enjoy and thank you for watching The Steam Channel!
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[@Leveractionjake]

The top of the cab resembles more of an Alco FA unit

[@grootsan]

It all depends on the purpose : This would be a very nice loco and certainly good enough to pull kids around in an amusement park. In that case it doesn't matter that it only resembles the prototype from a distance. As a serious modeller I would give it a miss however.

[@danielramsey1959]

I'm glad to have read this review from the Steam Channel. Others are posting similar thoughts as mine, i would rather build my own shell from scratch. Cannot get used to faux Mars light as well. Please do more reviews like this! It helps people to spend wisely on their hobby.

[@georgellabus]

A brilliant piece of work that was built to provide pleasure to the owner and riders and I am sure it does that in spades!!! Don't mind the negatives Bill just enjoy it.

[@wingmanalive]

$13,500????? The price of a car but the precision/accuracy of a toy.

[@lmccluer]

I agree, but try pricing RC jet airplanes with real miniature jet engines. Even a small one that’s not junk will cost $8-$10k. A 1/4 scale one is about and depending on the model, more than most top line cars, and even close to or more than a lot of houses, not junk houses either. Some of the engines themselves Te $10k alone.

[@CurdsFromDaCulvers420]

DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY HO TRAINS I COULD GET WITH THAT MONEY?

[@ThunderGuppy900]

The material alone to build something this large is most of that cost, thats like complaining about paying more for a better equipped car.

[@davidtheriot7404]

And there are people paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for RC airplanes. Not to mention those ugly as hell super cars that ain't nothing but a glorified penis extension.

[@Chris.Davies]

Brings back memories. I had an HO scale train with the same colour scheme.

[@Jazzbass2664]

This is why ALCO PAs and EMD F7s shouldn't sleep together.

[@TheSteamChannel]

Bryan McKenzie best comment ever...😂😁

[@utahrr1]

CLASSIC! LOL!

[@jerrysmith7166]

Some people have to much damn money

[@wisconsinandnorthwesternra8381]

Lol

[@BossSpringsteen69]

I was kinda thinking the same thing. lol

[@jeremys5904]

That is so awesome my son would LOVE to ride on a train like that! I wish i could find a local place like that to go for train rides. A VERY VERY expensive hobby im sure!

[@lurkerrekrul]

For that price, it should come with full interior detailing. I would have also hidden the connection point behind an access panel for display purposes.

[@eastamericantrains589]

I know it's hard to make that but that shell sucks.

[@bwallace5945]

Agreed the body contours are way off. It is not like there are probably over 100,000 photos of Santa Fe F unit Warbonnets out there plus probably actual EMD Schematic Drawings available.

[@muskokamike127]

not that hard. If you can mold a 150' long yacht hull you can make a decent mold for a 7' long locomotive. It would be FAR better to mold a basic body then epoxy on the additional contours and details.

[@jasonlockhartsr4415]

The cab contours are way off. What could have been a truly fantastic model was totally ruined by that one error. If this is an advertisement because you want to sell these, you have certainly lost me as a customer.

[@TheSteamChannel]

It’s a review...like many others on the channel. I’m not affiliated with the manufacturer.

[@9005067]

very good and informative video i enjoyed this and the young lady knows her stuff

[@extremetrains4718]

Just Superb!!!! I love this train!

[@gabrielsunrise164]

TWO AMAZING MACHINES!!!

[@thomasnativo6491]

I need to ride that Unit so bad that's so cool you got your own backyard Railroad to yourself

[@hearle356]

Wow. Real nice

[@alexandrossotiropoulos5621]

The locomotive looks nice and the settings too.

[@raymondleggs5508]

the squareness of the body and windows makes it look like it had chuck norris face

[@TheSteamChannel]

Raymond Leggs I was thinking more of the magic school bus 😉

[@raymondleggs5508]

@@TheSteamChannel I was also thinkg that too lol. its just the windows make it look like the locomotive is giving you a thousand yard stare like chuck norris.

[@TechniWorld]

This is so COOL!!

[@johnobrien2207]

Nice looking model and train

[@zacharyspinks6207]

That looks Cool!

[@switchpointproductions7927]

iv'e always loved the f series diesel locomotives!, Great video!

[@raylidington]

This is an amazing set up you have Just think if your friends came round what fun they would have

[@Kasey1776]

Nice review!

[@coltonstaylor2807]

I love the new intro as much I like this Chanel

[@joseleoneldamasceno2075]

a locomotive that every driver wants to drive in his club VERY COMPLETE and practice traditional model thanks

[@amosmaclin4665]

That's awesome

[@bluesky66666]

Awesome

[@martinagustini6925]

Very cool.

[@officialdieselstudios2251]

Ouch. Nice Toy! That is a very beautiful locomotive! 🚋 🚞

[@syedjavedahmad9719]

Beautiful

[@wanderleyapparecidovieira2282]

Perfect to a point,the wind shield is not like a real one,that a point missing.

[@FromClaphamJunction]

Very cool video

[@williamthurston5904]

.............. I think it's absolutely wonderful ....the best I've ever seen.... thank you for sharing this .....if only I won the lotto I'd buy a dozen of them.... God Bless America

[@Mike-tg7dj]

You'd think they'd get the number board right. I've yet to see a F series locomotive where the "B" unit had a cab for crews to ride in and control from. "B" units have no cab, therefore they are designated "B" units. I think at some point Union Pacific changed some of their locos to "B" unit by plywood and paint over windows, but that was on Geeps. If I were shelling out 13 grand I want it to pretty much blow sunshine up my behind and make my toes curl.

[@TheSteamChannel]

Mike Lcml5c the number board layout had nothing to do with railroading...196 B was to mark the owner's military service.

[@burnttoast982]

perfect for a kid who doesnt care what kind of train hes riding on who wants to have fun

[@cact25]

That looks more like an ALCO profile then an EMD!

[@JohnnyJTav]

Awesome...

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Nice video and fun to watch. Take care now.

[@johnmogavero8156]

I love this and want one in my yard !

[@richardmelkus7844]

Ich hab noch nie ne Modelleisenbahnerin mit Frosch im Hals gesehen. Danke!

[@philliplee980]

awesome video. very cool.

[@parjacpar3077]

What I like to know is how long did it take the lovely lady to remeber her lines as thats very indepth and a video worth watching

[@samiam619]

P arjacpar Ever heard of cue cards?

[@ronbutler6502]

WOW THAT THING NEEDS WORK

[@Simplicity223]

It’s huge ok do you expect everything to be perfect

[@majorwoody1720]

Indominus Rex it being bigger allows more detail

[@jamesm6638]

@@Simplicity223 tons of people have built F units at this size that look fine

[@alexgray1483]

I love trains and this is cool

[@balajibv8536]

Superb

[@ArkansasLocomotiveWorks]

I love that intro

[@psychicfriendfreadbear6025]

this is exactly what I want but in the r160 form from the NYC subway!

[@phil69881]

On the miniature railway I volunteer at we have 2 diesels (a Deltic and a Hymek) and both aren't scale models...they just do for a good run about with kids, much like this one. The steam locos we use are mostly scale representatives of the true form, but there's a Tinkerbell class called Jeff, which does most of the work. If it's cheap and cheerful and kids love it, buy it. It's low maintenance and easy to run. On a critical point: The lady presenter is a bit wooden in her approach. She could interact with the loco and use a more animated voice....instead of sitting there like a plank and speaking in a rather monotone way.... (sorry Love, no offence, but that's my opinion). On the whole. Great Channel.

[@anunggaming]

So Cool!

[@mstball1]

I want all sets of trains because I like trains.

[@claytonsheppard3385]

your my fan

[@AbhishekKumar1902]

love it!!

[@patlawless1960]

I agree that it would have been the same amount of effort to get the shell right as it was to produce this large scale Tri-ang doppelganger. There is a giant sh*t-load of technical info available for F-units.

[@jaeFFCC]

Awesome and beautiful! when the woman loves trains!! Greeting from Mexico!

[@robertdonaldson6584]

I enjoyed it

[@Hornhausen]

Great.

[@stl_dab_man_420scg4]

That is cool

[@NJW1973]

The L E D Mars lights looks awful.

[@keithode1737]

Seriously HO and N scale Mars lights look better.

[@ashevilletrainman6989]

NJW1973 I Know! For that size you should be able to get an actual working mars light

[@johntapp9670]

No EMD F-series locomotive ever had a light setup like that. Usually it was nothing more than a light cluster on a sideways swivel and that was it. And some railroads put a red light in there to use when it was being pulled backward.

[@CurdsFromDaCulvers420]

I like the older halogen like bulbs in the locos not the bright ugly led light

[@TomPauls007]

I think this a nice characature of the F... Nice lady.

[@Phartzandbelch]

Please for all the critics out there spreading their good cheer and who are enhancing the hobby with their stellar support and feedback; please share your work, completed projects and abilities here so we can enjoy.

[@jedi-xe2er]

fantasic!

[@rdelamora1968]

nice locomotive.....Greetings

[@aaroncone6778]

Really cool video! Would be really cool to see a Baldwin Sharknose locomotive in this scale!

[@johntapp9670]

WOW!!!!! SOMEBODY OUT THERE READ MY MIND!!!!! I HAVE BEEN DREAMING ABOUT THAT FOR THE LAST THIRTY-FIVE YEARS!!!!! OH, THAT WOULD BE BEYOND AWESOME!!!!! I WANT ONE NOW!!!!!

[@krishnakumarsanadi1478]

Nice

[@roadmaster720]

a beautiful model train and a beautiful young lady. nice combo.

[@UrbaneFarmer]

I need one of these for my yard.

[@pctelia]

Im really like it!!!

[@matthewserdynski1699]

It looks like something you would buy at the toy store to give your 5 year old for Christmas.

[@equalizer7775]

AMAZING,absolutely love it,and what a beautiful speaking voice the young lady has

[@AloneinFiction]

I am so getting one!!!

[@theq4602]

Makes me want to give a crack at building a 1.6" scale GE U18b. (I live near Pickens RR and they just look so quirky)

[@SandraKurz]

Nice Video. Greetings from Berlin

[@naturalartificial3067]

Subscribed !!!

[@odairbotelho8462]

Nossa que beleza de máquina é um modelo de um trem antigo

[@kailashvyas3712]

nice..

[@rogermoore2365]

Cool

[@geekspace7194]

Dear nice video.

[@Stanf954]

Sorry but for $13000 + I would expect the shell proportions to be correct. The nose and windscreen are way off. It has the look of an Alco FA with the squareness of the front instead of the classic round curves that gave it the bulldog moniker. NOT IMPRESSED.

[@dougborrett3566]

I agree I wouldn't be paying $1300.00 let alone $13,000.000 + for something as pathetic looking as that and the sound effects were rubbish too. The Santa Fe decals on the nose and on the side were crooked, the ladder rungs on the nose were crooked, the horns were out of scale among many other things, the fuel tank was the wrong shape, and the shape was all wrong, with something as big as that if you can't get it even close to shape give it away, one word RUBBISH.

[@jew_world_order]

Stan Fishman That much, really? I wanted to get one for my 3 year old so he can ride around the local club tracks but I was expecting around a grand or two. Looks like I'll be buying used.

[@mileswrich]

I agree, before I got this far down in the comments, I thought, "WTF" were these people thinking. That is a terrible rendition of an F Unit, and those trucks?

[@gregcollins7277]

@Don Vito 😂😂😂

[@pagenip2542]

If you think you can do it better, then nobody is stopping you. Whining armchair experts.

[@andremachado2102]

parabéns pela locomotiva

[@medwaymodelrailway7129]

Enjoyed the video and l have subscribe to your channel.

[@gani5454]

Great...

[@captainnaveedbbai6424]

Wao Great Nice Good Job

[@EricMussBarnes]

Ha! At first, I didn't understand this train was designed to pull passengers in a park. I thought those batteries and motors were massive overkill! Once I saw it was made to actually carry human beings, it made a lot more sense! LOL

[@benconway9010]

I like how the led light go's round like that kind of like knight rider..lol

[@OTTOMOBIL8]

BIG POINTS ! I have only the GILS - GAUGE 0 - SILVER GILS TRAIN . GREETINGS ! F.E. GERMANY

[@kristianthompson7632]

you know, it is really cool looking and I would love to have one myself but the body, and especially the Santa Fe logo on the nose look too toyish to me. But it is cool.

[@briankistner4331]

The larger scales are going to look a bit "off" compared to the scale trains (HO, N-Gauge, O-Scale etc.) G scale comes to mind. Even old Lionel wasn't to scale. Nothing wrong with that, different strokes for different folks. But hey, for those of us that are nuts about trains and wonder how it would affect a relationship, this gal is for you!!!

[@cact25]

Scale can be off and not noticed, but when you get the shape off as badly as that, it just becomes a miscarriage.

[@hyballs]

If they cannot be bothered to apply the nose transfer properly, what other compromises is there???

[@MrJohn1966elliott]

I love smell oil rugs and real black diesel smoke and sound. I want to old forklift's diesel engine with electric generator powered fit in model 1/5 scale train.

[@JimBob_Joe77]

I came here to look at some trains but this is much better. And I also like your "Marvel" MCU intro but made for locomotives instead. Wait a minute. Loco-motive. Loco=crazy.... crazy train. Ozzy Osbourne was on to something...

[@hybriddyneguy]

Please tell us more about the Hot Box Detector !!!

[@trainsofthemidwest]

I subscribed

[@retiresoon5639]

The quality of the fabrication is very sub par for what I could see. Looks like someone who never welded before did the welds.

[@StubProductions]

It's an F flat. Lmao!!! 😂

[@heisrisen6898]

Beautiful train, greetings from Miami Florida, homestead Florida,

[@Ferrocarril_Chicago]

As for the frame and the body, how would one even build something like that? It would be pretty awesome to create a fleet of modern era units in that scale.

[@JeffDM]

This seems a lot squarer than an F-unit should be. The flatness of the roof and squareness of the nose reminded me more of an Alco than F-unit.

[@gravelydon7072]

That is because it is. An F-unit has a curved roof. The windshield glass openings in the cab were curved. And the nose was curved. Back in the early 70s we made 1.5/1.6" F-units the hard way at Koster's Miniature Railroad Supplies. They were all steel bodies. The nose was made by taking a sheet of 16ga steel and cutting, hammering, and welding it on a wood block. It had the correct curvature. If you ordered it with a Mars light, it had a true oscillating headlight. Pain to make but something to see at night. The grills on the side were made by stretching copper coated steel wire so that they could be open behind them. They took a lot of liberties on this model so that they could have a bigger interior and to make it easier to do the fiberglass work. If you want to see what ours looked like, see ibls.org/files/Companies/KostersMiniatureRailroadSupplies/Kosters_Miniature_Railroad_Supplies_Catalog_6B.pdf $4500 per unit back then is equal to about $18K today. I'm in that catalog by the way.

[@kiwitrainguy]

Just had a look at that catalogue from 1978 - very impressive! Although $4500 would've been an eye-watering amount of money in those days. A very good model of the GP-7.

[@gravelydon7072]

I think you would have been surprised how many we built even at that price. The Clinchfield GP-7 resulted in a sale to the same owner of a Clinchfield F-7 as an example.

[@brentboswell1294]

The rake of the windshield is wrong, but the nose actually looks pretty good. It looks like someone applied a straight Warbonnet decal to the nose, whereas on the real article, the "whiskers" coming off the Santa Fe cross followed the contour of the hood much better. I think the decal is doing the nose and major injustice here...if it were an HO gauge model, I'd say to use a decal softener on the decal before it adheres to the paint and some tweezers to manipulate the whiskers!

[@brentboswell1294]

And P.S. on the Santa Fe, passenger F A units didn't have steam generator so the B units carried them :-p

[@NoferTrunions]

Nice. Wonder if they offer a fully detailed cabin with clear windows?

[@chrischiampo7647]

Same Locomotive I Had as a Child But in HO Scale 😀😀😀👍🏼

[@user-pf3vc8vh7u]

미니기차가대단한힘입니다. 사람이타고가네요, 터널도지나가고~~~작지만 정말 기차입니다.

[@Hummelmoers]

The Windows looks like a PA Series

[@monstersofthemidway7125]

$13.5k is very reasonable. I wish I had a few acres of land so I could build a layout. Walt Disney had something similar on his personal property.

[@TheSteamChannel]

We’ll have to disagree that 13.5 is reasonable for the quality level of this unit. Checkout the Museum Trains F7 review we just posted. This is a park engine for kids compared to that.