I received my Menard's F unit Santa Fe Beta 3.5 engine today and at least the box was not punctured through unlike a friend's who got his with a shipper custom aerated box.
First impression would be the paint appeared to be better and more consistently applied. Fit appeared okay so then I went to load batteries into the remote and the door seemed tight but everything worked.
Next is the engine with the undercarriage getting my attention. Why? Well the engine started fine but failed to make a loop around my simple O42 elevated tinplate track loop and derailed on the front truck. Further examination revealed that while the front power truck was not as bad as another poster the rear wheels were not properly gauged on the rear axle not traction tire front truck set causing the front truck to ride up the rails and derail. I decided since I am on the west coast in SoCal that I would attempt to re-gauge the rear axle front truck wheels. It took several attempts to get everything straight and within acceptable tolerances, but the job did get done.
Now onto running. The rear coupler is stiff to open and close but it did work. The front pilot hangs down really low to the track and in once section on my elevated tubular oval it would arc as it passed. Running the engine on my lower Fastrack loops it worked better. The starting speed seems to want to jack rabbit start and the same for stopping. The engine was to run like an old Mark engine. Lubrication was almost nil on the power trucks so this will also need some TLC. I does pull nicely and does not seem to slow down so that is a plus. I will be running it some more just becuase.
Overall as a toy train entry it is just fine but it almost seems I got a first revision and not a 3.5
