How's your new ToT working out for you?

Mine is fine! I've gotta admit though, I always get butterflies when unwrapping new equipment that has literally traveled thousands of miles to get to my hands for fear of some of the issues you are describing. I believe 3rd Rail's packing is to be commended given the adverse circumstances in shipping.

No issues here. Everything appears to be in very good order.

For those of you who have just received this passenger set, what is remarkable is the overall appearance. The blue color is striking and it just draws your attention. It is unlike any other passenger train we own, in a very good way.

So far so good.  It has made it out of the boxes and onto a shelf near where it will be on display.  The shelf just fits its length!  Wow!

 It came tied up with a bow, literally.

 The only damage may have been done when I pulled a protective sheath around these antenna off, but I was oh so careful.  I will try to fix it tomorrow.

Y'all know what I found interesting?

On the $100,000 model created for GM, the cars were made 2x the length of the locomotive, making them each 10' long! I was struck by the idea that the loco and/or the cars were "super stretched " to give the impression the train was flying by, not to mention larger than life!

Obviously, the engine is not exactly half the length of the cars, but the model still reflects that original intention of creating a long, beautiful, elegant train.

Just finished unpacking with no issues either. To reiterate Brian's comment, the color is amazing. The fine pictures posted fall short of capturing it's magical hue. The overall effect is true confection.

"This post was also placed on another thread before I saw this one"

I have only opened the engine so far but mine has a pretty big wear mark in the paint in the front under one of the cab windows.  With the way they packed it, I know it didn't come from the shipping but likely happened at the factory.  It wouldn't be so bad if it were somewhere else but it's right where your eyes are going to look so it's annoying.

And I agree with the wires in some of the windows.  Share what you find and any possible solutions.

But overall, like others, am very happy so far.  I need to dig into the cars next.

My ToT arrived on Tuesday but I haven't yet had a chance to open the boxes.  Hope to unpack my set tomorrow.

I'll probably take my set out of the box, check it out and return it to boxes, as my current layout has O-63 curves including an S-curve.

It gives me more incentive to rebuild the layout (moving to O-72 and O-80 curves and straightening out the s-curve), as I current can't run 3 out of my 4 passenger sets!

Jim

Actually, I've been sitting here tonight for a while looking at mine, and thinking about my reaction.

I like it a lot and I know it is prototypically to scale.

But I would prefer it with 18" cars.  I've just grown accustomed to that siz, and after all these years that size looks best to me.  

I know it didn't have one, but I wish it had a B unit.  

This is my first Sunset engine with the belt drive/drive shaft system.  I finally got my E7 on the tracks and I was surprised it pulled the ToT consist, as the engine is light and the cars are heavy.  Must be the 12 wheel drive!  Very glad there was a bag of parts included.  The tiniest screw in the bag saved the day!  The truck bolsters are held onto the side frames with 2 of these screws on each side.  I wondered why one of my roller pickups was contacting a gearbox when depressed.  I soon noticed one screw was missing and the other 3 were holding on by a thread.  The assembler must of got called away and missed finishing the truck.

Is there a way to shut off the MARS light via Cab-2?  Probably somewhere in the instructions

Rich 

Hey Rich,

Just a quick observation...it was so refreshing to see your post and the attitude of "this is an easy fix" for a couple of minor problems. Granted we all want perfection out of the box, but the rants about things easily fixed get old.

Paul

I would contact Scott.  They may have another shell to swap with yours.

Rich, this is my first Sunset/3rd Rail product too.  I have only looked at the locomotive, so far.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  I have yet to run it, but mine is in perfect shape appearance wise.  So glad that 3rd Rail stepped up and offered this piece of railroad history for us O gaugers.

I understand you had a part in convincing them for this gorgeous train, and for that, a big THANK YOU KEITH!  I'll bet I have 12 hours on it and still can't bring myself to take it off the mainline!

Rich

Here are a couple of other tidbits of information on the E7, confirmed by Sunset.  It is routine for the smoke unit to shut down once it gets to a certain temp when you have it switched to "TMCC".  It will turn on again once it cools down.  Mine was shutting down every ten minutes or so.  You have to experiment and find the lowest voltage where it will just start to produce smoke for optimum run time.  I haven't found it- yet.

The MARS light can't be shut off to have just the headlight.  You can shut off both, but not one or the other.

These aren't complaints, just sharing info as I get it in case others are curious!

Rich 

"a big THANK YOU KEITH"

You are so correct SSL. If it were not for Keith's persistence, this project more than likely would not have happened. We have become good friends and a value his efforts in our hobby, he is one of the most creative people I know.

Of course, Scott Mann was the hub that made this work. A big thank you to him for making this fabulous train available to those of us who purchased it.

I've now had mine on the rails. Fortunately not a bit of shipping damage in evidence. 

I agree with comments about the flasher used for the Mars light and the little people. I've posted elsewhere about changing out the flasher circuit for an Ngineering Mars light simulator, which will make you want the Mars light feature on whenever the engine is moving! I haven't had time to open up the engine to check whether the stock circuit is the same as my other 3rd Rail E7s but I imagine it is. This is a relatively easy fix. I might tackle the passengers another time IF I can find (or make) figures representing the streamliner era that actually fit.

But neither the stock Mars light effect nor the stock passengers detract from the overall impression created by the set, which is nothing short of superb. I'd single out the paint (which has a great gloss finish like the original as seen in in contemporary photos and film) and the dome lighting. I had a small part in helping Scott with the decision about how the GM sets should be painted and the result exceeds even my high expectations.

Like others I think a tribute is due to Keith and Scott for seeing that this project got done and for my part I'm more than happy give it.

Regarding the smoke, this is probably the only engine I have that I will run without it. I've serviced the smoke units on my 3rd Rail Texas Special E7s and the metal piping (for want of a better word) used to provide smoke output to the multiple exhaust ports is delicate. I'm not convinced that you can get a proper refill of smoke fluid to the smoke unit without taking the body shell off and opening the unit itself. Lionel E7s have a somewhat more robust plastic system but the effect is about the same. I can live without it.

I have run mine with smoke enough that I have definately burned up whatever fliud was in it when it was shipped.  i filled the unit and it took a bit to begin again but it did as well as out of the box.  I like to run with smoke on this puppy.

Still waiting here in Murrysville,PA.  Today's ice storm stopped delivery.  My friend Bart,Daylight here,got his set last week and he lives a couple of miles down the road from me.

Maybe tomorrow.

Norm