AZL F59PHi

[nscaler711]

 I too have taken advantage of AZLs price reduction, and got me a Metrolink Set, and snagged the last 2012 Z Con Metrolink coach while I was at it... 

All I can say is it sure is a nice runner, and the coaches look good too!




Yes there is even a cab car!


One funny thing I found out...
Hmm me thinks AZL took the Athearn N F59PHi and shrunk it... Lol




Now while it looks good, it has a heck of a time pulling all 5 cars, which is more or less due to the inside bearing trucks on the coaches, its seems inside bearings just suck in our small trains, as evident in the Athearn N versions, the Bmann Amfleets (both versions) and I believe even Katos Inside bearing trucks don't roll as smoothly as "normal" trucks.
So I am left with the task of trying to get them to roll better now...  Most I can think is ream out the holes and use graphite powder...
The F59 seems to have alot of weight, so I'm sure it can pull more than just 5... Maybe some BF snot will help since there is no traction tire (blessing or wtf where they thinking?) I have not decided on an answer for that yet...

I also need to change the LED out too, I just can't stand yellow headlights... But when I get around to that I will add some ditch light tubes to light those up as well....

All in all its a very nice set, I do plan on getting a Amtrak set too just to see if the Surfliners roll any better... Which I am sure they will.

[Catt]

The Bachmann Amtubes use the same style of trucks on both the N and HO versions.What I did on those to get them to roll a little easier was pull the wheel sets and ream the holes for the axles.Do not go all the way through but remove most of the material (have not done my Metro Link set yet so I don't know if this will work on the AZL trucks).The idea is that the less contact area there is the less rolling resistance there is and it made a big difference in my Bachmann cars

Who ever made this loco for AZL sure knew what they were doing ,but now you know why there are 5 cut outs but only 4 cars.

[Sokramiketes]

Pretty much the whole AZL line was developed by sending larger scale models to the factory to shrink.

[nscaler711]

@Catt yup i had to do the same thing on my Bmanns too, but those were easy because it was just a hole the axles slid into, the AZLs like the Athearn N Bombardier coaches the axles snap into place.... which makes it alot harder. I need tiny bearings!!
It makes me wonder if the Amtrak ones would roll better since they have a more conventional truck, like whats used in the Superliners.

@Sokramiketes you're not joking there!  All in all its a decent design lol.

[Catt]

I'm planning to swap out the trucks on my cars (not that easy but easy is for wimps  ) with the modern outside framed MTL trucks.Nobody can ever call me proto-phobic I want my cars smooth rolling ,besides my set is going to the paint shop for a Grande Valley Railway paint job.

[nscaler711]

Let me know what you want to do with those trucks when you do the swap, I may need spares for my mess ups...

[Catt]

It may be awhile because I want to get my N scale layout back to the point where I can at least run a train around it and then get my big (figuratively speaking)Z layout installed in it's forever home. But I will keep you in mind.