Sir Robbins
Well-Known Member
Time for my review of Fox Valley's new ES44DCs that come standard with Hi Ad trucks. I was quite content with past FVM locos with the exception of the dim ditch lights, being noisy in DC mode and being a bit off tone with color schemes (they don't blend with Kato at all). I bought two ES44DCs which come standard with Hi Ad trucks in the Norfolk Southern paint scheme to start off! Neadless to say, I will buy more! I took the pics with my iPhone so it isn't the best quality.
Review: The first thing I noticed (and loved) when I took these babies out of their containers was the typical (and what seemed to be better) Fox Valley Models' attention to detail. The roofing details are the best in N scale no doubt! Labels and venting details are GREAT! Kato locos look great but when placed beside a FVM loco, they look too plain and dull to be honest.
The front rails and stairs are great. I may be a bit picky but some of the paint on the stairs seemed sloppy. I don't know but you can judge by my somewhat decent iPhone pics
The overall look and feel of these locos is great! I will be attaching the grab rails, wipers and visors soon so they look even better!
As far as running mode, DC is noisy at first which was disappointing but after awhile, the locos got quieter but still can be noisy. I am going to run DCC on the layout and am hoping that by adding the decoders, they will quiet down like Kato locos do. Another point to be made is the ditch lights are brighter than previous FVM locos which is a plus! In the past, FVM ditch lights and headlights were quite disappointingly dim. I have no pics yet of them in action but will have a video in due time of both DC and DCC mode. Until them, I admire them and look forward to their (hopefully great) performance in DCC.
Review: The first thing I noticed (and loved) when I took these babies out of their containers was the typical (and what seemed to be better) Fox Valley Models' attention to detail. The roofing details are the best in N scale no doubt! Labels and venting details are GREAT! Kato locos look great but when placed beside a FVM loco, they look too plain and dull to be honest.
The front rails and stairs are great. I may be a bit picky but some of the paint on the stairs seemed sloppy. I don't know but you can judge by my somewhat decent iPhone pics
The overall look and feel of these locos is great! I will be attaching the grab rails, wipers and visors soon so they look even better!
As far as running mode, DC is noisy at first which was disappointing but after awhile, the locos got quieter but still can be noisy. I am going to run DCC on the layout and am hoping that by adding the decoders, they will quiet down like Kato locos do. Another point to be made is the ditch lights are brighter than previous FVM locos which is a plus! In the past, FVM ditch lights and headlights were quite disappointingly dim. I have no pics yet of them in action but will have a video in due time of both DC and DCC mode. Until them, I admire them and look forward to their (hopefully great) performance in DCC.
