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Comparision: N Scale Supply has attempted to remain objective in comparing the EMD FTs produced by InterMountain and Micro-Trains, this review is the result. Below you will see photos and text detailing the special features of each manufacturers offering.
| Revisions: |
| 11/05/02 revised comment on Micro-Trains warranty, warranty was found to be inline with industry. |
| 11/05/02 revised comment on extra window on back of B unit. |
| 11/05/02 revised comment on lack of documenation with InterMountain units. |
| 11/05/02 revised comment on InterMountain light board being solder in. InterMountain is considering options on whether to leave as-is or change. |
| 11/05/02 added photo & comment about InterMountain truck sideframes. |
| 11/05/02 added photo & comment about InterMountain Phase I Dynamic for Santa Fe units. |
| 11/05/02 added photo & comment about InterMountain Santa Fe 'beaded' nose number. |
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InterMountain uses the Atlas AccuMate couplers and Micro-Trains uses, of course, Micro-Trains couplers. The InterMountain unit appears to be a similar mounting box as the Micro-Trains 1015 couplers and should be easy to replace if you wanted. In operating both of these units I did not experience any unwanted uncouplings.
InterMountain has applied wire grab irons on either side of the nose door. Micro-Trains has molded the grabs into the shell.
InterMountain has simulated the 'beaded' number on the nose of the Great Northern (402) and the Santa Fe (101) engines. |
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Both units have Phase III dynamics. The InterMountain dynamic (top) features etched metal grills in the corners and the Micro-Trains (middle) uses extremely fine molding to represent the grills.
Just received a Santa Fe unit from InterMountain and have added a picture (bottom). For the Santa Fe units they have molded a Phase I Dynamic Brake piece. |
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Top to bottom: Micro-Trains nose, InterMountain nose, Kato F7 nose. I have drawn a circle around each nose curve. The InterMountain nose is round like the Kato nose. The Micro-Trains nose is somewhat flatter. It is my opinion that the InterMountain & Kato noses are more prototypical. Also note the difference of the windshields. For some reason the horns are spaced further apart on the InterMountain unit.
Painting: Both units are painted very well with exceptionally crisp lettering. The Micro-Trains unit displays some fuzziness between the yellow and blue, can be seen in photo above. In my opinion I think the lettering on the InterMountain unit is slightly sharper. |
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| The Santa Fe FTs had a fifth porthole on one side with hostler controls to allow movement of the engine by itself. Shown here on the Micro-Trains model. InterMountain has stated that their units will have this feature when appropriate. The GN sets we have received should not have this extra porthole. |
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InterMountain has a unique feature that I have never seen before on a production engine, the glass is pressed in from the outside rather than be a piece sitting behind the body. Its clearly visible on the side port holes. The InterMountain unit has flush glass. Other features visible in these photos:
Handrails/Grab irons: InterMountain uses formed wire and Micro-Trains has finely molded plastic.
Numberboards: InterMountain has good relief molded in for the frame, the Micro-Trains unit numberboard frame is printed on.
Etched Grills: Both used etched grills. The Micro-Trains is a single piece running the entire length of the unit. InterMountain has separate pieces raised above the connecting body pieces (which I believe is more prototypical).
Micro-Trains has molded in the hinge detail on the first porthole. |
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Another view showing the pressed in glass of the InterMountain unit.
Numberboards: The InterMountain units were complete and Ready-to-Run. On the Micro-Trains a small sheet of waterslide decals is supplied in the box and the small numberboards have to be decaled by the consumer. The Micro-Trains numberboards are backlit, but its a very small hole providing the light and basically unnoticable. |
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| The InterMountain port holes (left) clearly showed the internal bracing. |
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| The InterMountain (left) etched fans allow easy viewing of the fan detail. The InterMoutain grills appear to be at about a 60 degree angle while the Micro-Trains are at 90 degrees. The InterMountain fans are black since this is the color they would quickly turn on the protoype. |
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The InterMountain door has the glass pressed in. Micro-Trains has glass behind the shell. InterMountain has also added the second window on the B unit. InterMountain has told us that this window appears to have been used for routing cables and steam piping between the units.
Diaphragms are provided with the Micro-Trains units (2 were in the Santa Fe package). They are to be glued on by the consumer (shown below). InterMountain has told us that American Limited is making a set as an aftermarket product for their FTs. |
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| Unfortunately I cannot compare apples to apples here. The InterMountain unit (top) is drawbar conntected while the Micro-Trains Santa Fe units have couplers. The InterMountain unit was fairly close, while I thought the Micro-Trains units were very far apart. |
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A-Unit Chassis: Both have a split frame chassis with White LEDs. InterMountain has held down the light board with two small screws. Micro-Trains has a slide-in board. There is no doubt the InterMountain board is firmly fastened. The Micro-Trains was very tight, but has no positive lock (which is probably not necessary). Digitrax has already announced the decoder for the Micro-Trains unit. According to InterMountain the board for their engine will be announced soon. One last difference. The InterMountain A-unit chassis was very difficult to remove from the shell (at least on the sample reviewed). The Micro-Trains was somewhat easier to remove, but I had some difficulting getting the front coupler re-installed.
InterMountain has blackened the side of the frame which would be visible through the portholes. |
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| B-Unit Chassis: Again both have a split frame chassis but without any headlight. Both B-units are heavier than their A-unit counterparts. |
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Exploded view of Chassis: Not a lot of difference between the mechanisms. The appearance of actual motor in both was nearly identical. The Micro-Trains unit has slightly larger looking flywheels (I did not remove them to actually weigh them). Both use bronze contact strips to transfer electricity from the trucks to the chassis.
NOTE: InterMoutain explained that due to a mixup at the factory the first 2,500 sets have the motor wires soldered to the light board. IntermMountain is considering whether to leave this as-is with the positive connection or to change it with a contact system of some type. Personally I don't think soldering the two wires would be that difficult for the fact that its a permanent contact. |
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Sideframe Deetail: It was pointed out to me that the original FTs had two different styles of journals. Three axles contained a more enclosed design while the fourth axle has a different appearance (I don't yet know what the mechanical difference was). InterMountain has modeled this faithfully. Look above, I just added two pictures of both InterMountain trucks from a Santa Fe A Unit.
The truck internals of both appear to be very simlar. Both use bronze strips on the axle points to transfer power. InterMountain has an enclosed design while the Micro-Trains is somewhat more open. |
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Packaging: Each InterMountain engine is packed in a separate jewel case which are then inserted in a cardboard outerbox. In the bottom of the B-Unit box is the screw used to fasten the drawbar. The surprise was that no paperwork was included. (InterMountain has told us that documentation will be included with all future models, we just got an early sample).
The Micro-Trains engines were both in a single vacumn formed plastic insert that was inside a cardboard box. Two pieces of paper were enclosed, one with an exploded diagram and a discussion of the Micro-Trains Magne-Matic couplers. The second piece of paper discussed the installation of a decoder. Two things surprised me about the Micro-Trains: 1) Once the diaphragms were installed the engines did not fit back into the insert, 2) the box was factory sealed, this precluded us from being able to test run the engines.
Warranty: Micro-Trains states on the documentation that the product has a 90 day warranty. InterMountain had no documentation with the engine so I called them. I was told that if the item was broken they would fix it, period. I would suspect that this will be treated like their HO engines and that service will be free for at least a year. On checking I found that 90 days is common in the industry, Atlas has 90 days, Kato has 60 days. |
Performance: I'm sure you have been reading through this review looking specificially for this section. Sorry its not done yet. I am testing both units to get some hard data but am not finished yet. On initial inspection I can say this, they run nearly identical. You could MU the two brands together and never know it. Both start smoothly and slowly, both seem to have very similar acceration curves. One was just slightly noisier than the other, but just ever so slightly. And considering the small sample size (1 unit each) I couldn't say with certainty that one brand was quieter than the other. I did not find the noise levels of either objectionable.
Headlight: Both used a white LED which seemed far too blue. I would probably change the LED out with an incandescent lamp to get a more prototypical appearance.
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| Conclusion: Each engine has features that are unique and innovative. Each engine also has flaws, but fortunately nothing very severe. Overall both are excellent first attempts at engine products by these manufacturers. In my opinion neither stands out as a clear winner, I would suggest you purchase whichever offers the paint scheme you desire. |
| -scott |
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