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Description

Last June, I acquired another basket case 1" scale toaster with an interesting background. I've always wanted an Iron Pony/Riding Railkits F7, but this one is rather unique. Built sometime around the late 70's, this was one of the first prototype Iron Pony/Sessums F7's built and had a super rare flat horizontal drive system unlike any of the other IP/RRK units built. It was originally part of an A-B-A set which was rumored at some point in its early life to have been used in the film Silver Streak as a stunt double in the final speeding into the station crash scene. However, the set had a powered B-unit and unpowered A-units at the front and back. When I acquired it, I only got the mismatched A-unit shell and B-unit powered chassis which required some modifications to fit correctly. The red paint had severely faded to almost orange and the running gear required touch-up paint. After some extensive electrical work and time in the paint booth chronicled here, the engine runs great and I'm contemplating building a dummy B-unit for it.

Taken at the Southern California Western Railroad Shops in June 2019.

Description

Last June, I acquired another basket case 1" scale toaster with an interesting background. I've always wanted an Iron Pony/Riding Railkits F7, but this one is rather unique. Built sometime around the late 70's, this was one of the first prototype Iron Pony/Sessums F7's built and had a super rare flat horizontal drive system unlike any of the other IP/RRK units built. It was originally part of an A-B-A set which was rumored at some point in its early life to have been used in the film Silver Streak as a stunt double in the final speeding into the station crash scene. However, the set had a powered B-unit and unpowered A-units at the front and back. When I acquired it, I only got the mismatched A-unit shell and B-unit powered chassis which required some modifications to fit correctly. The red paint had severely faded to almost orange and the running gear required touch-up paint. After some extensive electrical work and time in the paint booth chronicled here, the engine runs great and I'm contemplating building a dummy B-unit for it.

Taken at the Southern California Western Railroad Shops in June 2019.