![]() Smokey Valley made FB-2 sideframes designed to fit the Athearn Blomberg truck, but they aren't much to look at and they did not fit the truck very well. The FB-2 trucks commonly found on most of the Bxx-7 prototypes have been made in HO scale by Atlas/Kato for the U23B, Atlas (China) for the B23-7/B30-7/B40-8 and now by Rapido for their B36-7. The Southern B30-7A1 is its own thing on a frame different from everything else, but the Burlington Northern B30-7A1B units share a Phase 3 frame with the earlier B30-7AB. What does the Phase 3 frame do for us in HO scale? Aside from the B36-7, with the Rapido model there is now a frame for late B23-7, B30-7, B30-7A and B30-7AB models. Phase 3 shortened the frame by one foot overall, bringing the pulling faces, pilots and stepwells six inches closer to each end and and bringing the rear truck in a corresponding six inches for 61'-2" overall, front truck 12'-6" from the pulling face, rear truck 12'-0" from the pulling face and 36'-8" truck centers. Phase 2 kept the same length frame, but moved the rear truck one foot closer to the coupler for 62'-2" overall, front truck 13'-0" from the pulling face, rear truck 12'-0" from the pulling face and 37'-2" truck centers. The bolsters in Phase 1 are 13'-0" from the pulling face of each end. To recap Michael's data, the Phase 1 frame is 62'-2" over the pulling faces with truck centers at 36'-2". Davis' blog for some in-depth prototype information. Michael Eby's Dash 7 Phases page contains a wealth of information. Michael cites Will Davis and David A. ![]() ![]() So what exactly are the differences between the Phases? The big change is the frame length and truck centers, even though it's a pretty small change as locomotives go. ![]() Atlas already covered both Phase 1 and Phase 2 frames with their B23-7 and B30-7 models. ![]() Now that Rapido has delivered the B36-7 in HO scale, the Phase 3 Bxx-7 frame is a reality. ![]()
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