Jeff,
While I'm slowly transitioning to the NYO&W in S, I'm an NYC guy and
have a number of S scale NYC models. You are correct in that NYC F3's
or 7's rarely come up on eBay (I've never actually seen an F7 set.)
The solution, as with many things in S, is to make them yourself or
wait. A number of dealers have F3's in the passenger gray scheme.
Since the NYC actually had very few locos in this scheme (2 A-B pairs
I think) they have not sold as fast as the freight scheme. My
suggestion would be to grab a gray set, use the existing lightning
stripes as guides for masking, and repaint them black. Virtually all
of the SHS switchers work for the NYC. Grab one, strip it and paint
it black. CDS dry transfers can be used for lettering. Work yes, but
a lot of fun and more rewarding then just taking something out of the
box and plopping it on the track. You can still find plenty of
rolling stock options out there appropriate for the NYC say 1945 and
later.
Now for some subjective opinions... the Athearn or Intermountain F
units in HO are excellent in all ways. The SHS equivalents in S are
just as good. When I got my NYC F3 set, I was immediately surprised
at how nice they were. Much better in person then in the pics. I
feel the same about the F7's. Beautiful models. Now factor in the
much better running characteristics of S vs HO and all the room you
have for sound (at least two speakers) and decoders. The S versions
blow the HO away. Size matters and S wins.
The switchers are a more mixed bag. Units from Athearn and Proto 2000
are starting to surpass the SHS offerings in detail. The SHS drives
can be a little loud but they generally have all the size advantages
over HO. Both S and HO are cramped for decoders and speakers. I'd
still give the edge to S as the slow speed running and tracking is
better. They are a real pleasure to switch with.
Chris Borgmeyer
Westfield Center, OH
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