US $5.95 • Can $7.95 - O scale trains

Product News & ReviewsReview: Sunset’s CB&Q O5 NorthernSunset/3rd Rail, 37 S Fourth St,Campbell, CA 95008408-866-5764, www.3rdrail.comreviewed by Brian ScaceThis thing reminds me of the used car salesman’sline, “It’s big. It’s ugly. It’s powerful. It’swhat America is all about.” I now have an ideaof what attracts the small klatch of rabid CB&Qfans. If Burlington engines have anything, it’s“presence”. After unpacking mine, here’s whatI saw.The fit and finish is typical of Sunset’s currentofferings, nice and tight with a flawlesspaint coat. The lettering is nice and straight. Tomy eye, untrained as I am to the Burlington, itlooks as it should.The diaphragm of anall-weather cab is alwaysa difficult thing to model.I like the mechanism onthis cab. The striker (madefrom a slippery plastic forinsulation) moves freely.Although there are twoholes for the tender pin,the closest one still doesn’tquite bring the striker upagainst the tender andclose the gap. For youneurotics, I would suggestremoving the strikerand put a little black softdense foam between thestriker and the rest of thediaphragm. This shouldclose the gap and give alittle flex to accommodatethe motion between tenderand cab from gradechanges and imperfect track.You have your choice of oil fired or coal fired tender configuration,just by changing out the tops of the tender bunker. Both tops are included.Again, the fastidious among us will want to remove the ashpans if we settleon the oil fired configuration.Meanwhile, I submitted the O5 to my standard rigorous and totallysubjective tests. You won’t find drawbar capacities and speed curves in myreviews, just because I’m lazy (I’m kidding, people!). I’ve read too many ofthese with that kind of info, bought the product, and found that it wouldn’tdo what I wanted anyway. My test is simple. I played with it. I run ’em onmy railroad with my semi-lousy trackwork, #6 switches (sorry, “turnouts”),56” minimum radii, and an “S” curve I really should have extended outif I had been thinking at the time; all in all, a rather typical layout. Maximumgrades are two percent. Placing the locomotive at the head of a ratherheavy 10 car mail train, I feed the juice to it, and it performed up to theusual standards I’ve come to expect from the kind folks from California.Now, this is a pretty lanky engine, with a long wheelbase, but it navigatesmy railroad, with all its “average-ness”, quietly and smoothly. I was pleasantlysurprised. I thought it would be too big.Of course, I like thefunky lights. Going forwardat a good clip (6Volts or so), the simulatedoscillating light startsin. It flashes rather thanoscillates, but I liked theeffect enough to turnout the room lights andopen this thing up, lookingfor all the world likea blast up the Auroraracetrack to St. Paul.The result is a verynice model. It runsstraight out of the box,has plenty of eye candy,good proportions, all forless than $1100 retail.Scott says he has somein stock, so get yourdealer to give him ashout.Notes for the NeuroticMost of us can stop reading this review at this point, and make ourchoices with confidence. I’ve included a couple of things for the neuroticsamong us.Citing Jack Farrell’s book “The Northerns”, I learned some things aboutthese engines. The original subclass was built by Baldwin, with standardcabs and Elesco feedwater heaters. Later subclasses were home-built, withWorthington heaters, all-weather cabs, different pilot deck arrangements,and other differences as reflected in the Sunset model.The photos indicate that the coal fired configuration was common duringtheir passenger service from Aurora to St. Paul. The extra lighting cluster,with the oscillating warning light, also appears to be standard for thisservice, and a postwar feature.I’m not a Burlington historian, so take these observations with a grain ofsalt. Once you CB&Q types have stopped laughing at this neophyte, weighin here with your wisdom to help those who worry about these things toget it right. My point is that checking out the features such as the lighting,fuel configuration, and pilot arrangements so you can configure them foryour era is a lot of fun, and a source of pride once you’re done.48 • O Scale Trains - Sept/Oct ’04