Gents,

I have attached 15 photos of one of Sunset’s latest efforts, the Santa Fe 3700 Class 4-8-2. I was intimately involved in this particular project, since I did the complete drawings for the models. I was delighted that Sunset’s builder duplicated the drawings as well as he did. I had included a lot of detail that does not always appear on Sunset models, but they missed very little of it. As a consequence, this is one of the most accurate, well detailed models Sunset has ever done. In reality, it easily rivals more expensive models like those from PSC and Glacier Park. For any ATSF modeler out there, I would say grab one or more of these fine models before they are all gone. I have two of them myself, and I have taken photos and annotated them to show you the level of detail that many people might miss without it being pointed out to them. Discussion follows:

First of all, let me fill you in on the fact that the 12K and 15K tenders on these two models are certainly the ONLY correct models of those two tenders ever done in O Scale and possibly in any scale. Scott brought in a few extra tenders, so you can retrofit some of your incorrect models if you hurry and snap them up. The reason most models of these two tenders are incorrect is that the book published by the ATSF back in about 1948, Car and Locomotive Plans for Model Railroaders, did not have them correctly drawn. There are many, many errors in that book, but importers just keep using it without question and making the same mistakes. Now don’t get me wrong. It was a great book for its time, but back then people were not very worried about accuracy, and having drawings that at least resembled the prototype was great. However, when I started comparing those drawings to actual photos of the engines and tenders, I realized the drawings were very bad by today’s standards.

To generate accurate drawings, I scanned in good photos, sized them to exact O Scale, and quite literally traced right over them on my computer. You cannot get much more accurate than that, especially where the railroad has made so many changes to the engines over the years. Getting back to the tenders, the rivet patterns, locations of oil and water hatches, and shapes of handrails were all incorrect in the ATSF book. Worst of all, the front of the tender is totally wrong. It does not show the very obvious separate oil bunker that sticks out between the two water legs on either side. That changes the whole character of the tender front. Another gross error that has been perpetuated over the years on many models is the belief that the 12K tenders only had one water hatch instead of the two they actually had. In an older issue of The Santa Fe Modeler, there is an interesting sentence that states the 12K tenders only had one water hatch while the 15K ones had two. Right next to that sentence is a photo of a 12K tender which obviously has TWO water hatches. I could find NO photographic evidence of any 12K tenders that had only one water hatch.

You will find a lot of notations on the tender photos that point out detailing rarely done and/or incorrectly done on other models. Notice in particular the passenger buffer that you can see down through. Most of those are modeled as solid. They are not. Also note the electrical cable running along the outside of the tender body back to the red warning light at the rear (OK, so it’s not red on the model. That’s one error.). The oil bunker heating lines are also included on the front of the tender. Another nice detail included on these models is the oil bunker tie down brackets located in the gap between the oil bunker and the tender sides. The oil bunker was actually a separate large tank placed in the coal bunker space of the tender. It had to be bolted down somehow so it did not bounce around. There were 4 multi-bolt brackets to hold it in place.

Another error perpetuated by the ATSF book has always irritated me a lot. Much of the personality of a steam engine is wrapped up in the headlight and its positioning on the smokebox front. Unfortunately, the ATSF book completely misdrew the headlight and headlight bracket. Fortunately, PSC has made the correct ATSF Golden Glow headlight casting for years. No correct bracket was available though, so for years I cast my own. Later, I had Dennis Mashburn do the castings. Use of these correct parts really enhances the look of a Santa Fe engine. These 3700 class models have the correct headlight and bracket. In fact, the bracket is more correct than the one I had made. They are also positioned with the center of the headlight slightly below the center of the smokebox front as on the prototype. This is an important point for correct appearance.

Additional Locomotive details that make this a standout model are the sander lines to the drivers, the nice electrical conduit and junction box detailing near the generator, the piece of sheet steel welded to the boiler tube pilot under the air hoses so the air hoses cannot drop behind the pilot, and the well done braces from brackets on the boiler to the valve gear hangers. Most ATSF engines had these to help support the valve gear hangers, but one rarely finds them on a model. The small light fixture on the back edge of the cab roof for lighting the top of the tender at night is there, as are the small flag holders up near the stack. Speaking of small details, note the small air lines to the sander valves that are missing on many models. These air lines are what activate and control the sander valves. The builder originally thought those funny pinched down ends on the cooling coil pipes was a mistake on my drawings. For some reason, The ATSF did not use the nice u shaped fittings on these air pipes that many railroads did. They just ground the two pipes down to a taper and welded them together giving them that funny pinched look.

All of the models are correct for the late forties to the end of steam. In doing the drawings, I was able to find 3 identical engines for each of two different groups of engines acquired a few years apart. The earlier engines had the following features by the late forties:

1. Cast Hodges trailing trucks
2. They kept their original spoked main drivers.
3. They did not get an extended cab for the head brakeman.
4. They had two different sand domes. They were delivered with one round dome. After delivery of the later engines with two larger, oval sand domes, a second large, oval sand dome was retrofitted to these as well.
5. A 12K oil tender. It does not have the large SANTA FE on its sides because the ATSF did not do that to anything smaller than 15K.
6. Slab side (flat) side rods.

The later engines had these features by the late forties:

1. Delta trailing truck.
2. Universal Disc main driver.
3. An extended cab for the head brakeman.
4. Two large oval sand domes.
5. A 15K tender with the large SANTA FE on its sides.
6. Fluted side rods.

While these models are extremely good, I would be remiss if I did not point out a few minor errors where the drawings did not get followed completely or compromises were made for the 3 rail version. The end beam that the Hart rockers on the Delta trailing truck should be resting on is missing. Fortunately, this is pretty easy to add. More difficult to correct is the missing heavy bracket with bolt detail that should be on the frame right behind the last driver on the Hodges trailing truck version. It is the bracket that holds the equalizing lever for the Hodges truck. I will need to scratch build two of those for my model. All the handrails are very nicely scale size except the one on top of the oil bunker. I assume the builder elected to make that one beefier for the three rail crowd and to avoid damage in shipping. I will have to replace it with a scale sized one. The use of LEDs for lighting resulted in compromises to the red warning light on the back of the tender and appearance of the class lights. Replacing the LEDs with 1.5V bulbs will fix the class light issue, and I have my own custom cast red warning lights, so I can just replace that. As I pointed out on one of the photos, the oil bunker handrail was installed backwards on my 12K tender. I know that was just a one time boo-boo, as I got 3 more of those tenders, and all of them are correct. Since I will be replacing that handrail anyway, that’s hardly worth mentioning. It may not have happened to any others. There is one missing boiler lagging clamp on one of my engines, which is an easy thing to add. Most people would never know, of course, but, hey, I made the drawings. The water hook on top the oil bunker is too long on the 15K tender. The builder apparently increased it proportional to the size of the tender, which is wrong but easily fixed. I have had to deal with much worse errors on much more expensive models, so I consider this list pretty minor, and most people probably would never know if I hadn’t pointed them out.

The bottom line is that I am absolutely delighted with this model. It is the first time any importer has done the ATSF 3700 Class 4-8-2 in O Scale, and the result is unusually good. It absolutely reeks of "Santa Fe" in all its detailing and is very faithful to the prototype. It runs very well, as you would expect from Sunset. If you are a Santa Fe fan, don’t miss this one. It is really a best buy.

Gary