Life-Like's Proto 2000 FA2 is a pretty old locomotive if we're being honest. If Life-Like's website is to be believed, this was their only their second ever P2K release, back in 1990. The model was retooled for a re-release in 2002, but I'll be talking exclusively about the first-gen/"spinning fan" models produced prior to 1998. Despite being long out of production, they still turn up regularly on the secondhand market. Over time I've acquired four of these first-gen models, of which three are still waiting for DCC installs. For the right price, and if you're willing to put in a little bit of work to clean them up, I think they actually hold up against more "modern" engines. I haven't seen a satisfying procedure laid out for a DCC/sound installation though, so that's what I hope to eventually cover in this series.
But first, the model itself. I recently picked up an FA/FB set from a local hobby shop. These are lettered for the New York Central, in the seemingly-less-common-on-eBay "Cigar Band" livery.
They're even "New"! How do I know this? it says so right on the post-it note taped to the box:
Hand-written note aside, these are about as factory-fresh as I think you could expect a 25-30+ year old model to be. And I consider the $75 price I paid to be pretty fair (in 2022, at least) - figure $50 for the A-unit and $25 for the dummy B unit, which would be in the range of what you'd pay for a basic modern DC locomotive.
Inside the flap, we get to see the models. The A-unit has some prototype history, and toots its own horn about its details.
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To be fair, this was probably accurate back in 1990. |
The B-unit is similar, but comes with the body already installed on the chassis.
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Sure you could have a Rapido or a Bachmann FB2 now, but not 30 years ago. |
We'll set the B-unit aside for now, since it will only need its couplers swapped. The A-unit is what will require the real work, so let's unpack that.
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You think I could still claim that warranty? |
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Advanced styrofoam technology |
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Finally we get to the delicious train meats |
I don't know if Life-Like was getting their drives directly from Athearn or just copying them, but the Athearn heritage should be obvious to anyone who's been inside of a Blue Box-era one. That said, the drive in this loco is a little nicer for DCC than a Blue Box Athearn - the motor is (despite appearances) already isolated from the frame, and the trucks already have wires soldered for the left rail/motor upper side. Electricity from the right rail is conducted from the trucks to the frame, then to the on-this-model yellow wire (the color may vary depending on the run). It may not be the most elegant solution, but I'm a proponent of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it nya" when it comes to these things.
The motor-driven spinning cooling fan is the FA2's party piece. It's also kinda useless - it adds more moving parts to the drive, I've never actually been able to see it moving past the fan grille, and this is the only locomotive I've ever seen it on. You might get a better effect if you painted the fan silver, instead of leaving it black. Or you could just remove the drive belt. Personally though I prefer to keep the fan connected - silly as it is, it's a unique feature that adds some character to the locomotive.
The cab detail is "okay" for what it is. The two figures are doing most of the work, but they're a nice touch that you can see when the body is on. (Heck, I own Bachmann and Walthers Mainline locomotives where you don't even get that much...) If you want to make them pop, you can put some paint on them (which I plan to do). You also get a protrusion from the front wall of the cab, which I guess is supposed to represent a control stand? But to be honest I've never noticed before. Again, maybe you could paint it (gray, or chromate green, or something) if you want to draw attention to it.
One of the wires connecting to the motor was broken off, but that saves me the trouble of taking it off myself. If you're going to convert your engine to DCC though, this is a good time to test it and make sure that everything works on DC. If you notice the engine jumping and making a clicking sound as it runs...
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Whoops... |
...like mine did, that probably means the axle gears are split. This is an unfortunately common problem with early P2K engines. "Fortunately", it's such a common problem that Walthers makes a drop-in replacement part. Plus, the only disassembly of the model that you need to do to get to the axles is to remove the truck covers, so you could even do this with the body attached if your model develops problems later.
For now, I need to wait for the replacement axles to arrive. Once they do, join me again for Part 2, where I'll do the very exciting job of...cleaning and re-lubricating the drive. And hopefully, maybe, that will be the last prep-work before the interesting part, where I actually put a decoder in this thing. Stay tuned nyaa!
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