There has been so much to collect in Marklin for Z gauge that one brand of train I have overlooked partly due to dedication to Marklin and not having deep enough pockets to expand out from there. And a primary interest in European trains is another reason for specializing in Marklin, FR and Modellbau Z over the American prototype brands such as Micro Trains and AZL.

So this is my first foray into collecting AZL with four notable exceptions that include their joint ventures with Marklin: 88626, 88627, 88628, and 88629. All four locomotives model the E8A and E8B units of the UP, SP and PRR. *Only one E8B has thus far been released for UP. I will be posting a detailed article about these 4 items in an upcoming post but let’s say for now each of these locos is exceptional and every collector should own them with the following considerations: Marklin has not released coaches yet and the mini-club couplers are not compatible with AZL. AZL makes their versions of these locos with AZL couplers, but I cannot point out other differences between the two brands since my ownership is limited to the Marklin versions only which run perfectly, beautiful paint and lettering, detailed shell and trucks, and bright LED’s. *An online post I read indicated the AZL headlamps are not as bright as Marklin, but I cannot verify this claim.

Getting on with the topic for this post is my review of the AZL F3A and F3B sets lettered for Great Northern. The purchase was a bit of an impulse buy following a recent trip through the Pacific Northwest and Cascade Mountains along the Great Northern route, nearing the end of our trip we stopped by Reynauld’s in IL where I spotted the GN set. I got the set home and tried it out on my test track: B unit worked great, but the A unit was dead with no motor noise or headlamps. Reynauld’s was kind enough to return for a full refund which owes to their great integrity.

Looking past the obvious flaw of the loco not working other details emerge that are interesting to share, but these comments are limited to my point of view only, I have great respect for the popularity of this brand among serious collectors.

PROS: -authentic prototypical paint scheme and lettering -heavy ballasted locomotive frame which can potentially pull a long train (Marklin Z trains are not nearly as heavy plus a further important feature with AZL are traction tires) -extensive collection of coach and freight sets

CONS: -matte paint finish which is rather dull muting the color saturation of the paint scheme (*photos on-line look far better than the model in person) -flaws found in the casting of the roof

Overall: for me the loco did not have a ‘WOW’ factor plus it did not work

Cost: $318 (includes an ‘A’ and ‘B’ unit both powered)