MTH O-Scale New York City Subway R62A (7) Train Set

Here is the new-ish R62(A) 7 subway set from MTH. Out of the box, the set does not come with MTA logos, and the 7 signage does not include the purple circle/diamond because of MTA licensing. I made several modifications to the set which include:

Replacing the 7 on the front with the proper circle bullet
Adding the circle 7 bullet to the side signs
Renumbering cars with realistic road numbers
Moving rollsigns to correct locations

In addition to the signage flaws, there are many other problems with this set. The road numbers are 1650, 1651, 1746 and 1747. 1650 is not an actual R62 or R62A car. The R62 order ends at 1625 and the R62A order starts at 1651. As mentioned earlier, the 7 signage is not realistic, but that is because of MTA licensing and not a flaw. The rollsign placement, however, is a problem. The signs are not in the correct window, they are placed in the window with the opening section when in real life that is not the case.

For sounds, the set is a 7 local and the stations listed are Main St, 111 St, 74 St, 40 St, Queensboro, Court Sq, Grand Central, Times Square, and Hudson Yards. The sounds are done by the usual MTH announcer. The sound set does not include a door chime, unfortunately. While it is not the biggest deal, it is a shame to see the lack of attention to detail put into a product where detail is of the utmost importance.

Unless you are looking for the MTH R62 set and missed out the first time, or you really like the R62A 7 train, I don't know if I can recommend this set to anyone. Obviously, this is a product line where MTH does not have much competition. Lionel no longer makes subway sets, so if you are in the market for a set, you are stuck with whatever MTH offers. It is a shame to see the quality of the subway sets decreasing year after year. The 2010 MTH R142A 6 set was very high in quality and included incredible sounds and an incredible build. While this set doesn't have the issues of some other sets, like the 2014 MTH R142A 4 set with the reversed and non-color head and taillights, terrible "Stand Clear" announcement, and signage problems which affected several units, the flaws of this set are still disappointing. Hopefully, in 2019 with the new R12 and R40 sets coming out, the quality is better than that of what was offered this year.