I am considereing purchasing one of these but can’t find info on its DCC readiness. I am entirely new to modeling and want to avoid some expensive pitfalls. Any info pertaing to this engine would be appreciated.
Great running model. The detail is a little coarse in today’s terms (the grabs are molded on, etc.), but the model runs and pulls very well indeed. In fact, this little switcher out performs a lot of road power, to tell the truth. Under the hood, the Atlas S-units are almost solid metal, and that weight allows them to pull a lot of cars.
If you can, buy one of the old “yellow box” Atlas S-2’s before you get one of the black/red boxed S-2’s. The old S-units were made in Austria by Roco and have a superior drive in them compared to the later S-units that are made in China. That’s not to say that the Chinese drive is bad, far from it. However, the Austrian drive is just a little bit smoother, a little bit quieter, and can usually be found a little less money than the Chinese units.
This engine is not “DCC Ready” by any stretch of the imagination. However, Tony’s Train eXchange ( www.tonystrains.com ) makes a custom decoder for this unit. It’s not that hard to install, but you do have to know how to solder to a circuit board without melting anything. [:)] I’ve done a couple of these myself, and the results are great.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
The NCE Atls4 decoder is an easy installation for the S2. I have 2 of the Chinese versions of it and I really like them.
The Austrian version is absoulutely super. I had mine in storage for about three years. I recently put it on the track to see how it ran. Shaky at first, but settled right down. Still runs great.
And as alluded to ealier, very strong puller.
Kevin
I’ve got about a dozen Atlas Alco switchers and I don’t notice any difference between the Austrian and Chinese made units. Some of my Roco built units are actually noisier! The best option for DCC in these locos is an NCE decoder. NCE makes a decoder specially designed to fit the Atlas Alco switchers.
I have 4 of these apart on the workbench right now getting them ready for the paint shop. Two of them are the older yellow box units and the other two are the newer red & black box units. The only difference I have been able to see between the old and new versions is the color of the plastic used to mold the shells. Here are two pics that I took this morning. The top frame assembly is the newer black/red box engine and the lower frame assembly is the older yellow box unit. Both seem to run equally as well. I would think that putting a decoder in one of these may require a bit of thinking as the motor does indeed ground to the frame via the mounting bolt in the bottom of the motor
Dan Pikulski
www.DansResinCasting.com