Atlas announces Fall Industrial Rail releases

Here is the link to the Atlas website with the announcement and pictures of the new IR cars to be made under the Atlas banner. When you find the car category, you have to scroll down to the box with the road names listed and click on those to see illustrations.

http://www.atlaso.com/nowshipping.htm

For your instant info the releases are:
Single Door Box Car: EL (gray scheme), GN, AT&SF, NH (all orange scheme)
Gondola with Pipe Load: GTW, B&M, Ohio Seamless Tube, C&O
Plug Door Box Car: D&RGW, Chessie, D&H, WP
Tank Car: Hooker, Sunray, Union Tank, D&H
Flat Car w/ Lumber Load: Burlington, GN, WM, Trailer Train
Skeleton Car with Log Load: Crown Paper, Pacific Lumber, Sugar Pine Lumber, Westside Lumber

And before anyone has a fit as over on the other forum, the list prices for these cars is NOT that much higher than was under UMD. The key point to remember is that United Model Distributors is a distributor / wholesaler, not a manufacturer: they had the IR cars made for them. When Hobbyco picked up the remaining IR inventory from UMD, I believe their purpose was to deplete the remaining inventory, not continue the line. Hence, the $10-15 price range that many were picking up IR cars for.

It’s wonderful to see yet another company paying attention to the true majority of modelers in this hobby: non-scale traditional operators! What would be more wonderful would be is if Atlas had decided to include some [b[modern road names[/b] which are again, sorely lacking.

CSX, BNSF, Soo, CP Rail, Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific, GT, CV, Conrail, Southern, and BNSF are all road names I saw represented on a train TODAY. Yet Atlas has included not one single one of these road names. It was bad enough to have Lionel, K-Line and MTH ALL IGNORE these roads on lower cost stater traditionally sized items. I find it so incredibile that Conrail was one of the biggest railroads in the country and pro

Brian, I think this re-introduction was quickly noted on the Coffee Pot. I checked out the site and complained of no NS. You’re right.

I stopped by a train store yesterday and bought a brand new Lionel NYC boxcar for $12! They had a bunch of them in plain white boxes. Evidently, they are 2006 add-on cars. They also had cabeese and flatcars for the same price.

These cars have the plastic wheel frames and couplers, same as the orange-boxed versions that sell for $27+. $12 is a fair price for what I bought, and I’ve always thought that if Lionel would reduce the price of its O27 cars to the $15 price range, they would have trouble keeping them in stock.

IR at $27 - $34 is not a great deal. The couplers are problematic and need to be worked on to keep the cars from derailing. I got 3 IR hoppers in a set for $19. I felt like I got a good deal, even with the coupler issues. But $30 for one IR car? No way.

Jim

Jim, maybe since Atlas has them, they fixed the couplers. Atlas usually does not sell junk. [;)]

I like the IR cars, and will probably pick up some additional log cars to complement the half-dozen or so I already have–probably another half-dozen in Westside Lumber livery to go with the K-Line Westside Lumber Porter I have. Great cars for the price I paid–about $15 each when IR was in business and about $17 each after IR was sold. That’s significantly less than the list price, but it just pays to shop around and to be a bit patient.

Yes, everyone wants rolling stock, locomotives, etc. in THEIR favorite roadname, but I recognize that no manufacturer can cater to that level of diversity in such small numbers at any one time. But I do agree with BrianelO27 that the dearth of Conrail items from all O gauge manufacturers (which is the road I modeled extensively in N scale) is kind of surprising and also a bit disappointing.

Brianel027 hit the nail on the head. My little boy is 3 1/2 and most of the trains he sees are BNSF. Right now he loves his Thomas, but that will change soon. He will want to see cars for his train in BNSF livery. I will always love the Milwaukee and Milwaukee purchases will be the bulk of my train acquisitions until my final ticket is punched. He will want what he grows up with. Todays starter sets should truly reflect todays trains.

The simple fact is that companies make what sells. A lot of current RR graphics are dull and colorless, low maintenance. Color sells. History sells. If Conrail sold like gangbusters, you can bet Atlas would know based upon their extensive HO and N experience. Let’s give them a little credit for knowing what sells and what doesn’t. I haven’t noticed any shortage of BNSF stuff in HO and N, so I’d expect to see more from Atlas in their Trainman and Industrial Rail lines too. As far as NS and Conrail, I wouldn’t hold my breath however. These trains are just too colorless and boring for many people, no offense intended. The reason the ATSF war bonnet locos are so popular is the simple fact that they’re gorgeous and eye catching, even 50 years on.

I beg to differ with all opinions and here’s what my observations are based on. Make yourself a traveling train layout and do train shows for a solid decade. Aim the layout not at adults, but at kids. You can have no expensive trains on the layout and no rope barrier, so kids can get up close. Don’t worry. Since more than likely you will be the ONLY layout without a rope barrier or plexiglas windows around it, the parents will recognize this and will keep an eye on the kids out of appreciation (note: I never had one single problem with kids in 10 years). Any kid who wants to run your trains will be allowed the chance… talk about giving a kid a thrill!

And now the clincher. You run the standard fare: NYC, PRR, NKR, C&O. As far as color goes here, were talking boring: black, Pennsy green (which might as well have been black), more black and dark blue. Now get out a Conrail, CSX or Norfolk Southern loco and watch the reaction. It was undeniably slanted in favor of Conrail, CSX and NS with statements from the kids like “Loook Dad, there’s the train we saw yesterday!!”

Even NS boring black got lots of attention - kids recognize the horse logo. I’d put on Pennsy or NYC and the kids would tell me to run the NS or the Conrail loco again. This happned year after year, show after show. You guys who think kids don’t notice this stuff are dead wrong. I’m sorry but Conrail’s bright blue beats the pants off boring NYC or PRR paint schemes. And even though Conrail is now a fallen flag, there are still quite a few “big blue” locos roaming the rails… saw one yesterday. Those bright blue engines still standout on a train with no others cars in that particular color. Certainly more so that your standard fare 3-rail starter set offerings of NYC and PRR.

PS: the roads I saw on this train were: Conrail, Norfolk Southern, CSX, KCS, Soo, GT, CV, CN, CP Rail, Canadian Pacific, Southern and BNSF. This is current railroading.

The ONLY exception to what I have said here was… you g

I no longer worry all that much about enticing kids into the hobby because I’ve found that most young kids really love trains (prototype and toy); a few of them will build on that fascination, and many won’t, later in their growing-up years; and that some will return to that interest once they have become more settled in their adult lives. I guess it has pretty much always been that way.

But I do think the manufacturers are missing the boat, so to speak, by not offering more trains–and starter sets, in particular–in liveries that kids and adults are more apt to see today or in recent years. I can recall, back when I was a kid and avid Lionel enthusiast, always wanting items that represented the real railroads I saw running through my hometown (there were at least five of them, so it wasn’t hard to find something).

I’ve always liked Conrail blue, and once had a pretty good assortment of items representing Conrail. I still have some of those items, but have found that new offerings in that roadname are relatively few and far between. Seems to me that it’s an opportunity for expanded sales that isn’t being fully exploited.

A modern scheme is a Flat Car with Bulkheads in the Golden West Service paint scheme.

ATLAS O Trucks and Couplers could be their high end versions.

Andrew

I would hesitate to pay no more than $15.00 - $20.00 for one of these cars.

A few thoughts on the Atlas/IR cars.

The list price will undoubtedly be discounted. I don’t know how much but they are starting from a list that is lower than anyone out there at present. It follows that the street price will be lower than most of the competition for New items. You can’t compare overstock sales to list prices of new items. At some point, it may take a while, all of the excess K-line, etc will be gone and if you want like new condition equipment it will have to be new production.

Atlas has always been a scale company. I don’t think they even considered puting road names such as NS & CSX on rolling stock who’s prototype was retired before the present roads were formed. I know a lot wouldn’t care, but I believe that is their thinking. I hope they do bring out some new prototype stuff with modern road names. I agree that younger guys want to see stuff that is running now, not 50 years ago.

Just my 2 cents.

The popularity of BNSF, CSX, and NS with the younger kids shows the need for an O27 Version of the post 1972 ACF Center Flow 4650 3-Bay Covered Hopper

I’ll probably buy a few Atlas IR cars if the price is right, around $25 each. I think that would be a fair price. I purchased a few Atlas Trainman cars for $34 each, so it would seem that these IR cars should be less expensive. A good variety of roadnames is important, new as well as old. Color sells, look how many times the State of Maine cars have been produced in all scales. It wasn’t because the BAR was a big railroad.

I don’t know how many of you guys like log cars, but the ones made by IR were pretty darn nice. I would definitely pay $25 or so for several more of those cars, and figure that’s likely the range that larger dealers will be selling them at.

Now would the Union Pacific Heritage Scheme for the SSW Cotton Belt ACF CENTER FLOW 3-Bay Covered Hoppers be considered a dead railroad, even though it was recently applied?

TK Hobby Shop in Bridgeport OH has a bunch of the original IR cars. Saw them yesterday afternoon while I was visiting OH/WV. If interested, www.tkhobbies or 740-633-6607 [orders, 877-633-4779. His shipping is “dirt cheap”. Bought 8 cars and had then shipped back to NC for $7.50 [total] as no room in my “roller bag” [that would have driven TSA crazy [:O]].

Chief - I tried tkhobbies.com and it takes me to some media site. I tried looking up the site using google too, mabey there is an issue with the web site?

Got it from the flier I brought back in my brief case. Try calling him tomorrow. Really nice guy.

Jeez, Chief, Tell the whole world! I thought that store was our little secret. Can’t trust a Southerner to keep his pie hole shut. Just kidding! The web address lead me to a media page as well. Jim