I am looking at getting an Atlas HO Gold Line loco with QSI sound built in, specifically the SD 24. I have no experience with either of these products, so I figured that I would ask the experts! What are y’all’s thoughts on the Gold Line and QSI?
Anything from Atlas is going to be a smooth, quiet, and reliable locomotive. As far as QSI, I personally don’t own any of their products, but there are other members on these forums that may and will respond.
My experience is limited compared to some on this forum. That being said I have two Gold Series Trainmasters and I think Atlas are the best Engines out there. Rock solid work horses. I wish Atlas would make steamers. Just my [2c].
Brent
Espee,
I have an Atlas Master Gold HH600/660 switcher. It came with the newer “Q2” sound decoder. She’s a real jewel and has terrific low-speed response. (<1 sMPH). The sound is quite nice, too.
My vote: [Y][Y][8D]
Tom
Hi espee, I have over 10 gold lines. Four axle as well as six, all of them are fantastic. I also have a few bli’s with sound as well as genesis with sound. In all honesty the gold line loco’s are better, hands down. As someone else noted , they’re smooth runners. I’ve heard of others on this forum have their little ups and downs with them, but me personaly i have had not one problem with any of them. Go ahead and get one, you won’t regret it !
I have several Atlas Gold Loco’s. 5 GP40’s, 1 Dash 8, 1 SD35 , 1 B30-7 and 2 MP15DC’s. All are great running and sounding loco’s. Nice detail as well.
A video of one I did a couple of years ago
I have one of these, it is such a good runner I use it as the yard goat and local turns were a lot of switching is involved due to it’s rock solid performance at low speed, the sound is pretty good to.
Regards Jon.
I have 2 Atlas Gold GP40-2s and am very well pleased with both. They ran smooth a silk out of the box and have continued to do so. I really like the QSI sound. I have a Tsunami equipped loco and I can’t make up my mind which sound I prefer - they are both excellent.
Joe
Aww dang it guys… I was hoping y’all would tell me it wasn’t worth the money! Now I have to go get one[;)] I appreciate the thoughts and experiences. I found a good price on one I’m hoping holds out for a few weeks until school is over and I am working full time. Any other thoughts are still appreciated.
The QSI units that are now NMRA compatible don’t have any of the issues of the early versions, correct? (No inrush currents that need a programming booster, etc.?) I’m looking at some HH660s too.
I have a friend with a huge N Scale layout and his Atlas diesels run flawlessly, very smooth.
Thanks.
Well, I’ll have the contrarian view then.
I have 2 Atlas Gold locomotives; neither one can run more than a couple of feet without reseting and stopping. (one a Dash 8-40 CW and the other a MP15) Katos, non-Gold Atlases, Protos (with Tsunami sound) have 0 problems on the same track.
Supposedly it is fixed with an upgrade chip from QSI at ~60 or so a chip; but for a $250 loco, that is pretty much a crap deal.
I’m pretty much done buying the Gold line Atlas stuff - everybody puts out a lemon once and a while, but two with the same problems, from different models and timeframes? Sounds like bad QA to me.
TR
TR,
The only time that same issue happened to me with my HH600/660 is when the track needed cleaning. Once I wiped down the troublesome spots with a rag dipped in 91% alcohol, the problem went away.
It may be that the QSI decoders are a bit more sensitive to dirty track. Try cleaning both your track and your locomotive wheels and see that doesn’t take care of the problem.
Tom
The Atlas Gold line are well worth the money, you will not be disappointed. I have several fairly new, all purchased within the last year or so, and all of them run beautifully and sound great.
I’ve had an older Atlas Gold Trainmaster - GREAT running and great sounding loco. No programming problems with my Zephyr, but I’ve never had any issues with it with any decoder so far. No boosters, either.
The QSI upgrade chip it’s $60, and the main thing it adds is something Atlas had no control over - if you remember QSI was involved in a lawsuit with MTH and so shipped the decoders without BEMF. Once that was all settled they made an upgrade chip that you could replace. And if you paid full price for your locos I’m sorry. I can get the new $250 Trainmaster from a reputable dealer for $179, without resorting to eBay. Too bad both those locos are way too new for my era, I’d be happy to take them off your hands if I could use them.
–Randy
My diesel roster contains over 300 units, the majority are Kato SD40-2 mid production units and Atlas GE’s, GP38’s, a couple of SD24’s and other models, many of which are Gold and some with sound. No such problems for me with Atlas. Atlas and Kato are the major players on my railroad.
I don’t like sound (or I should say my hearing aid doesn’t like sound) so only have a handful, that are used when I am on tour.
Bob
I can walk in front of the unit and scrub with a bright boy and it doesn’t seem to make a whit of difference.
I’ll see what Atlas says; but since both display these symptoms since new it seems odd that they would require wheel cleaning.
TR
I had a similar problem on my N scale layout, where some locomotives did not like certain sections of track. After I replaced those sections, everyone was running fine. Or maybe the wheels came dirty from the factory? It seems a possibility, seeing as how they do a lot of automated processes nowadays. I appreciate your counter point though. As for all of the others here, I am hoping my finances hold out and I can get the loco soon to test for myself. I’ve already got a fully detailed plan for it [;)]
Hi In all Honesty I perfer Walthers proto2000 series,i think they are better runners and the sounds are more realistic, after accuring some Atlas engine i think they all sound the same and the Horns are terrible and cheap sounding
Considering they both use the same QSI decoders…
What models are they? A first generation single note honker horn probably does sound ‘cheap’ compared to a modern 5 chime horn.
–Randy