I found Some decent looking P and W gp-38’s in the Atlas Trainman series coming out soon. wondering if anyone has any experience with the trainman line? Quality, Running detail thanks.
Thanks CSX
The Traiman is a step down from their usual offerings.The drives are the same smooth Atlas drive we are use to…
The shell lacks grabs and other mintue details like you usually find on Atlas engines.
The handrails is on the thick side if such bothers you.
Overall the TM are great locomotives.
Yes, they are great running locomotives, they just lack the detail of their Silver and Gold sisters. The drive is silky smooth and pulling power (weight) is very good. They are a tremendous value.
Agreed. they are indeed a very good value for the money. That said, I have quite a few older locomotives that are not Atlas (Athearn BB included) that may someday get that face lift that I think they should have. Makes for some fun modeling. In my mind though, these locomotives are quite liveable right out of the box. In the meantime, I will go with the “good 'nuff” mindset and run 'em they way they are.
Tom,Did you know you can use the Atlas GP38-2 drive under Athearn’s GP38-2 shell? I think the GP40-2 shell fits too.The weight on the Atlas drive will need some triming.
I did not know that, Larry. That’s good to know. I’m sure the same would go for the GP35’s too; they’re about the same dimensions. Thanks.
I have a few of the Atlas Trainman diesels, I use them for yard engines and grunt work. I do add grabs and a few other detail parts and even with that, they are a good buy.
Bob
The GP35 has a shorter frame than the GP38/38-2/40/40-2/50/60. Note that drive components from many of these locos can often fit in other frames, so you still may be able to use the parts. I’ve successfully used Kato drives in Athearn frames, for example, and the parts basically just dropped in (many Kato parts are similar in dimensions to their Atlas equivalents). Sometimes you’ll need different universals to account for the differences in frame length, or you may be able just shorten the originals.
Hi CSX, there is an advanced grade to Trainman line called Trainman Plus.
Detail is good, as you can see the handrails are a bit big but Atlas now offers replacement “scale” handrails. In the next run of Gensets, they will have the smaller handrails. I put a TCS decoder in this and it is a very smoooooth runner. LED lights with working ditch lights. I also replaced the couplers with Kadee. I don’t know what it is about this one but it has a special place in my heart even though I own Athearn Geneisis and Atlas Gold Series.
