Once in a while I stroll around the company websites to see what’s new. Atlas Industrial Rail has a bunch of new product announcements: steam engine, transformers, train sets, add-on packs and a new track system. Some of these items bear a striking resemblance to some of Lionel’s products, especially the concept of the add-on packs.
For me, once again I’m still scratching my head why Atlas decides to issue some items that are nearly the exact same cars that Lionel has issued with not a single current road name item in the group: the inclusion of modern roads was one of the BIG things I liked about the original UMD Industrial Rail products. And the new Atlas track system once again has a 36 inch curve (40 inch with roadbed) instead of doing something innovative like offering a tighter radius curve.
Well, nonetheless these are worthy product announcements and shows another company is seeing the light in making decent quality affordable non-scale/traditionally sized starter products. Though I would have preferred to see a shortened scaled down modern type diesel for the first locomotive, the new Atlantic steam does look nice for the price. As for me, I wrote Atlas and will hold off any purchases until I finally see something in CSX, Conrail, NS, BNSF, KCS, CPR, or CN that I’d actually like to buy instead of having to repaint, kitbash and make them myself… I can buy used beaters for that instead of brand new items.
Great minds think and do alike[:)] I was just on Atlas’ site too and notice these things. Just posted a thread. Sorry if I stepped on your toes on this one. did see your post.
Brian the way I read it the new track bolts right up to Atlas O’s other track… You can probably connect to their O-27 and using the add on ballast not see the change…
brianel,
I really like the C&O set and expansion… would have rather seen a diesel in there as well… I have a lot of steamers and need some more diesels… the expansion pack has merit just for the additional rolling stock… I’m more of a C&O, B&O, Western Maryland / transition to Chessie/CSX man myself… but I can see your frustration since the manufacturers don’t seem too interested in the modern roadnames…
I notice that while they did not do modern road names, some paint scheme variations were shown that have not yet appeared on similar cars by Lionel, Williams, and MTH Rugged Rails.
For Jim Weaver and company to do modern road names the Industrial Rail Line might have to include something like a GP15T/GP15-1 in the traditional proportions and detail level of the rest of the Industrial Rail product line.
To truly produce a modern freight train, the Industrial Rail Line needs an infusion of modern body styles with traditionally proportioned O-27 versions of these items.
General Electric 40B-8 Locomotive
GM-EMD GP50/GP60 Locomotive
ACF Center Flow 4600 Cubic Foot Capacity 3-Bay Covered Hopper
Fruit Growers Express 50’ Insulated Box Car & Refrigerator Car
Pacific Car and Foundry Plate C 50’ Exterior Post Box Car
Evans/Thrall Mill Gondola
ACF 17,600 Tank Car
Trinity/Johnstown Rapid Discharge Coal Hopper
That would cover the major modern variations of freight cars, but it must be done with durable molded in details and in mostly S Scale proportions to operate on O-27 Curves.
I’ll likely go with the C&O set myself, since I just received a Lionel C&O Dockside. I figure the street price for the set will likely be about $50 less than the MSRP, which certainly seems reasonable enough.
The Industrial Rail Sets just announced are based on the time period of 1940-1960. People who clearly remember that time period are now at least 55 years old.
What the future Industrial Rail line releases might need to concentrate upon is equipment built the 1970-1990 time frame and post-1990 paint schemes just to catch up with Lionel’s Traditional O Gauge line.
I have listed the locos and cars in the previous post, but I forgot to put a time frame on them.
It is not a lot, but they are very distinct choices.
Andrew, thanks for your list and your line of thinking. While I could be inclined to agree with you, I also recognize there are assooicatiated tooling costs for any new item. Sometimes, it’s just a lack of thinking… when UMD first tooled up their box car, for example, instead of doing a copy of a 6464 type, they could have left off the roofwalk and shortened all the side ladders to create a more modern appearing box car. And instead of doing a copy of the Lionel 2-bay hopper, they could have made that into a shorter bath-tub type hopper.
But I truly believe we traditional 027 operators are amoung the easiest-to-please customers the train comapnies have. We already have accepted the limitations of 027 track and are happy to have decent looking and running products that negotiate our curves and clear the switches.
Remember when the “BEEP” first came out? There were plenty of voices condemning it as not being prototypical enough. Little did those guys know this was exactly the type of product the hobby needs. Sure, it ain’t prototypical BUT it looks good enough to be real! The BEEP mimics the appearance of a real train, without being modeled after a specific model type - and that’s good enough for me. And obviously good enough for others because it is selling so well.
Or as another train of thought, it was amazing how MARX in their day could take short folded tin cars, and by means of good lithography, make those short little tin trains look like the real thing. When Conrail took over the NE railroads, they gradually weened out the shorter train cars on the thinking that longer train cars could carry more product and thus make more money for the same amount of labor/handling expense. But prototypically correct large long train cars are not going to clear our 027 curves or switches. Therefore I think many 027 operators have learned to accept some compromises. Tooling and die costs are one thing though and paint masks are another.
An injection mold for the modern boxcars with one peice bodies with two doors and all the details are molded in is a lot less expensive to mill than the Atlas O Scale Master Series. The frame for the boxcars would be reused from the other cars.
Alright, I guess the hoppers are hoppers and they can just get new paint schemes. Even a 1960’s paint scheme is new for these hopper. When will they run more 1980’s and 1990’s graphics?
The fishbelly gondolas have been around for a while and they can stay. What about a fishbelly gondola in the 1990’s Illinois Central, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, MP/UP, and Norfolk Southern Schemes?
Tank Cars are much more sleek since the 1970’s and that is a significant change that has to be accounted for with a new model.
There still is the issue of the proportionally and detail level matching 1980-1995 built four-axle locomotive. Would Jim Weaver let Lionel and Williams have all of the market on those? He would have to come up with at least one recent era model.
Doug, valid point taken… but you’re talking about trolley’s too which have long disappeared from most folks daily lives.
But it depends on taget audience too. Consider that in the last years, MARX made starter steam sets in Penn Central. Hardly prototypical, but with a very recognizable graphic to kids of that time. Likewise, I have a custom painted Lionel 4-4-2 steamer with the modern Norfolk Southern logo on the tender. Again, not prototypical. But as a black steam engine, sure seems to me to be a contender for the NS logo. And frankly, it amazes me when kids get all excited about seeing that one. Not only are there the visuals of the puffing smoke and the steam engine drive, but they do recognize the NS logo on that black background… even if this time it’s on a steam engine tender.
I’ve said it before, but after many years of displays, I never once witnessed the visual and audiable excitement from the PRR or NYC on a steam engine tender like I did with the NS logo. Same obvviously goes for diesels. So while we older folks might not get as wound up over AMTRAK logos being on a trolley, the situation might be reversed with younger folks.
I am very pleased to see Atlas expand the Industrial Rails line. The 4-4-2 looks intriguing.
Brian, I like the older road names but I do see your point. When I was just starting out in HO as a teenager, I took a Mantua Mikado and repainted it, adding some Walthers Seaboard Coast Line decals. Sure, I knew even then that the SCL didn’t ever have steam although the predecessor Seaboard Airline and Atlantic Coast Line railroads certainly did. I just wanted an engine with a roadname that I saw all the time (this was about 1972 in Jacksonville, Florida). I was, indeed, more familiar with and drawn to the railroads of the day.
Now, I am happy with the older roads (many that were “current” when I was growing up) such as the Pennsy, NYC, Erie-Lackawanna, et. al. I especially like to try and find southern lines (nearly as hard to find as the modern roads) such as GM&O, Southern, L&N, et. al. Like you, I find that often my only recourse is to repaint.
The cars look to be from old Industrial Rail tooling from what I can tell and will likely have better graphics. But I never paid close attention to Industrial Rail. I could be wrong I dunno.
I think Atlas chose 036 as a baseline diameter because today’s rubber band wheel engines have trouble gripping 027 curves like magnetraction engines did. Kids are known to send trains sailing for the concrete on 027 curves when running at any kind of speed. If demand warrants, I’m sure Atlas will add 027 to their track line. The difference between it and Fastrack is the T rail profile.
Roadnames are a personal matter really and there appears to be a lot of handsome east coast fallen flag roads announced. The Pennsy Merchandise Service car looks sharp. You don’t see many rich colors like Atlas is offering in the Lionel starter variety. Lionel’s are often single tone unpainted plastic.
The Atlantic looks sharp to me too and has some American Flyer flavor to it. It will likely have a quality drive compareable to their more expensive scale sized engines.
There is a Soo Line Plug-Door Boxcar built in 1965 with the Colormark Scheme. Soo Line Plug-Door Boxcars with the similar scheme are still around. Here is what it looks like based on a drawing on the Soo Line Historical & Technical Society website www.sooline.org .
That is a great scheme for the Industrial Rail Plug-Door Boxcar.
