I recently purchased an SD24 in an Atlas and Con-Cor. Expecting to find differences in minor details. I was amazed to find absolutely no difference except that the details of the Con-cor were a little bit finer. Are they both the same company ? Just diffferent names ?
No, they are not the same company. Con-Cor’s offices are in Tucson, Arizona and Atlas is in New Jersey. Internally, with the quality of the drive mechanism, is where the big differences are going to be apparent between the two brands.
The Con-Cor loco shell is based on the dies for the Atlas loco. Roco made the SD24, GP38, GP40, SD35, and FP7 for Atlas back in the late 1970s - early 1980s. I’m not sure where the Con-Cor stuff is made.
Mexico - ConCor bought the SD24/35 GP38/40 tooling (shell and chassis) from Roco (Austria) who had made the models for Atlas. At the same time ConCor bought the E7 and E9 tooling from Roco for model the Model Power had imported. The FP7, FA, Shark and Alco switchers were not part of the deal. The FP7 and Shark were later imported by E&R, made by Roco.
There is practically no difference in chassis between the Atlas and ConCor versions, and many parts are interchangeable.
NOTE that I am referring to the older Yellow box Made in Austria Atlas models, and NOT the more recent Made in China Atlas models, which are far superior.
These models - SD24/35; GP38/40, and an FP7 (somebody correct me if I’m wrong on that last one) - were originally manufactured by Roco and imported by Atlas in 1975; they were one shot items. They shamelessly showed up Athearn’s not scale width hood. In the mid-80s Con-Cor somehow or another acquired title to the dies - at least for the SDs and GPs. - cleaned up a couple of discrepancies in the tooling, and then either had Roco or Mehano produce them; they were imported as parts which put them in a lower custom’s bracket; they wound up in Margaritaland because that is where Mr C. sent them for assembly. The Mexicans, unfortunately, proceeded to lubricate the drive-train with a non-plastic compatable oil which turned them to mush; this almost caused Mr C. to buy the farm. Somewhere or another he acquired assembled drive-trains and was able to pull this fiasco out of a hat.
Apparently this wound up in court on both sides of the border; as I heard it Mr C. has a judgement against a Mexican company for liability and a Mexican company has a judgement against Mr C. for breach of contract. Neither Mr C. nor anyone else - at at least not model railroad manufacturers - sends things to Mexico for assembly these days.
I TAKE IT THAT THE MEXICAN ASSEMBLIED CON-COR NEVER MADE IT TO THE SHELF ?
Thanks. How do you all know so much detail about the inner workings of these different manufactures ?
That is as I have always understood it; if someone has different information, I, for one, would appreciate hearing about it!!!
Now my memory is coming back to me. A friend of mine had a couple Con-Cor GP38s that were assembled in Mexico. He held on to them for a few years and eventually sold them, and they were in operating condition when he got rid of them.