I was planning to get one. Before I buy, I would like to know some Pros & Cons.
Pros:
Great runner
Good puller
Cons:
Detail on shell is lacking
DCC conversion is not plug and play
David B
All pros, no cons.
I have one of the Roco-built S-4s from the early nineties, and it runs like a Swiss watch (OK, I guess it’s really an Austrian watch). The motor/driveline is smooth and quiet. The heavy cast underframe gives it a lot of pull, and helps maintain good electrical contact with the rails. The detail on the shell still looks great, even after nearly twenty years since they were first introduced. About the only minor flaw I can think of was that the posts in the coupler boxes were a little larger in diameter than the holes in the phosphor bronze springs when I added Kadees, but I was able to fix that by carefully reaming out the hole in the spring, and it could also be fixed by using the new Kadees with the whisker springs.
I believe the more recent runs of these engines are produced in China, but I doubt there is much difference from the earlier Roco runs.
I am not an employee of Atlas, just very pleased with their products. Do not hesitate to buy one.
Have fun!
Tom
Edit: I do agree with davidmbedard about the DCC conversion, but it can be done without too much trouble, and I’m sure there are pages out on the web that show how to do it. I also believe that NCE makes a decoder especially for the S-2/4, and I’ll bet their instructions cover isolating the motor. I even managed to cram a sound decoder in mine, so I know it can be done.
Edit: I do agree with davidmbedard about the DCC conversion, but it can be done without too much trouble, and I’m sure there are pages out on the web that show how to do it. I also believe that NCE makes a decoder especially for the S-2/4, and I’ll bet their instructions cover isolating the motor. I even managed to cram a sound decoder in mine, so I know it can be done.
They do. http://www.ncedcc.com/ncetest/atls4.pdf
Not a sound decoder, but what the heck. I have one of the older S-4’s myself.
Andre
I’ve got about 18 Atlas Alco switchers, some made in Austria, others made in China. They run good, they’re nice and heavy, and they’re easy to convert to DCC. NCE makes a decoder that is a direct replacement for the light board.
I also have several of these Atlas S series little Gems. For the money, they are fantastic. As mentioned before, they are HEAVY and will pull the wall down if you could find a way to couple onto it. I also have several of the Proto 2000 S series switchers. These little beauties are also fantastic but are much harder to convert to DCC and they are also light as a feather. They run very nicely, but have very little pulling ability because of how light they are. I recently took both of these engines and measured their pulling ability (measured in ounces on a scale attached to a piece of track). The Atlas S series engines I have a draw bar pull of 3.75 ounces. My Proto 2000 S series switchers have an average of 2.1 ounces of draw bar pull.
Michael