I can’t seem to stop saying it, I love Atlas locos.
Today I received my second Atlas N scale loco, a GP7 painted in MEC maroon/gold. Since I’m back dating my layout from 1978 to 1952, this new Geep is the first of what will be my new roster. I couldn’t wait to get the loco out of it’s plastic case and onto the test track I have setup for some breaking in.
Straight out of the box it ran with no problem, slow and smooth to start, no jerking, no noise. I think my only issue is the headlights that are bright enough to see in Chicago from my home in New Hampshire.
Even my B&M GP40-2 which has been in storage for 10+ years runs perfectly straight out of the storage box. It just goes to show the true quality of these locos, and definately worth the slightly higher cost.
I couldn’t agree more with you about the overall quality of Atlas products. I also model the B&M although I do the H.O. scale thing. My only wish is that Atlas would do some of those Maine Central Red and Gold locomotives in B&M.
At least I have the Blue H.O. Scale B&M GP-7’s and a bunch of the Atlas B&M RS-3’s.
i’m with you, I love atlas n scale locos. Before then, i had bachmann and standard line life-like. Atlas kicks their buts (of course, they aren’t in atlas’s league). All 4 of my operating locos on my roster are atlas locos. Most of what I want is atlas except for 1 kato. But yeah, atlas is the King of the N Scale Locomotive market.
I have a few atlas HO lokies and quite pleased, not new but at the time thy were new Atlas was one of the great players in the hobby and still are and reasonable prices with higher quality than the ealier athearn, perhaps they made the point just because of thei quality for othe hobbymakers to up their qualities as well.
Below is one of my favorite engines, a GP7 from Atlas. It’s dcc but no sound and it doesn’t seem to bother me that it doesn’t have sound because it’s such a quite, smooth running engine.
I ran one of my Atlas RS-1’s tonight for several hours at the club and I have never seen something so smooth and quiet. Nothing beats taking an engine that has been running and flip it over and take a big whiff of the motor smell. I know I know…your saying what a weirdo… The old Athearns smell much better!!!..
This is the engine that saved N scale. The 1984 RS-3. It was manufactured by Kato, but it was designed and marketed by Atlas. It proved that a smaller, narrow hood diesel could be done with great detail, and a smooth running, reliable drive.
Of course, as you can see… the other thing that makes Atlas shine well above the rest, is that even today, 24 years after its initial release, you can still get parts for it, such as the extra shell it needs to make the WM Hammer Head…
I currently roster 47 active engines, and 27 of them are by Atlas. The remainder are divided among Kato, Intermountain and Life Like, with a Bachmann Consolidation to represent the steam heads.
People often complain that Atlas doesn’t do much in steam, but I believe they stick to what they do best, and when the time is right, we’ll see them dabble in something a little different.
rave on…i dont think you will get any complaints here. as long as i have been in n scale, i cant believe it took me so long to aquire some atlas locos. no turning back now, atlas all the way. i bought a new santa fe b36-7(i think thats the correct number) on ebay for 30 bucks!! its an older made unit, but it has a brighter headlight than the others, and runs perfect…
Love Atlas N-scale diesels. They run really slooooww, and even slower with DCC. They are great for yard ops. The OEM DCC is good, although they don’t get Rule 17 right. And with a Lenz or Digitrax decoder, they’re even better. (Sadly, I also tried an MRC sound decoder. Let’s not go there…)
Unfortunately for my attempt at an “old-time” layout, they are not so good with steam. I have a couple of their Moguls, and can’t find any way to turn them into reliable runners.
Could not agree more. Although I give a bit of an edge on performance to Kato in N-scale, I give them both an A+ on their report cards. And don’t forget about the rolling stock and track. I think the Atlas code 55 line of track is the greatest thing to happen to N-scale in a long time. Jamie
Hmmm there is nothing new under the sun. I’ve been an Atlas fan since about 1969 with my first SD45 in N-scale and SD-24 in HO. Even the HO ones from the original China run (Alco S2?) after the Kato’s weren’t too bad.
The Atlas S-2 (HO scale) was originally made by Roco of Austria. Production was moved to China some time during the 1990s. I have both versions, and they run well.
I have an Atlas RS-1, bought new, HO scale, never has run right. Jerky erratic performance right out of the box. Give me a Walthers H10-44 any day of the week!
Can not agree more. I have a very very old GP-9 that I have had from the late 70’s , and it still runs. I really like the new ones with the flywheels, i have quite a few without these and they do noy run nearly as nice as the nrew ones
That would be a most unusual case. Something seriously funny about it. Return it to Atlas and get a normal one. I got some of the RS-1s from the 1998 batch. I liked it as much as the 1984 Kato runs.
I’ve got 34 Atlas locos in HO scale and 16 in N scale. All of them have flywheels and they all run well. I have one RS-1 in the HO fleet and it did run kind of jerky at first, but after a few laps around the layout it smoothed out. I think it just needs a good breaking in.
