Model Railroading > Atlas Gensets, they do exist, for real, finally!!

I pre-ordered a pair of Atlas HO scale Gensets for Pacific Harbor Line from Caboose Hobbies last December fully expecting their arrival in January 2010. Well it only took an additional 10 months, but they finally arrived today! Oh the possibilities in store for these two eco friendly switchers...

Only thing I immediately noticed as an eyesore is the thick handrails. I'm gonna have to bend some brass wire and replace those... I'm sure other details will need to be addressed and/or replaced (silver horns/sinclair/ditchlights, move the sand hatch, etc...) but for now, I'm just glad to actually have them in my hands.

Mr. MRL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/10 18:12 by MrMRL.

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Ditchlights front & back, nice. Just waiting now for a pair of Digitrax DN143IP decoders to arrive.

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The pair. Thanks Atlas! It took longer than expected, but I'm still happy.

Mr. PHL

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Those GenSet models look great. I know you don't like the thick handrails, but I'd rather have them a little thick (and durable) than to have them at exact scale and be so fragile that I'm too scared to handle the model.

Glad to see them, I've got a Swoosh and two PHL's that should be on my doorstep tomorrow.

Here are my 3GS21B Gensets, 2 are Atlas one is Overland (BNSF), I am very impressed with the atlas, they run great (well one does the other still not got a decoder in). I might in the future replace the handrails with brass ones, but for now, I got too much todo on the layout. I really like the PHL, and thinking about getting them both. I also have plans for 2 more overland ones, a CSX and a US Army.

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God, those things are UGLY!!!
90mac

Lol. Does the PHL runs all the way to Montana these days? Is the MRL branching out in a new direction Robby?

Stephen

Like I said before, ugly locos are a plot so railfans will put their cameras away and never go trackside again. But the modelers will still love them...LOL

90mac Wrote:
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> God, those things are UGLY!!!
> 90mac



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/10 20:23 by wabash2800.

90mac Wrote:
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> God, those things are UGLY!!!
> 90mac

No worse than a CF7.

Cheers,
Harry

Consider using Athearn handrails since they are made of wire.
Just order the part for your model or close to it.

Hal

Since Atlas neglected to put a "F" on the frame, I assume the cab end is the front...????
Even though I like CF-7's better, These are nice models. But how do they run?
And do the ditch lights flash or just on?
cf7

UGLY, UGLY, UGLY! Sure glad I model 1989 so I am not tempted, not that I would be if I was a modern modeler. But I know there are those who like them, and I hope you who did buy are happy with them. Nothing worse than waiting for a long time for something to arrive and then find it wasn't as "purty" as you wanted.

Bob

Bob Miller
Kansas City, KS

cf7 Wrote:
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> Since Atlas neglected to put a "F" on the frame, I
> assume the cab end is the front...????
> Even though I like CF-7's better, These are nice
> models. But how do they run?
> And do the ditch lights flash or just on?
> cf7


My Atlas UP do have an "F" on the frame, and no the ditch lights do not flash and less you wire them up to a decoder that supports 6 light functions for the front and rear lights. Not all railroads flash ditch lights, in my neck of the woods, it is only Amtrak that flash the ditch lights, and not BNSF or UP.

Athearn has metal hand rails?? since when?

Has anyone taken the shell off yet? Is it ready for sound and speakers? Tony's Train Exchange said they weren't sure what Atlas decided on doing. I want mine to sound like a fleet of idling garbage trucks.

"I&O The Good Track Road"

hotmetal-train Wrote:
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> Athearn has metal hand rails?? since when?


The old bluebox stuff did. Apparently they may reintroduce them with the U50 they're bringing out.

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> Like I said before, ugly locos are a plot so
> railfans will put their cameras away and never go
> trackside again. But the modelers will still love
> them...LOL
>
> 90mac Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > God, those things are UGLY!!!
> > 90mac

That hasn't stopped me from recording video of both a UP trio and a BNSF pair (unposted), but then, I also like the ugly 3 window SD60M's, a matter of personal distaste. :-)

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,2127775

Are there "bells & whistles ONLY" sound decoders on the market? I really can't justify putting a full sound decoder in Gensets, because they are so friggin' quiet compared to EMD's and GE's, especially when paired with turboless GP38's and GP15's.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/10 08:19 by cchan006.

yep as for sound there is a space for a speaker, it is the current location of the capacitors, it is perfect, and also has mount wholes to mount a speaker. I emails both QSI and Soundtraxx about possible genset sound, Soundtraxx said no plans, but QSI said they had wonderful recording but the current software does not fit the gensets, so they say early next year for a decoder.

until then I will just switch the shop vac on as sound effects.

I think these locos look great, ugly would be the GE class 70

http://www.ukmodelrailways.com/userimages/ukmr-bachmann-prototype70.JPG

the Gensets are a like a modern RS-1, they look awesome, but then again, I think all steam and GP30 are ugly. to each their own.

until then been thinking about an old soundtraxx decoder, but turn the volume off for the prime mover, just keep the horn, and whistle.

They look pretty decent to me. At least the black paint on the PHL units seems to make the thick handrails appear less prominent - compared with the UP or BNSF versions.