Model Railroading > two big errors on Atlas U28CG's

After looking around a lots o pictures of the Santa Fe U28CG's there are two major errors.    First is the tops of the catwalks were silver along the long hood not red, they were red around the nose only, and Atlas used the wrong trucks.   Atlas has in their inventory the correct trucks GSC used on the U30C's as appropriate, but, they used one the Adirondak trucks.    It would be nice if Atlas were to provide the GSC side frames so we can fix that part.

Atlas products are always full of errors.  They are not concerned with protoypical accuracy.  

The walkways are red from end to end. Please see the page size color picture on page 107 of the Santa Fe Railway Diesel Locomotive Painting & Lettering Guide for Model Railroaders By Stephen Priest
and on page 35 of The Santa Fe Diesel By Dr. Cinthia Priest, Volume Two: 1960 - 1995.

I bought a Pennsy U28C, which apparently has the wrong cab (rounded headlight instead of rectangular) and two honkin' holes to mount sunshades, which PRR didn't have, over each cab window. They also left off the "Radio" symbol, the pilots have cast-on m.u. hoses, and there are no footboards. IMO, the screening is so dense that it appears solid and you can't see through it, so the db resistors are not visible. Other than that, the paint looks good and the overall molding is pretty nice.

Actual photos that show the top of the catwalks along the long hood, as in dozens of them found on Google clearly show the top is SILVER.   They are only red along the nose.   

The truth is out there!  Probably has to do with when the photo's were taken and paint practices changed.  Both are probably right but may depend on time frame.

ATSFSuperCap Wrote:
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> Actual photos that show the top of the catwalks
> along the long hood, as in dozens of them found on
> Google clearly show the top is SILVER.   They
> are only red along the nose.   

So you're saying the ones in the Priest's books are not real?  Interesting...

Simple picture posting put this catwalk to rest
Charls

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Looks somewhat silver here. Seems to be mostly red but a few silvers? Wonder if all of the body is silver, and then the red is applied. And if the red wears off, the silver shows through.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/23 09:09 by nydepot.

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The new U28c's are a nicely proportioned platform for modelling the prototype. However, not to excessively pile on the model, but my biggest pet peeve is the fact that the rear grill is just blank.  There is a nice metal etching, but behind that should be, at least for the roads that ordered dynamic brakes, the characteristic GE grids.  The KV models U-28-C upgrade kit includes them, but it appears they ran out of money, or lack the assembly line prowess of other manufacturers at this point.  If you remove the shell, the grille is held on by very soft bend tabs that make removal easy.  When the KV's arrive my units will look proper, but gees, Proto 2000 u28B's, and ancient Stewart U25B's included this detail.  For the price, this was a boo-boo on Atlas' part.  To make the area see through, the modeler has to go through the hassle of doing some, you know, modeling and fix that up.  At least the building blocks are there.

Like CO1309 says. Atlas is not as concerned with prototypical accuracy like some manufacturers are. With my Wabash Gp7s, I have to add a Mars light and move the headlight. I also don't like the "goober" stud and hole that the end of the handrails attach to on the short end near the steps.

Otherwise, it's a nice model.

With the U28CG, at least you don't have to file a hole in the ends of the carbody to add the aftermarket grilles.

Victor Baird



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/23 18:31 by wabash2800.

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1428440,1428719#1428719


https://www.trainorders.com/images2/index.php?category=11&search=U28cg&author=1&title=1&description=1


~ Mr. MRL

Personally , I like my Atlas U28CG and I'm grateful Atlas made them . It's a model I've wanted a long time. 

Looks like a toss-up, Mr. Mrl. Were they in service long enough to have been repainted? Maybe delivered with red walkways and repainted with silver?

Yardclerk to the rescue !  Sure miss Jim.


MrMRL Wrote:
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> https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11
> ,1428440,1428719#1428719
>
>
> https://www.trainorders.com/images2/index.php?cate
> gory=11&search=U28cg&author=1&title=1&description=
> 1
>
>
> ~ Mr. MRL

Funny no one mentions that the plow is incorrect. Easily fixed with a Details West PL185 but it sticks out badly.

Posted from Android

I posted a review of the Atlas SP U28C a few days ago and received some very helpful suggestions. My biggest kudos to Atlas was the price point, under $200 for a DCC sound loco is pretty darn good in my book. They provided a model which I wanted and it was a good start to upgrade what my skill level is capable of doing and/or willing to do.

For the SP ones, I am adding the EUC box, air vents, and antenna. Something interesting about the trucks. I read that when the engines went in for service, they did not service the trucks and put them back on that particular locomotive, they swapped them out with whatever they had on hand. There are photos of the SP engines having three different trucks and sometimes different trucks on the same locomotive!

Michael Mickens
Placerville, CA

Regarding the catwalk, at least to me, the cat walk is indeed red, but the paint got worn off to show the base coat, which was most likely silver like the body. In pics of the "silver" cat walk, you can see faded sections of red. Paint fades over time, especially when there's something walking over it on a daily basis.

They have the wrong valve gear.

SimpleMoMike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I posted a review of the Atlas SP U28C a few days
> ago and received some very helpful suggestions. My
> biggest kudos to Atlas was the price point, under
> $200 for a DCC sound loco is pretty darn good in
> my book. They provided a model which I wanted and
> it was a good start to upgrade what my skill level
> is capable of doing and/or willing to do.
>
> For the SP ones, I am adding the EUC box, air
> vents, and antenna. Something interesting about
> the trucks. I read that when the engines went in
> for service, they did not service the trucks and
> put them back on that particular locomotive, they
> swapped them out with whatever they had on hand.
> There are photos of the SP engines having three
> different trucks and sometimes different trucks on
> the same locomotive!
>
> Michael Mickens
> Placerville, CA
SP was great about switching trucks on the U33C