I saw the Latest Industrial Rail stuff!

[CSXect]

I have  been a big fan of the IR line even though I have not any in my roster yet but will get a few of them as they are a very good match for postwar and 027 trains.

Not to change the subject has anyone bought from town and country hobbies they sell flat cars and flatcars with loads somw what cheap.

[phillyreading]

Move over Lionel and MTH.

Chief!

Somebody needs to wake up the Lion!!

Lee F.

[ChiefEagles]

Move over Lionel and MTH.

[brianel027]

Hi Andrew, it's more than a distinct possibility. Ironically, this scheme box car has been made in HO and N (also at Sanda Kan) and is correct. A quick check on the internet or in the Morning Sun books clearly show this car is a very light grey color. EL dropped the scheme eventually because the color stood up to the elements poorly and allowed rust to easily bleed through.

And just to show SK can get it right in 3-rail, K-Line had an uncataloged version of this car made for one of the employee-only uncataloged Conrail Safety Award train sets. That one was far more accurate color-wise than the Lionel or Atlas IR versions. Even the unpainted molded color shorty 027 EL box cars made during the 1970's by MPC were far more correct color-wise and I do have several of those.

I'd make one myself and to say the heck with waiting, but the red/rust colored decals for that car in 0 scale or even S scale are not made. I know, I've looked.

[Andrew Falconer]

"The Erie Lackawanna box car is a copy of the Lionel starter box car offered a couple years ago, and both are totally the wrong shade of gray.... way too dark. I probably would have bought that one had it not been so far off color-wise."

There is a distinct possiblity that both ERIE LAKAWANNA Boxcars were manufactured at Sanda Kan in China. They might have information that makes them paint the gray too dark. They should have just gone with Silver to make the E-L Boxcar look better.

Andrew

[Jumijo]

I'm one who bought the old IR cars and had trouble with derailments due to the couplers. I took Brian's advice and opened them up. Since then, they have run flawlessly. They are very nice, and I'm sure that the Atlas versions are equal to or better than the old ones.

Jim

[brianel027]

Atlas is taking some big steps forward with the Industrial Rail line for certain. Besides the new track system and transformer, the steamer does look nice from the Atlas web site photos. And there's the new caboose which is obviously from new tooling: a far improvement over the one real clinker, that undersized caboose of the UMD Industrial Rail line.

But to give credit where credit is due, the trolley is a re-issue of the previous UMD model, though Atlas claims to have improved the pickups. And most of the other car types are re-issues also, save for the plug door box car, which is just the prior UMD version with a new plug door on it.

I've also seen some of the new Atlas Industrial Rail cars, and most look nice. But so far there's little that grabs my attention as far as buying. The Erie Lackawanna box car is a copy of the Lionel starter box car offered a couple years ago, and both are totally the wrong shade of gray.... way too dark. I probably would have bought that one had it not been so far off color-wise. And the Reading double door box car interests me. I held one in my hands and liked it, but passed on it. I'd really prefer to see Atlas do a mix of some current modern road names like UMD did. There's certainly plenty that has yet to be done and has NEVER been done in this traditionally sized types of cars. I know they're both prototypically wrong, but I have several of the all black NS box car and the heritage scheme BNSF box car by UMD.

On the trucks, I would assume Atlas is using the exact UMD trucks, and I assume they made no changes in it, or they would have mentioned it. While the UMD trucks are very hefty and nice looking, the space within the closed knuckle is too small, causing the cars to bind and then derail on 027 curves... especially into switches and "S" shaped curves using 027 diameter curves. I have mentioned this problem in the past and it has been discussed elsewhere. I know from the many comments, that it wasn't just me that was having this problem. The solution is to use a Dremel and a grinding bit and enlarge the space inside the closed coupler. TA-DA, no more derailments.

This truck/coupler defect is one major problem with the Industrial Rail cars, and it would have been nice to see Atlas correct this. When the UMD IR cars were being blown out for under $15 it wasn't such a big deal to fix the trucks yourself given the rock bottom bargain prices of the UMD cars. but I've read comments from others that got frustrated and bought no more UMD IR cars.

But I'm still optimistic for the Atlas Industrial Rail line. I hope they'll take the example of MTH and offer some kind of compressed modern diesel like the Rugged Rails SD90MAC (which in my opinion was the best by far of the compressed smaller MTH diesels - and looks right at home on a smaller layout), without the added electronics. And here's hoping we'll see some rolling stock offered in CSX, BNSF (even with the new "swoosh" logo), Conrail, Norfolk Southern, CN (CNA), CP Rail (CPR) and KCS to name a few, which for me will make the difference between just looking and actually buying.

[wrmcclellan]

It will be interesting to see if the new track can bust into the market like Fastrack did.

Waiting on John to get his 0-6-0 so we can get a report.

There is a TCA meet here tomorrow and Atlas O is supposed to be here for it.

[Santa Fe Kent]

The Atlas O guy was at the local shop with the latest. The new Atlantic steamer is hefty and well made with nice clean lines. I was most impressed with the new trolley.... it looks really nice, and very old-timey. It does not look cheap. The catalog graphic does not show how nice it is! All the freight cars look good and fit right in with 027 and postwar look. The trucks were a strong point; they look like they're really sprung. Very well made stuff.

And then there is the new track. Looks a lot like Fastrack except:

Ballast has more color and texture, which really seems to help,

Rail is T-shaped with thinner pins, not the big Lionel blades. Really, this wasn't as obvious as the ballast, it may be more noticeable over time perhaps.

Couldn't get the guy to say anything about future products, but it's obvious they are commited to IR, and he would not disagree with a nice little diesel to round out the line.