My Atlas 8-40C review

[the-big-blow]

QUOTE: Originally posted by NightCrawler

i think bigblow is still mad cause he got banned from the atlas forums.......

Never been banned from the Atlas Forums, however my friend has. I was threatened due to me being mistaken with someone else though.

[csxns]

SWchief one of mine 8-40C's does the same thing yours does.When you fix yours let me know.

[the-big-blow]

QUOTE: Enjoy the hobby!!

Greg

By the way I do enjoy the hobby, and prefer Kato locomotives to Atlas as a general rule. But once you break in and tinker with a Brass overland they run just as good as any plastic. Have no real gripe with Atlas locomotives, the SD24 is a great model and the only one outside of the 8-40B that MU's perfectly with my Turbines. And UP9899 has been known to be "antagonistic” when it comes to his pro UP lobbying. I just thought I'd kid around a little. Remember laugh, & the whole world laughs with you.

[Anonymous]

I've had brass locos before (Big Boy, Challenger, Northern - FEF3, and Northern GS4 - all in S scale, no less), so I kinda know and can appreciate brass. The plastic HO P2K UP 2-8-8-2 I have is just about as nice as brass. The plastic offerings these days can hold their own nicely with brass, especially the Atlas stuff. Jim Six thinks the Atlas SD24 is the best SD24 available, bar none. When it comes to detailing and notoriety in the hobby / being published many many times over several years - he can be considered an authority. Personally, I think many of the plastic offerings today even run better than brass. Overall, I still prefer brass, but to generically use it to slam the latest releases of a plastic models does not match my experiences of both.

Now having said that, while I like the 2 Atlas UP C dash 8's (non DCC) I bought, to be fair about it I still have issues with them. The paint for the UP is indeed very nice and very crisp, but personally I find it a little too orange. It's not bad, and the real UP's are themselves a variety of colors but I would have preferred the color to be more yellow. They don't match real well with the UP paint Kato AC4400's or SD90's or the Genesis SD70's (all of whose UP paint I really like.) It's minor and really a personal taste thing though. It could also be argued that to pair the dash 8's with those other models, one would actually expect the colors to be different on the prototype since the dash 8's are several years older.

The few small details that you do have to still apply to the Atlas's are real bears to apply. I did get them all to finally be applied without breaking anything, but they were still really awkward and not very easily done. I've assembled dozens of craftsmen kits (Campbell, Ambroid, etc ) as well as Branchline, Red Caboose, and Intermountain kits so I do bring a bit of detailed assembly experience to the table - the C dash 8's were far harder to assemble than should have been.

Of the two dash 8's I own. one runs beautifully and the other speeds up, slows down, stalls etc (just plain runs erratically) right out of the box. I haven't had a chance to take it apart yet and see if maybe there's a loose connection or something broken or misaligned in the drive, or maybe they just have a jumper installed wrong on the DCC ready board. Until I get this fixed (and I will) I can't run this loco and I certainly can't MU it with my other C dash 8 yet. Bummer, but it's a short term bummer I'm sure. This is the first time I've had something like that with an Atlas loco (and I have lots) so it just goes to show it can happen with any brand.

The other C dash 8 that does run well does exhibit a strange little behavior (as do the SD24's) that does not effect their performance but is nonetheless odd - while running forward, the front lights are burn steadily as expected, but rear lights frequently flash intermittently when they should not light at all. Some electricity is leaking through to them. It does not effect the running of the locos nor their forward lighting, but it does seem to indicate the PC board or it's components has a leakage problem.

Details and paint wise (not color wise - UP) these locos are outstanding and based on the running performance of the one good runner I have, they should run as well as any locos I have (all brands). You guys who haven't had any issues with them are probably in the vast majority, I am sure. But even Atlas is not perfect. Nonetheless, these are swwweeeeeeet locomotives!!! I do think that while Atlas isn't perfect, on the whole they are a bit closer to being perfect than most of the other brands and I am very glad Atlas made them. Enjoy the hobby!!

Greg

[Anonymous]

yes they do out perform the Kato AC44CTE's and i found that out last night in heavy trains it doesnt matter, but i got to get another 8-40C to go with this one. (sorry exscuse to buy another one) lol, and BTW i cant wait for the CW's either. i weathered it last night and will take pictires along with the rest of some stuff today and post the link here.

[Anonymous]

The kid gives a well written review of a model and gets bashed for it.

What a deal.

What is with some of the folk on this forum ???

There seems to be a "if you don't think like us, leave!" mentality here which is very unhealthy.

Nice review, UP9899 !

I look forward to my SF Dash 8-40CW !!!

[Anonymous]

i think bigblow is still mad cause he got banned from the atlas forums.......

[Anonymous]

bigblow69: Don"t worry about it, You can"t do anything about it.


Mac

[the-big-blow]

All this pro- Atlas lobbying I'd think I was on their web forum.

[Anonymous]

I agree with up 9899, My Atlas 8-40-C locomotive in UP paint is one great running model, with great paint, lettering and details, The LHS has another one which I may buy to go with the one I have, BTW it outperformes my Kato AC4400CTE, not by much, It starts with slightly less current, and has a better top speed range..... Atlas rules........................


Mac

[the-big-blow]

QUOTE: Originally posted by up9899

One of the best model ever!!

Nothing but modern GE Swill. Why don't you get a real GE locomotive like a Gas Turbine or Little Joe. Best Model Ever? Come on now. Do you own any brass?

[Anonymous]

I should be getting one NS and one CR pretty soon, I'm waiting for the Wide Nose version to come out and hopefully I can get 4 of the roads mentioned above, date this will happen: 2010 [:P]

[Anonymous]

Picked up an Atlas Silver series U.P. #9240 8-40C today for $79.99 and heres what i think of what i got for the money. One of the best model ever!! this thing is awesome! what i liked the best was the better color of the headlights compared to the 8-40B. Absolutely crisp paint and lettering. detail is great they even give you side mirrors! the only detail parts i see my self adding is....GE ditch lights that actually light, and a firecracker antenna...maybe new M.U. hoses also...i would highly reccommend this model...and for $80 what a steal!