Nscale Atlas Mogul

[Anonymous]

I was trying one of these out at the LHS and it seemed like a real gem. I just wondered if anyone owns one and, if so, what they think of it. Although it doesn't fit into my modelling era, it is such a neat little engine, I'm thinking of getting one when the B&O one comes out. It is a beautiful little engine.

[egmurphy]

Hearsay only, but the general word on the N scale forums was very positive on these locos. The main complaint was over marginal low speed performance, but everything else was positive. As with your question on the Spectrum 2-6-6-2, you might want to search the Atlas or TrainBoard N scale forums for threads on this loco if you want to get more specific info.

This isn't exactly a new loco, it's a slightly changed version of the same loco put out by Micro-Ace several years ago. So I suspect that most of the bugs (if there were any) had been worked out/solved previously.

Best regards

Ed

[brokemoto]

The slow and medium speed control is not the best. I can get mine and the GF can get hers to hold a steady forty-five SMPH reliably. Sometimes either one will hold thirty-five SMPH for a time, but eventually either will stall.

The pulling power is not bad.

The tender trucks do not swiivel.

The aft four wheels are live, the forward four are not. This makes the locomotive stall on plastic frog switches and on certain places on level track where it "ain't quite as level as it could be".

Atlas received a licence from Micro-Ace to market these in the US but the only modifications allowed were to make the headlight more North American and to hang US road names on it. The model is based on a mogul built in the United States for Japan (I seem to recall that there were two). I understand that one of these still exists in operating condition.

The Atlas/Micro-Ace mogul is far superior to the B-mann eight-wheeler (I know, that "ain't sayin' much".). If you want Civil War era power, this is the one to choose. I have been posting an occasional prodding over at B-personn's board for them to consider upgrading the Civil War era eight-wheeler. At some point, they might decide to do something.

Still, the mogul is not bad. The only large brickbat that I hurl at it is the poor contact. Speed control is a small brickbat: how much can you expect from a locomotive of this size and expect to have the price kept down? There is no doubt a miniature five pole motor out there that could make this thing run reliably at twenty-Five SMPH, but it might add another fifty bananas to the price. Witness the availability of a retro-fit upgrade to the Arnold S-2: it cost quite a bit of money, whether you buy the kit and do it yourself or pack your engine off to Holland, Denmark or Germany (I forget exactly where, but it is one of those places) to have it done.

[Wdlgln005]

It's a neat little engine. I use mine to pull a set of MDC shorty passenger cars. sometimes I run a set of the MDC old timer freight. Some railroads had a practice of keeping a little one spot around. Watch for new Athearn efforts with the old MDC cars.
One drawback is the Rapido coupler sticking out the back.

[Anonymous]

As my railroad dollars are not unlimited, I've thought about getting the MDC Consolidation instead. I've run one of these along side of the Atlas Mogul. The MDC seemed to pick up current better and stall less. Still, that little Mogul is absolutely beautiful!

[egmurphy]

Not sure if you know, but Athearn (old MDC/Roundhouse) also has a mogul that virtually identical to the consolidation. Same motor, drive, boiler and cab, just a different mechanism for the wheel arangement. Just in case you were looking for a 2-6-0. Runs just as good.

Ed