So I just saw this today, an Acela for kids.
I just thought this was kind of interesting. Hopefully this means we'll see this in a RTR set soon. MTH I hope are you listening? I'll post link below.
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Would be nice, and if they (or anyone) gets it right.
I've seen or heard nothing but problems about model Acela trains.
Lionel? (reams of pages discussing that disaster)
Bachmann N? I have one and I want to get rid of it. Too noisy and other issues.
Bachmann HO? Seen in person units owned by others, and nothing but issues.
Nowhere in the sales ad does it state what size it is.
PRRMP54 posted:Nowhere in the sales ad does it state what size it is.
Well the ad does say:
“12 Pieces of Curved Sectional Track- 4 Pieces of Straight Track assembles to form a 38" x 56" oval.”
Which is close in size to an HO oval. And the ad also states:
”The trains are compatible with all HO gauge track!”
So it’s somewhere close to HO in size I would guess.
PRRMP54 posted:Nowhere in the sales ad does it state what size it is.
The box says HO gauge compatible. Might be a good topic for the HONGZ forum.
I saw the supporting video when the product was announced last week. Very cute and quite innovative.
However, it is not a scale model, by any means. Size-wise, you could call it traditional-sized HO, except, of course, that HO never had a tradition of undersized HO gauge trains.
Amfleet25124 posted:Would be nice, and if they (or anyone) gets it right.
I've seen or heard nothing but problems about model Acela trains.
Lionel? (reams of pages discussing that disaster)
Bachmann N? I have one and I want to get rid of it. Too noisy and other issues.
Bachmann HO? Seen in person units owned by others, and nothing but issues.
In all fairness to the Lionel version, about 4 hours oiling and lubing wiith proper material, the model will run flawlessly. Assumption properly made that one should not have to do that. But, it is what it is.
Looks like to be identical to my sons ICE Märklin “My World” HO, a quick retool and some Amtrak graphics. 
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If you go to the MR Video Plus, Trainfest, video 3, you will see a detailed review of this set. It is a kiddie toy, battery powered, wifi controlled, with all plastic HO track.
Erik C Lindgren posted:Looks like to be identical to my sons ICE Märklin “My World” HO, a quick retool and some Amtrak graphics.
Identical? Different locomotive style, different car bodies, different wheels, different controllers...
Probably from the same contractor. The chassis and track appear the same. The Marklin appears the better deal, you get two turnouts for a siding and some kind of scenic thingie...
I just Googled Marklin My World HO. There's a whole series of these sets.
Rusty
Marklin did make an Amtrak Acela set, but it is not the same as the one Atlas is selling. The controller is also different, although it appears that Atlas is using the same plastic "C" track that Marklin uses. Both use an infrared system to operate the trains, and the wheels also appear to be the same as Marklin, so this may be a joint venture between Atlas and Marklin.
Stuart
As I noted earlier, this Atlas version is a very innovative set, especially the design element in which the cars couple magnetically with diaphragm-like car ends.
If it’s not a joint venture with Marklin, it certainly was inspired by the Eurostar train set Marklin made. I tend to think they’re related, however.
I’m tempted to buy a set for one of my grandsons, but he is already enjoying the LionChief set I gave him two years ago. An innovative O gauge set of the Acela, also with children in mind, would be great, but the tooling costs probably would make such a venture costly.
Stuart posted:Marklin did make an Amtrak Acela set, but it is not the same as the one Atlas is selling. The controller is also different, although it appears that Atlas is using the same plastic "C" track that Marklin uses. Both use an infrared system to operate the trains, and the wheels also appear to be the same as Marklin, so this may be a joint venture between Atlas and Marklin.
Stuart
I agree the Acela is made for Atlas by Marklin. I can't imagine Atlas tooling up for essentially the same thing, or even contracting a third (or would that be fourth) party for a copy. Even the Marklin Euorstar in the video has a different controller than what illustrated for the ICE set. Googling images for Marklin My World Trains (these things do look kinda neat...) shows some different controllers are used in some different sets. There's even a Santa Fe passenger set with F-units.
Rebranding is a common practice. In the olden days Sears washing machines were made by Hotpoint. When I was a computer repair guy, all our peripherals were made by different well known companies, but with our badging on them.
Looking at YouTube videos, the My World train system has been available for 8-9 years in Europe.
Rusty
