How does Atlas and MTH Premier compare in terms of quality, detail, authenticity etc.? Do they play well together?
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@Espee Jim posted:How does Atlas and MTH Premier compare in terms of quality, detail, authenticity etc.?
I always preferred the MTH Premier freight cars, as their details didn't brake-off as easily as the Atlas Master Series items. Plus, the MTH freight cars were easier to install Kadee couplers.
Do they play well together?
Of course the do, especially after up-grading to body mounted Kadee couplers.
Just one example....
There is generally more and finer detail on the Atlas O cars than the MTH Premier in my experience. However, individual MTH cars are very detailed and compare favorably. The MTH Fishbelly hopper and the PRR R50B reefer are very nice models. On the other hand, the 52 gondolas I have had are more like the Atlas O train man line. So for MTH, you have to consider each model individually rather than the Premier line as a whole. With Atlas O master line, the level of detail is consistently about the same.
As for quality, I think they are both about equal. Quality means the mfg says what they will do, and then does what it says. The 3 rail couplers and trucks appear to be similar and compatible. My experience is converting them to 2 rail, and in that case, the work is different, but about the same amount of effort.
Between MTH Premier and Atlas O, the brand I buy is determined by the style and road name of the boxcars, refrigerator cars and cabooses that they offer. Atlas O may be somewhat better detailed but therefore may be more fragile than MTH. In my opinion, the quality of the two brands is equal and I have never had a problem with either, but my experience is limited to the types of cars mentioned above.
MELGAR
I don't think you can go wrong with either manufacturers cars to be honest. If I look at what I have purchased over the past several months, and all new product, not new purchases of old product, Atlas has really raised the bar relating to the packing materials. The cars are now easier to remove from the protective wrapping. I have had no instances in the pulling out the cars and having pieces broken off in the box. I think the detailing is also pretty close from company to company. My most recent purchase has been the 33k gallon tank cars from Atlas, and they are amazing, simply amazing. You do have to watch how you handle them and where you pick them up from because of the way the car is prototypically designed. My most recent MTH purchases have been the military cars and some passenger cars, so really not a fair comparison.
As far as playing together - no issues right out of the box. I have Atlas O engines that I run MTH passenger cars with and MTH Premier engines that I run Atlas O cars with.
John
One additional thing to add, is the Atlas O trucks are the best available in my opinion. I’ve used their trucks on all my rolling stock, including the MTH freight cars, and it makes a huge difference, especially the modern era roller bearing trucks with rotating bearing caps. It also lowers these cars to a more realistic ride height.
I used to have a ton of Atlas reefers, that I regrettably sold off when I switched to Standard Gauge. Now that I'm back into O gauge I have a newfound appreciation for the MTH Premier 36' reefers. I agree that you need to compare each specific car from each manufacturer. And, it seems to me, that although the Atlas reefers are generally more to scale (as far as details like ladders and handgrabs are concerned), they are also more fragile. For my ever-decreasing eyesight and ability to handle items delicately, I prefer the MTH reefers. I feel like such a klutz when I break a detail part while removing a car from its box.
@Jeff78rr posted:One additional thing to add, is the Atlas O trucks are the best available in my opinion. I’ve used their trucks on all my rolling stock, including the MTH freight cars, and it makes a huge difference, especially the modern era roller bearing trucks with rotating bearing caps. It also lowers these cars to a more realistic ride height.
I got rid of most of my MTH cars (only kept those not done by Atlas) because they rode way to high so looked horrible. Now 90% Atlas, 10% others manufacturers combined. I did not anticipate parts compatibility. Easy swap? Which Atlas parts are are they ?
Atlas O hands down. These have tremendous detail and can very easily be converted to full scale 2 rail or Kadees in a jiffy. In the world of 3 rail, it seems just about all of the manufacturers stuff "plays well together" but in two rail O the couplers on the MTH stuff seems to ride a bit high on some of the freight cars when converted. Lionel makes a really nice full scale car these days as well but when considering any of the three manufacturers I have to ask myself whether a single freight car is really worth 70 bucks?
FYI...... The new MTH 50' high cube boxcars sit a lot lower, they put a step in the floor. Also they roll really good now.
The detail on Atlas cars is superior to that of the MTH cars, but it comes at the cost of higher risk of breakage. In the case of box cars, MTH has doors that open which makes the details like door tracks larger than they should be. Ladders are sometimes a bit thicker than they should be, but as an operator who needs to transport the equipment to the club, this makes them more durable. Which ones I buy depends more on road name and prototype than anything else. By the way, MTH does fantasy paint schemes; Atlas seems to still avoid doing that and I hope they will continue to do so.
The Atlas trucks are better than the MTH by quite a bit, plus the bearing caps rotate. They have the parts for installation on MTH rolling stock (MTH replacement 2-rail trucks also have the parts for Atlas cars). The earlier MTH cars tended to ride high, but the later ones with the Kadee mounts ride lower and are pretty close to the right height when you install the MTH 2-rail replacement trucks.
I've put Kadees on some Atlas cars and the 745's are an easier mount because of the plastic draft boxes -- you can fudge them in using the 2mmx8mm screws (https://www.microfasteners.com is a good source). The front of the box sticks out a bit and you need a MicroMark shim to get the height right.
Thank you everyone for your insightful comments. I'm new to O scale, so I'm absorbing everything I can like a sponge. When I was a kid in the 60s, my dad and I had a basic HO scale layout, but it never went any further than that. Now that I'm semi-retired, I have a lot more time and resources to devote to the hobby—hopefully to the benefit of my grand kiddos.
Now that Atlas O has control of the production of the MTH PREMIER cars, will they make their Master Series cars more durable?
Andrew
Over the years, I have found Atlas O freight cars to be far superior to MTH freight cars, particularly their coal hoppers and box cars. Their trucks and couplers are also better. They are more expensive, however. Only knock I have about some of the more recent Atlas O Box cars is that they have fixed doors. The vast majority of my freight cars are Lionel and Atlas, although I have purchased virtually no Lionel freight cars manufactured since 2016 because of the disastrous and continuing problems with their trucks and couplers, which have been the subject of a number of threads on the Forum.
Pat
