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Sorry... Originally posted this to the wrong thread...

Was thinking of ordering some of these when they were first announced, but never pulled the trigger - I am a 99% Lionel type. But when I saw Mr. Muffin's message last night, I decided to give them a try. Called at 10:30 or so this morning and was able to snap up one of the BNSF sets and a set of containers. Got an e-mail around noon that they were shipped, should have them by Monday. Everything I've read here about Mr. Muffin's is spot on. If I am looking for any additional Atlas products, I know where I'll,be going.

Thanks Steve.

Jeff78rr posted:

They are all similar in width and all stack like they should.  The anchor holes on the outer edges on the 20's work perfectly 

How do you anchor the 20 footers on the bottom to the well and the 53 footers on top of them Jeff? They have no pins included in either container package.

(The 20 footers are about an 1/8 inch narrower than the 53 footers, as are the 45 footers.)

Last edited by BobbyD

As to the stacking, the dealer from whom I ordered 20-footers and the Maxi-Stacks asked Atlas about stacking on my behalf. The response from Atlas was that the molded-in pins on top of the recent Atlas 20-footers would have to be cut off for the 53-footers to fit cleanly. I haven't received the Maxi-Stacks cars and containers yet, so I don't know about other combos, but perhaps the same would apply to 45-footers on top of two 20-footers.

David

The 20' containers don't fit in the 53' wells as delivered.  There are 4 molded pins on the bottom of the 20' containers and there are no holes in the center of the well for them to fit in.  So they sit crooked.  Otherwise all the Atlas containers fit each other and in the wells fine.

Domestic containers are 8'6" wide and international containers are 8' wide.  The IBC locations are inset on the domestic containers to match the international containers.  The locating pin locations should be flat on the bottom of all containers but on the Atlas 53' containers they are recessed a bit.

 

rdunniii posted:

The 20' containers don't fit in the 53' wells as delivered.  There are 4 molded pins on the bottom of the 20' containers and there are no holes in the center of the well for them to fit in.  So they sit crooked.  Otherwise all the Atlas containers fit each other and in the wells fine.

Domestic containers are 8'6" wide and international containers are 8' wide.  The IBC locations are inset on the domestic containers to match the international containers.  The locating pin locations should be flat on the bottom of all containers but on the Atlas 53' containers they are recessed a bit.

Thanks for that. Do the 53s (and 45s, if you have any) then sit flush on the 20-footers?

Here is what Atlas told me:

I spoke with R&D and they replied back to me saying:
“Yes, but the pins on the two 20-foot containers that meet in the middle of the well need to be clipped off to make the containers level for the 40-, 45-, or 53-foot on top.” (end info from Atlas)

I assumed that meant the top pins, but based on what you said, maybe I misread, and it meant the bottom pins.

David

Good morning.  I installed Kadee's on mine this morning, easy job if you use the Atlas mounting holes. Like all Atlas they are not set up for Kadee couplers, I just use one hole and thin double sided tape. Kadee #742 fits at correct height no shims required. One screw to remove the truck and one screw to remove the claw. Holes in bottom of each car line up with 40' or two 20' containers, will be easy to put a small screw in from bottom or make larger for containers that have pins on bottom. The cars look like they sit a little high, but there is not much room in there for wheel clearance.  

Clem

revised information...... the wheels rub on the Kadee coupler sides trimming the ears off should fix it.

IMG_5530IMG_5531

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Last edited by clem k
clem k posted:

Good morning.  I installed Kadee's on mine this morning, easy job if you use the Atlas mounting holes. Like all Atlas they are not set up for Kadee couplers, I just use one hole and thin double sided tape. Kadee #742 fits at correct height no shims required. One screw to remove the truck and one screw to remove the claw. Holes in bottom of each car line up with 40' or two 20' containers, will be easy to put a small screw in from bottom or make larger for containers that have pins on bottom. The cars look like they sit a little high, but there is not much room in there for wheel clearance.

Clem

IMG_5530IMG_5531

How would you say these cars compare to the Lionel 48' Gunderson husky stacks [ die cast bodies] out now a number of years,detail wise ?

hibar posted:
clem k posted:

Good morning.  I installed Kadee's on mine this morning, easy job if you use the Atlas mounting holes. Like all Atlas they are not set up for Kadee couplers, I just use one hole and thin double sided tape. Kadee #742 fits at correct height no shims required. One screw to remove the truck and one screw to remove the claw. Holes in bottom of each car line up with 40' or two 20' containers, will be easy to put a small screw in from bottom or make larger for containers that have pins on bottom. The cars look like they sit a little high, but there is not much room in there for wheel clearance.

Clem

IMG_5530IMG_5531

How would you say these cars compare to the Lionel 48' Gunderson husky stacks [ die cast bodies] out now a number of years,detail wise ?

Hibar   I put these side by side with a friends Lionel, Im not sure what details are suppose to be there or not. My opinion they look equally well, different but equal. The big drawback with lionel is that the dimensions seem off. I don't have the lionel here to compare container size. We need someone with both brands to do a photo comparison of cars and containers. 

clem 

My last minute order from Mr. Muffins (a set of the BNSF cars and a 6-pack of mixed containers) which was supposed to arrive Monday, arrived Saturday - real 2 day shipping!!! This is my first purchase of an Atlas product, and I must say, at first glance I am impressed. The level of detail in the cars is quite impressive (keep in mind, I am not a rivet counter, so the car height and standard couplers are perfectly fine with me), and the cars themselves are hefty. The containers are also nicely detailed. Here are a few pics:

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For comparison, here are some pics of a set of Lionel Santa Fe Husky Stacks from a few years ago:

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If I had to mention a quibble, it would be that the Lionel containers, while generally not as detailed as the Atlas, they do have opening doors on one end and the pins are built into the container. I am not a big fan of the tiny Atlas pins I need to insert into the Atlas containers.

Guess I'll have to pay closer attention to future Atlas offers.

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Paul,

Great Pics!  I love Atlas. I purchase almost all of my rolling stock exclusively from them.  they did an outstanding job on these cars.  I personally prefer the Atlas containers not only because they are better detailed, but I have problems with the doors opening white the train is in motion.  I know I could just tape them shut, but for that reason I prefer containers that do not open.  I do have several of the Lionel cars and they are very nice as well, and they're great for people with tight curves.  Not sure why Lionel doesn't produce them more often.

hibar posted:

How would you say these cars compare to the Lionel 48' Gunderson husky stacks [ die cast bodies] out now a number of years,detail wise ?

I think they compare very favorably.  The walkways and the load guides are superior on the Atlas but the brake rigging is superior on the Lionel.  The walkways are as nice on the Lionel but the pins used to attach them are lame.  Other than the container length markings being in the wrong location on the Lionel otherwise the decorations are equal to me.  

The Lionel cars are also about 6-12 scale inches too wide as domestic containers should fit closely along the sides of the car.  There is a gap of a few scale inches on domestic containers that should not be there and the gap becomes very noticeable with international containers.

I do hope Atlas gets a good supply or parts for these cars including load guides, walkways and the ladders at the articulated joints as these are the things stopping me from converting Atlas Twin Stacks to Maxi Is.

rdunniii posted:
hibar posted:

How would you say these cars compare to the Lionel 48' Gunderson husky stacks [ die cast bodies] out now a number of years,detail wise ?

I think they compare very favorably.  The walkways and the load guides are superior on the Atlas but the brake rigging is superior on the Lionel.  The walkways are as nice on the Lionel but the pins used to attach them are lame.  Other than the container length markings being in the wrong location on the Lionel otherwise the decorations are equal to me.  

The Lionel cars are also about 6-12 scale inches too wide as domestic containers should fit closely along the sides of the car.  There is a gap of a few scale inches on domestic containers that should not be there and the gap becomes very noticeable with international containers.

I do hope Atlas gets a good supply or parts for these cars including load guides, walkways and the ladders at the articulated joints as these are the things stopping me from converting Atlas Twin Stacks to Maxi Is.

Good pickup on the width of the Lionels, ironically their containers are scale domestic width 8'6" but only 46 scale ft 1/2" short to allow 3 rail truck swing,hence the added bulkheads ,overall the length of the car is correct, obviously the side markings match the foreshortened container lengths from the pics posted the Lionel appears to have finer detail in steps,piping and posts. I should get mine later this week as I am using an East coast dealer,apparently Atlas must use a West coast distributor as they had shipments come in this previous week  to the west and midwest.

mike.caruso posted:

 

Is the top container just balanced on the lower one or is there anything you're using (home-made pin type arrangement or something) to actually keep these secure and in place as the car moves?  Thanks.

Mike;

The containers come with four TINY pins in a small plastic bag. You have to place one in each of four holes in the bottom container. They fit fairly loosely, so I am a bit concerned that they may fall out if I move the upper container. Other then that, I really like the cars.

Last edited by Apples55

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