Does anyone know if Atlas plans to produce TMCC equipped locomotives?

@Stangtrain, this is a great Question, I did talk to a friend that’s a great representative for Atlas O, and I didn’t care for their response, and do to the MTH purchase, this is automatically a DCS built in control system. So, it’s in the hands of the dealers that offer special runs to get TMCC control back into some desirable diesels we could special order. I think Atlas O quality is fantastic. Maybe some news will come out of the recent York meet. Great Question. Happy Railroading Everyone

I get the impression that anything Atlas makes under their Master line is TMCC, but anything that's Premier is DCS. For example, they announced Master line F7s in their Winter 2021/222 Premier catalog that haven't shipped yet.

When I talked to Atlas 2 or 3 Yorks ago they said TMCC will still be offered. The above post makes sense.

@Up & Down the Monon posted:

...... they announced Master line F7s in their Winter 2021/222 Premier catalog that haven't shipped yet.

@romiller49 posted:

When I talked to Atlas 2 or 3 Yorks ago they said TMCC will still be offered.

Well, the new F7 announcements were over two years ago, and as you say, they haven't even shipped yet. And those were announced before the MTH Premier aquisition!  Atlas O may have said a year and a half ago at York that they will still be offering them, but to date there's been nothing showing up in any catalog (which show products that take over two years to show up), or any further word about it at all. There's been nothing but streams of Premier DCS stuff. There were indications there could be engines available with a choice of DCS or ERR, but that never happened. Atlas O's deal with MTH to acquire their molds may have prohibited that. Who knows?

If Atlas O indeed plans to keep making ERR-equipped engines, it certainly appears to be a low priority. Been disappointing to Legacy operators. Other than the F7s (whenever they get here), the bottom line is that at this point there won't be any new ERR-equipped Atlas O engines available until years from now, if then.

The U23b's were announced in 2012 and I finally received mine a few years ago. Orders for the RSD7/15's were closed in 2015 so its been 8 years and still no sign of those. By comparison waiting 2 years so far for the F7's is minor.

I remember Atlas posting on this forum some time ago about having problems getting electronics which I took to mean the OEM Cruise Commander boards they use. I just wish Atlas would say something about these delays. On their production schedule if the shipping date is missed they just slide it back another quarter. Makes me wonder if anyone cares about producing the Master Line TMCC engines.

Ken

@kanawha posted:

The U23b's were announced in 2012 and I finally received mine a few years ago. Orders for the RSD7/15's were closed in 2015 so its been 8 years and still no sign of those. By comparison waiting 2 years so far for the F7's is minor.

I remember Atlas posting on this forum some time ago about having problems getting electronics which I took to mean the OEM Cruise Commander boards they use. I just wish Atlas would say something about these delays. On their production schedule if the shipping date is missed they just slide it back another quarter. Makes me wonder if anyone cares about producing the Master Line TMCC engines.

Ken

I've heard a friend talk about Atlas pre-orders sometimes taking a really long time, but ... wow!

@breezinup posted:

Well, the new F7 announcements were over two years ago, and as you say, they haven't even shipped yet. And those were announced before the MTH Premier aquisition!  Atlas O may have said a year and a half ago at York that they will still be offering them, but to date there's been nothing showing up in any catalog (which show products that take over two years to show up), or any further word about it at all. There's been nothing but streams of Premier DCS stuff. There were indications there could be engines available with a choice of DCS or ERR, but that never happened. Atlas O's deal with MTH to acquire their molds may have prohibited that. Who knows?

If Atlas O indeed plans to keep making ERR-equipped engines, it certainly appears to be a low priority. Been disappointing to Legacy operators. Other than the F7s (whenever they get here), the bottom line is that at this point there won't be any new ERR-equipped Atlas O engines available until years from now, if then.

The deal with MTH for access to manufacturing facilities may well have come with restrictions.  Or it could be that the TMCC locomotives are tied up (contractually) in plants that are backlogged or otherwise bogged down.  Or possibly the delays are due to Atlas' chronic ineptitude.  It's hard to know the real cause, but the effect is as you say.

George

@G3750 posted:

The deal with MTH for access to manufacturing facilities may well have come with restrictions.  Or it could be that the TMCC locomotives are tied up (contractually) in plants that are backlogged or otherwise bogged down.  Or possibly the delays are due to Atlas' chronic ineptitude.  It's hard to know the real cause, but the effect is as you say.

George

I think the most plausible situation is your second point. Perhaps it's the same factory where they make locomotives for other scales, which sell a lot more? It's hard to say.

It may not be up to Atlas on what command systems they use. Lionel may pull the plug on ERR or the plug may be pulled because components can no longer be had and no one can or will design replacement parts. Same with PS3. How long will that be available?

It would be simpler for Atlas to switch to Blunami DCC. They could use it in both their two and three rail engines and have only one vendor to deal with.

I thought the plan when Atlas acquired some MTH engines was that those engines would get PS3 and their own engines would continue to get ERR but things change rapidly these days.

Pete

Last October York, Atlas told a forum member that they were indeed moving their own Master line engine production to the MTH factory ... but, that it would take time.

Sure seems to me that there must be significant pent-up demand for their 2-rail end-cab switchers.

As many have said, this is a time of transition.  Whatever Atlas intends, they cannot or will not share. Probably totally appropriate given all the uncertainties others have mentioned.  Right now, they are a very small contributor to the hobby of three rail trains, producing about as many locos and freight cars in a year as a much reduced MTH produces in a month.  So barring a significant expansion in the hobby market, they likely will remain a modest part of product availability in three rail is my guess.