Every once in awhile you find something exceptional, at least to you - Atlas car

Atlas has pretty good image representations if it is something they have run before. You can usually get a good idea of what something is going to look like if you dig enough into other previous road names from the product that interests you.

Didn't add that I have about 40 Atlas advertising reefers, in 40 ft and 36? ft versions.  Don't want anyone to think I am an Atlas "hater."   Also perhaps I did't mention this is the Atlas Club Car for participating in their Golden Spike Club.  I'm a charter member number 70 I believe.  Once again, this is a beautiful model car!

Don,

Just so you know, Atlas got the tooling for that car (and several others) from Weaver when Weaver went out of business.  All that great detail was designed by Weaver Models and is present in the troop/kitchen/hospital/express cars that they originally made using that tooling.  I never understood why Weaver didn't have more of a following in the hobby.  For many 3-railers, if Lionel of MTH didn't make it, they are completely unaware of it.

@Bob posted:

I never understood why Weaver didn't have more of a following in the hobby.  For many 3-railers, if Lionel of MTH didn't make it, they are completely unaware of it.

Bob,

I believe, but I am not certain, that Weaver made many more 2-rail than 3-rail models.  I used to get Weaver's catalogs.  Most of them, as best that I can recall, were 2-rail.  Perhaps this is the reason that Weaver wasn't as well known by the 3-rail community.  I have a few Weaver 3-rail cars, engines and brass structures.  All of them are excellent.  NH Joe

Weaver started out in 2-rail, but for at least the last 10 or 12 years they existed, all locomotives could be ordered in 2-rail or 3-rail.  Every single freight car could be ordered with 2-rail trucks and couplers, 3-rail plastic trucks and couplers or 3-rail diecast trucks and couplers.  Passenger cars all came in both 2-rail and 3-rail.

To answer my own question, there were not a lot of hobby shops that carried Weaver stuff and most of those that did had very little inventory.  Jim's Train Shop in Homer City, PA had the largest selection of Weaver that I ever saw in a hobby shop.  The later Weaver stuff like the troop cars, Milwaukee Road ribside boxcars, B&O wagontop boxcars, etc. were really outstanding.  Atlas has all of that tooling now.

@donhradio posted:

Didn't add that I have about 40 Atlas advertising reefers, in 40 ft and 36? ft versions.  Don't want anyone to think I am an Atlas "hater."   Also perhaps I did't mention this is the Atlas Club Car for participating in their Golden Spike Club.  I'm a charter member number 70 I believe.  Once again, this is a beautiful model car!

Those are outstanding troop cars. The underside details are exquisite.

I understand that Atlas O does not have the same level of marketing as its competitors, but what they lack in fancy catalogs, they make up for with superior products with better detail, prototypical accuracy, and quality. They are the gold standard in rolling stock, and most of my purchases over the last 5 years are atlas O.

There are trade offs:

- Atlas O rolling stock is exceptionally delicate due to the fine details.

- they require large diameter turns, I have several pieces of Atlas O rolling stock rated for O-45 that won’t handle O-45

- Atlas O simply does not put as much products onto the market as its competitors

@donhradio posted:

BTW, I always have though Atlas made fine products. just don't like the lack of a printed catalog.  Atlas "O scale division" has been on the ropes financially, and with the acquisition of the MTH products, the prospect of a printed catalog seems further away than ever! 

Not sure why you're saying the "O scale division" has been on the ropes financially. If they were on the ropes, they certainly wouldn't have been in a position to purchase the large chunk of the MTH product line they did. They had an unfortunate turn of events a bit over a year ago, when their Chinese manufacturer went south on them, taking a bunch of Atlas' molds and other property, which left Atlas in a position of having to rebuild part of its product line, and obviously slowed production. However, I have seen no evidence that they've been on the ropes financially.

They don't do a printed catalog (although they used to do quarterly catalogs) but they do publish catalogs on line. I never worry about depiction shown; if Atlas O does an item, I'm far more assured with them that the product will be done properly and painted correctly, than with any other manufacturer.

@Bob posted:

Weaver started out in 2-rail, but for at least the last 10 or 12 years they existed, all locomotives could be ordered in 2-rail or 3-rail.  Every single freight car could be ordered with 2-rail trucks and couplers, 3-rail plastic trucks and couplers or 3-rail diecast trucks and couplers.  Passenger cars all came in both 2-rail and 3-rail.

To answer my own question, there were not a lot of hobby shops that carried Weaver stuff and most of those that did had very little inventory.  Jim's Train Shop in Homer City, PA had the largest selection of Weaver that I ever saw in a hobby shop.  The later Weaver stuff like the troop cars, Milwaukee Road ribside boxcars, B&O wagontop boxcars, etc. were really outstanding.  Atlas has all of that tooling now.

Bob,

I was fortunate enough to visit JusTrains in Delaware several times before Kirk passed away.  They carried a massive amount of Weaver as well as other brands.  I recall buying a number of Weaver's B60 and RPOs there (and at York).  That store, located in what looked like an old supermarket, was absolutely loaded.  It was never the same after he died.

George

For me, I am trying to find Atlas O Troop Kitchen Car, 3007705, the US Army Hospital Cars (3007706) and all 4 of the NYC Troop Express Cars (3007710).

The Atlas O guard Car is absolutely one of the nicest cars I own. Truly well done, as you mentioned highly detailed and looks fantastic.