Mth or Atlas O Gunderson

The atlas ones are “better” but they’re also a hassle. The little connector pins get lost or break and they’re so detailed stuff falls off of them if you look at it wrong. If you’ve got a layout where you can put them on it and never remove them, then it’s fine. But if you need to move them around, you’re bound to break them. Some of the early atlas runs had some bad metal. I’ve got a set of the atlas BN green ones and they’re disintegrating piece by piece. 

 I'm a fan of MTH products but theirs has a flaw. The handrails on the end cars were warped from sitting on a shelf for years in some store. The plastic bags warped the end rails from pressing on them. I massaged them back as best I could and I haven't looked at them closely since. They're still 3 rail rolling on my upper loop. I like how they look and roll easy.

The Atlas (40' & 45') ones, I had a few complaints about. The main things were my trucks crumbled from zinc rot. I couldn't figure out why they rolled so poorly until the finally fell apart. I sent the trucks to Atlas and never heard back. After upgrading to Protocraft trucks I was super happy with them in my long trains. I still don't have containers for most (that fit). I had extra containers from other manufacturer's that I can't use.

For how available they are and overall quality, I'd go with the MTH stock ones if I were running long 3 rail trains. I can't get the Protocraft 2 rail trucks anymore.

The Atlas ones are beautifully made cars with the detail problems Boilermaker mentioned.  Like he said, if you can leave them on the layout, great.  If you’re  like me and have to take them in and out of their boxes, good luck.  LOL.   You will end up braking something.  The pins are tiny and easy to lose.  However I found I was able to make substitutes out of pieces of rounded toothpicks that worked fine.

One additional consideration....they’re heavy.  At least heavier than their MTH counterparts.  I’ve had problems running a string of them where they had to negotiate a curved stretch of track where a switch was located.  Mucho derailments.  

The ATLAS O cars are harder to find and more expensive. 

I have two MTH sets and like them quite a bit, but there is plastic in a couple of places better suited for metal - - the hand rails and the draw bars. The price point is way better than Atlas but it comes at the expense of the finer details. I'm thinking about ordering a set from the current catalog. Eventually I'm going to switch them over to scale wheels but for now they're the world's longest transition cars.

I have a few sets of the MTH. The Soo/BN look good in the new catalog.

I like the Atlas Gunderson car I bought a few years ago- I populated it with Weaver and K-Line containers. I agree with all the minor issues with the car were as others mentions- delicate, drawbar pins. My only problem is not having a staging yard to park it on my layout- I'm working on that- they are too nice to be stored away in their boxes.

Geno

Geno, you must have ground down the sides to get those containers to fit?

My K-line don't. I could grind off the end tabs to make them fit?  I don't think the MTH ones fit either. My cars ride empty until I get some more Atlas ones.

I have Lionel, K-line, and MTH containers. I thought I tried each of them with no luck.

@Engineer-Joe posted:

Geno, you must have ground down the sides to get those containers to fit?

My K-line don't. I could grind off the end tabs to make them fit?  I don't think the MTH ones fit either. My cars ride empty until I get some more Atlas ones.

I have Lionel, K-line, and MTH containers. I thought I tried each of them with no luck.

You're correct- the K-Line cans won't fit in the bottom position- but the 20' Weavers did fit just fine. I put the K-Line 40' can on the top position.

Geno

Do the MTH cars include 48 foot containers in the wells? The catalogue description suggested it and I was curious. The Atlas cars and, as I recall the real cars, have 40 foot wells and won't accommodate larger containers in the bottom position.

I like the older 80s-era container paint schemes on the MTH BN and SP cars, though my hunch is that's too early for 48 foot containers. I might just spring for a couple of the MTH sets. I have two Atlas sets and really like them but I doubt we'll see any more from Atlas any time soon. The Atlas cars are a tight fit even for Atlas' own containers.

RM

MTH cars come with containers. You have to go by the description to see what containers are supplied.

The bottom wells of the cars I have only fit 40'. The tops can be 45 or 48. I'd better double check that. I grabbed what I had handy.

Wait, we're talking about the same car sets right?

The MTH cars accommodate a 40’ container in the well, and a 48’ on top.  The Atlas O car allows their 40’ container in the well and a 45’ on top, which is prototypical. 

There maybe a confusion here, or maybe just for me anyways? Gunderson alone doesn't describe the full name for me.

Twin stack or well cars?

The twin stack is the 5-unit Gunderson set with bulkheads; both MTH and Atlas did these. Gunderson Maxi IV describe the newest Atlas O 3-unit, 53’ well cars. 

The OP compared the Atlas to the MTH versions. They're twin stacks just by that.

MTH has other models too. The newest Atlas are the 53' version of a well car.

Everyone who has posted here so far, knows more than I do about these things. I just fear that others reading this won't catch the phrase "twin stacks" because it wasn't made clear to anyone who doesn't know.

Does the MTH twin stacks or well cars sit down low to the rails ?

Jeff, Joe:

Thanks. The reason I ask is the description on catalogue page 128 that says "(2) Removable 48' Containers On Each Car." That must be wrong, then.

That's good. The reason I asked is if the catalogue description was right then I'd worry the car has some inaccurate (and unnecessary) design compromise, such as truck placement or an excessively long connector between cars. Looking again at the inset picture on page 128, the design looks right and it seems obvious the bottom well (yes, the "Twin Stack" cars have a well) is limited to 40 foot capacity (assuming the photo represents the production model).

By the way I remember when the Atlas cars came out discussion that the prototype actually could handle 48' containers on top. Unfortunately the MTH 48' foot containers' don't quite fit inside the bulkheads, though.

Same question as Clem: What about ride height?

RM

Here are pictures of the MTH version from a 2007 release. All releases so far have been the same dimensions with only 40ft containers on the bottom with ability to put 48ft containers on the top. The dimensions in the new online catalog list the exact same dimensions of the cars as the previous releases.

If you look at the pictures, it is obvious that the wheels sit up into the well area higher than the bottom of the well, thus you can’t have a 48ft container on the bottom.

I just happened to have these out on the layout on a train sitting next to another with 40 and 48 containers on it.

After moving the train with the well cars with bulkhead ends, here is a picture of a MTH well car that you can put 48ft containers on the bottom. Notice two things, the wheels do not sit in the well but rather are under the platform next to the well and there are no bulkheads on the car.

There is an updated version of the 2020 MTH Vol 2 online catalog that now states the 2 and 5 car sets will each have one 40ft container and one 48ft container in each well.

I see the new listing for the MTH twin stack cars and even some 2 rail trucks with a note that it's easy to convert them to 2 rail.

I did not notice any mention of KD mounting pads on these cars?

Plastic is easier to drill into and I've never tried to convert mine yet. It just has me wondering now.

Joe,

Here is a picture of the under side of the one out in my layout, it looks like it has what you need.