Boy it seems everything happens at once. The World's Greatest Train Meet is not even a week old, and the UPS man drops off this package about an hour ago. It's the new Atlas Gulf Mobile & Ohio RS-1 (I had admired C. Sam's GM&O switchers for years and finally broke down and ordered one). At first glance it looks beautiful...I like the red...it seems to be a more muted, darker and subtle shade of red than you sometimes see. In any event, it looks great.
But the wildest thing about this is the packaging. I opened the box, looked down and saw the engine sitting in this black plastic cradle, and tried to lift it out. It wouldn't budge. Finally after several more attempts I grabbed hold of the black plastic it was resting on. It's screwed into this base like one of those die-cast IXO or Corgi cars you buy new in the box. There are two Philips screws underneath that you have to remove to get the engine out. I held this base upside down with the engine in it...it's held in there pretty solid! (Don't worry, there was a big cushion underneath!) The last photo you can see evidence of this, as I'm holding it out at a vertical angle without the engine moving. Kind of different, huh?
Haven't run this yet. Have to head out of town for a couple of days. But thought you'd find the packaging thing of interest.