Talltim Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 I found Guilford one for sale for eBay (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Atlas-Master-Guilford-Rail-System-MEC-GP40-2-Road-516-/160584594044?_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8969865877925544576), so I checked it out on the Atlas site and looks like they are finally arriving! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 The link doesn't seem to work, Tim. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 Corrected. I've found some other RR schemes too http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=atlas+gp40-2%28w%29&_sacat=0&LH_AvailTo=3&_odkw=atlas+gp40-2&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridwatcher Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 A CN looks a little to tasty to pass by...... ATLAS locos are excellent these days eh? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted May 7, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 7, 2011 A CN looks a little to tasty to pass by...... ATLAS locos are excellent these days eh? When I started in US HO in the mid-80s, Atlas was the only show in town if you wanted smooth mechanisms in RTR diesels. I had their GP38 and GP40, which had Kato mechanisms and were to die for in operational terms. I felt contemporary UK RTR models were still at the jack-rabbit start stage. Stewart Hobbies picked up the Kato connection, thus their early F units were similarly gifted at slow speeds. Now Intermountain, Athearn, Proto and BLI etc all cut the mustard in that respect, but then it was Atlas or nothing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcanman Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Hi, I totally agree with the comments above. I actually had a Lima BR Class 20 which did run like a jack-rabbit back in the 80s. I sold my British stock and bought a second hand Atlas HO GP7 and a Kato GP35 both of which were suberb slow runners. My latest Atlas DCC sound fitted GP40-2 is simply the best loco I've ever owned and has the edge over the Athearn Genesis MP15AC for slow switching. Atlas is still the best for me! cheers, Mal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridwatcher Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 When I started in US HO in the mid-80s, Atlas was the only show in town if you wanted smooth mechanisms in RTR diesels. I had their GP38 and GP40, which had Kato mechanisms and were to die for in operational terms. I felt contemporary UK RTR models were still at the jack-rabbit start stage. Stewart Hobbies picked up the Kato connection, thus their early F units were similarly gifted at slow speeds. Now Intermountain, Athearn, Proto and BLI etc all cut the mustard in that respect, but then it was Atlas or nothing. I would echo that. One of the very finest was the old CP Kato RS2 it had amazing DCC slow running. I would still say that for mechanical AND ELECTRICAL integrity I would go Kato/Atlas first and then Proto and Athearn. Have had (and still have) the odd issue with Athearn Genesis build/running and electrical quality. No experience of Intermountain locos yet. Broadway are OK but nowhere near the mechanical finesse of KATO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigZ Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 When I started in US HO in the mid-80s, Atlas was the only show in town if you wanted smooth mechanisms in RTR diesels. I had their GP38 and GP40, which had Kato mechanisms and were to die for in operational terms. I felt contemporary UK RTR models were still at the jack-rabbit start stage. Stewart Hobbies picked up the Kato connection, thus their early F units were similarly gifted at slow speeds. Now Intermountain, Athearn, Proto and BLI etc all cut the mustard in that respect, but then it was Atlas or nothing. Truth be told, the GP38/40s of the 1980s "yellow box Atlas era" were actually Roco mechanisms, along with the yellow box FP-7, SD-24 and SD-35. The engines Kato did for Atlas were RS-3, RSD-4/5, RS-11, RSD-12 (not accurate length), C424, C425, RS-1 and the GP7. The GP38s and GP40s of the "red box" and later eras are Chinese made clones of the Kato style mechanism. Atlas then took that Kato tooling and produced/upgraded all of those engines (save for the RSD-12). The Roco GP38/40s ended up with Con Cor; the Chinese Atlas GP38/40s, SD24 and SD35 are unrelated to the Roco models. For some reason when Atlas released their first Roco GP38s, they did high nose models...kind of weird. And that tooling survived into Con Cor's ownership. Very strange. But yes, the Roco engines were nice runners and pretty good looking models for their day...the first scale width hood EMDs in HO. All of the Athearn EMD hood units at that time were wide bodies with hoods about a scale foot too wide to clear the motor Athearn used. The first Athearn with scale width hoods was their SD40-2. And when the Atlas/Kato RS-3 appeared in 1984, it was as much a revelation as the Rocos had been. Nobody had ever seen locomotives that ran so smooth and that possessed a certain mass to the way they ran without surging or uneveness. And most models today still lack that...even current Kato IMHO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted May 8, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 8, 2011 Doh! Quite right, of course, Craig! Too long ago for my aged brain, evidently! I certainly had RS1, RS3, RSD4/5 and RS 11, the Alco Centuries & GP7, so I should have recalled the difference. I was certain that the next Alco would be the RSD15 Alligator, but had to wait another decade or more 'til BLI turned those out. Sorry for misinformation! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigZ Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Doh! Quite right, of course, Craig! Too long ago for my aged brain, evidently! I certainly had RS1, RS3, RSD4/5 and RS 11, the Alco Centuries & GP7, so I should have recalled the difference. I was certain that the next Alco would be the RSD15 Alligator, but had to wait another decade or more 'til BLI turned those out. Sorry for misinformation! No worries - just don't quiz me about UK model history . And it took Atlas forever to do another new Alco in the RS32/36 models then the C420. THe BLI RSD-15 is pretty decent...I like mine. Now if Atlas or somebody would do a C-430... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted May 8, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 8, 2011 Are they still about on Morristown & Erie? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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