w124bob Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Atlas does have one very big advantage which you may want to consider, there locomotive come apart very easily. They dismantle into sections, nothing is glued together, so handrails can be removed, footplate base separates from the body and cab taken off and glazing/numbers boards removed. This make weathering (if your into that) easier. Atlas do reruns now and again (see next issue of the C420 for a rerun of L&HR). As for sound personally I can live without it, but QSI really seems to me to have lots of "issues" relating to random going off tune. I have an Atlas B23-7 which doesn't get a lot of use which at the moment, makes noise but no movement. Seems to hate having the CV's altered and comes with a very limited manual even doing a factory reset isn't simple. If your still uncertain you could do worse than buy a low cost Bachmann DCC equipped S2 or S4 run it for a while on a test layout. £55 should get you one with built in decoder which can be nicely tuned for slow running. It's your railroad so your rules! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 PS: I wouldn't be surprised if CSX still hasn't repainted all of the loco fleet into the current corporate livery, so you may want to get an older loco from one of its constituent parts and patch it with a CSX decal (number and logo), then let the weathering man in you loose on the rest of the loco In 2009 the only CSX locos not in a CSX corporate livery of some form were some patched Conrail units (all repainted now), some ex-NS B40-8s in overall black, and some ex-LMS C40-8Ws in patched LMS blue. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 As for 'patching', I was aware of this practise, especially on rolling stock of course. Would be 'cool' (having a patched loco) and potentially cheaper? Not sure I would be bold enough to have it as my main (only) loco, but would be great as an occasional visitor. Food for thought anyway. Steve Patched Conrail units are easy, as all they did is paint a patch over the old number, apply the new number, and change the numberboards. You can get a decal set that includes the patches. http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=MD&Product_Code=87-1181&Category_Code=CSX Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 In terms of my own layout thoughts, given that I would initially only have one loco, the choice between GP38-2 and GP40-2 comes down to: a] what is typical and, b] what is available (and appropriately branded i.e. 'CSX'). Maybe later I could look at adding another loco to the roster, perhaps a MP15-series switcher? They certainly have (or have had) MP15s on the Roster recently, and the Atlas model is both rather lovely, can be had sound fitted and works well IMHO. Another thought, I think they still have GP15T on the roster of geeps too? - out of stock at Athearn but you might be able to find one of these somewhere? These look dead smart in the dark blue. http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATHG68135 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I'm very much in agreement with starting with the most common, generic loco type and colour scheme for an area and period. Time for the oddballs later Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I would agree, but that varies by area. For example when I visited Chicago back in 2000 GP15 variants weren't the oddballs but an almost rat-like infestation on both CSX and NS locals, they were the everyday mainstream.Things change, NS's ones (ex Conrail) have since left their roster, but I don't think CSX's GP15T have. (Have they ditched their ex Conrail ones though?) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisH-UK Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Things change, NS's ones (ex Conrail) have since left their roster, but I don't think CSX's GP15T have. (Have they ditched their ex Conrail ones though?) Last I checked the ex-Conrail ones were still appearing in the South Jersey/Pennsylvania area from time to time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveNCB7754 Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Patched Conrail units are easy, as all they did is paint a patch over the old number, apply the new number, and change the numberboards. You can get a decal set that includes the patches. http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=MD&Product_Code=87-1181&Category_Code=CSX Adrian Hmmm, this is becoming quite tempting (although somewhat 'jumping the gun', given where I am, layout-wise). Thanks for the decal sheet heads-up ('right-click-and-save'). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveNCB7754 Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 They certainly have (or have had) MP15s on the Roster recently, and the Atlas model is both rather lovely, can be had sound fitted and works well IMHO. Another thought, I think they still have GP15T on the roster of geeps too? - out of stock at Athearn but you might be able to find one of these somewhere? These look dead smart in the dark blue. http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATHG68135 Yes, that is a neat machine. Livery is a bit too recent for the period I was thinking of modelling, but is very smart (if kept clean). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigZ Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Atlas does have one very big advantage which you may want to consider, there locomotive come apart very easily. They dismantle into sections, nothing is glued together, so handrails can be removed, footplate base separates from the body and cab taken off and glazing/numbers boards removed. This make weathering (if your into that) easier. Atlas do reruns now and again (see next issue of the C420 for a rerun of L&HR). As for sound personally I can live without it, but QSI really seems to me to have lots of "issues" relating to random going off tune. I have an Atlas B23-7 which doesn't get a lot of use which at the moment, makes noise but no movement. Seems to hate having the CV's altered and comes with a very limited manual even doing a factory reset isn't simple. If your still uncertain you could do worse than buy a low cost Bachmann DCC equipped S2 or S4 run it for a while on a test layout. £55 should get you one with built in decoder which can be nicely tuned for slow running. It's your railroad so your rules! The QSI decoders can be just plain ornery... Their current stuff has the potential to be very impressive yet they seem unable to update the quality of their sound files. Tsunami, although quite a bit older technology, just sounds better than most any QSI I've ever heard. Loksound decoders generally sound better than Tsunami but that depends on the particular sound set being discussed...having said that the sounds can be updated on a Loksound with their Lokprogrammer. TCS is just releasing their diesel sound decoders and the first reports are pretty promising... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TotalLamer Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 They certainly have (or have had) MP15s on the Roster recently, and the Atlas model is both rather lovely, can be had sound fitted and works well IMHO. Another thought, I think they still have GP15T on the roster of geeps too? - out of stock at Athearn but you might be able to find one of these somewhere? These look dead smart in the dark blue. http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATHG68135 Yeah they're definitely still around. There was one sitting in front of the yard office at Acca when I got off work the other day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Hmmm, this is becoming quite tempting .....Of course it is ... Proper, Man-size, no-nonsense trains doing proper railway work, not just a glorified commuter network of Multiple Units Go on, you know you want to...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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