Telling Them Apart: Atlas Caboose Styles

[sirenwerks]

IMO, if you're not concerned with prototype to that vague degree, TRW might not be your audience anyway, so why post here.  I'm not concerned for myself, I can ignore/delete just about anything online, but the owner might want to focus his valuable effort and marketing dollars to places that harbor collectors at a higher concentration, rather than us snobby scoffers concerned with realty.

[cjm413]

I agree with this, but there are other members who write to a blog and then just post the link here.  Some also post pictures to rail sites and don't even post their own image here, just the link.   

Neither of those garner complaints.

Jason

I know what will cheer everyone up...

...let's play a friendly game of "Hey Atlas, why don't you make a (blank) caboose next?" 

I'll go first and point out a gap between older models of the SP C40-4 bay window caboose formerly offered by Atlas/Rivarossi and more recent models of more modern bay window cabooses from other manufacturers that have X-panel roofs, welded sides, and no roofwalks.

The Model Power/Lima model of the SP C40-4 can be upgraded/kitbashed/repainted to fill some of this gap, but it still leaves plenty of room for a higher quality and/or different model of a bay window caboose that isn't currently available, whether to purchase as an RTR model or an alternative starting point to build a different prototype.

I didn't have anything specific in mind given bay window cabooses could vary just as much as single window coaches, but I'm certain there has to be a "generic" enough prototype out there that most people would be happy with.

[gdmichaels]

How are they hard to distinguish from one another? Aside from the product name on the box label, all of the models are distinctly different. The modeler concerned about prototypical accuracy would be educated enough to distinguish between the models, and would be able to determine which model is most appropriate for his/her railroad.

I had to stare for a while at the extended vision caboose before I could see WHY it was called an extended vision caboose.  Some of the folks entering the data to get the Atlas catalog fleshed out have been making mistakes left and right.  They asked me to write up a summary of key features to look out for and I figured I would share what I learned.  This forum seemed a good place to do so.

Perhaps a better title would have been "Atlas Cabeese for Newbs".  I have been modeling N Scale for 20 years and I have always been confused by these caboose models. 

[gdmichaels]

Also there is two different versions of the NE-6 caboose, (window arrangement) and two variations of the extended vision caboose... (roofwalk)

For that mater the "Standard" cupola caboose is a third variation on the ICCo extended vision caboose. not an entirely different model.

I actually struggled with this for a bit.  Atlas uses different prefixes for their part numbers (43 for standard, 30 for EV).  I know that most of the mold is the same, but given that the cupola is a different tooling and that Atlas numbers the two differently, I elected to call them two distinct body styles as opposed to two variations on the same style.  In many cases this seems to be a judgement call.  I could just as easily have gone the other way.

[gdmichaels]

I guess my question is - does the Railwire community really need to be notified when someone posts something to this Trovestar site?

It seems more like someone is trying to build more links back to another site for SEO purposes.

It would be like posting a link to heritageunits.com every time I made a sighting report.

Not true.  The Atlas cabooses presented a puzzle to me so I spent some time trying to categorize them.  I did some homework and shared what I learned.   Several people who were working on the website to help populate the Atlas back catalog were genuinely perplexed so I took it upon myself to write up a mini-guide.  I apologize if you find it too beginner-ish.  Is there some guideline for this forum that I can use?

[gdmichaels]

And he for got all of the end cupola cabooses released between 1968 and 1999..... Preeeeety big gap there...

Can we Rick-Roll his links to Spookshow's site 

Kidding.. could be a good source of info... everyone starts somewhere... The rewards program looks interesting..

~Ian..

There are some huge gaps.  Anyone who wants to help fill them is welcome!  I am working on the Athearn catalog now.  Horizon was good enough to send me their back catalog of N Scale.  Over 4K models....

[bbussey]

I suspect my definition of "distinctly different" is a little different than yours.  I had to stare for a while at the extended vision caboose before I could see WHY it was called an extended vision caboose.  Some of the folks entering the data to get the Atlas catalog fleshed out have been making mistakes left and right.  They asked me to write up a summary of key features to look out for and I figured I would share what I learned.  This forum seemed a good place to do so.

Yes, many folks already have this knowledge so perhaps a better title would have been "Atlas Cabeese for Newbs".  I have been modeling N Scale for 20 years and I have always been confused by these caboose models.

Perhaps our definitions are different, yet that doesn't negate the fact that all the models are indeed distinctly different from one another and that the box label provides the necessary clarity.  That you were unable initially to determine why the extended vision caboose was aptly named does not mean Atlas misnamed the model.  It's more an indication that you did not do the necessary research.  And your "renaming" of the models from what they actually are compounds the issue and adds to any "confusion" that may exist for those who are not as well-versed in the prototype.

From a modeler's (and not a collector's) standpoint, one would be knowledgeable about what models are appropriate for his/her railroad.  Even going back to 1968, all of the Atlas caboose models have been based on specific prototypes.  All of the "contemporary" N scale era (ushered in by the introduction of the RS-3, ergo meaning post-1980) Atlas caboose models have been named distinctly on the box label and in media advertising.  So I fail to grasp the nature of your endeavor.  If you were to state which railroads the Atlas 1st Generation models are appropriate for, that makes sense to me.  Stating physical differences between the models that are visibly obvious makes no sense to me.

Another point is that being a "newbie" to N scale does not mean being a collector.  Most if not all of them enter the hobby as modelers, rather than collectors.  And again, if this information is for collector purposes, then call the models what the manufacturer calls them.  If this is to clarify what the models are from a prototype standpoint and the information is for modelers, then call the models by the name of the prototype and not some arbitrary name.

I also second the notion that the Spookshow site provides any needed prototype information of the various Atlas caboose models.

[bbussey]

And speaking of Atlas first generation — George Irwin maintains an excellent reference catalog of the early era models, including all the variants of the cupola and bay window caboose models.

http://www.irwinsjournal.com/a1g/

[cjm413]

There are some huge gaps.  Anyone who wants to help fill them is welcome!  I am working on the Athearn catalog now.  Horizon was good enough to send me their back catalog of N Scale.  Over 4K models....

http://hoseeker.net/nscale.htm