Atlas announces the NJ State Freight car...

[eric220]

If they announced this in N scale, I'd reevaluate my need for retirement savings:

http://www.atlasrr.com/HOLoco/hogp40-2w.htm

Would this do?

http://www.intermountain-railway.com/n/nloco/nlocsd402w.htm

[Philip H]

Eric,
Sadly no - I'm looking to replicate the GP40-2W's that KCS bought off CP in the late 1990's.  Hence my interest in N scale models of these Atlas HO beasts.

[Bendtracker1]

Eric,
Sadly no - I'm looking to replicate the GP40-2W's that KCS bought off CP in the late 1990's.  Hence my interest in N scale models of these Atlas HO beasts.

Philp,

Athabasca Shops makes these that should fit on the Atlas long hood [correct me if I'm wrong]:

Brass N Diesel Cab Kits    Under Products/N Misc
   
8101    N - CN Comfort Cab Kit    $ 11.95

Allen...

[sizemore]

Tell me something A$$hat.  How many of these are you going to buy?  These things operate in unit trains, not ones and twosies.  So how much are you willing to throw at Atlas to get a good size unit train of these?   And let's be fair here.  It's $25.00 for the car plus $20.00 for the containers.  Even at street price it take $100 to get three cars.  I expect to see as many of these in 50 car unit trains on Ntrak layouts as I do those articulated auto racks.   

Zippo, they are outside of my era. First you're assuming the street price is practically the retail. $44.95 is the retail for the car with the containers. The discounts off MSRP are typically about 20% usually on the Trainman stuff cuts are deeper ranging from 25-30% to upwards of 50% in some rare cases. I'm thinking the street price for these cars to be $30-$35. Where you may live you might see these in unit trains, but where I live I see these both in unit train as well as 4-5 car packs in mixed freight (both loaded and empty). A set of 5 wouldn't be too bad for these "unique" cars.

When I buy cars in my home roadname, I get ~20 cars a clip and because I buy in bulk I ask for quantity discounts typically 5~10% depending on the dealer discounts. To go further these cars at what 85'? That translates to a little under 7" over the couplers, a 50 car train would be a 29ft long train. This is a big train even for NTrak. I'd go far enough to say that I wouldn't be surprised seeing a 20 car unit train easily.

The S.

[lock4244]

Eric,
Sadly no - I'm looking to replicate the GP40-2W's that KCS bought off CP in the late 1990's.  Hence my interest in N scale models of these Atlas HO beasts.

From CN. And no, mine will not look like yours... though I'd really like a GP40-2L (233 of them vs. 35 of the GP40-2W).

[lock4244]

Street'll be $16-$18 range for the flats. $30-$35 for the Flat w/4 containers. Not that bad a buy.

[wm3798]

And consider that the car CAN be had for under $20 a smack, AND it comes without containers, it won't be long before someone reads up on their trash trains, and starts pooping out cheap resin cast containers that can ride on the flat.

That will substantially reduce the price of a unit train.

If it fit my layout's operating scheme, I'd be looking for 12 to 15 cars to make a decent 6 to 8' long train.

Lee

[Denver Road Doug]

I'm glad to see these, for a lot of reasons.   I don't need them--and probably won't buy any--but I know it's one of Dave C.'s pet projects and that is good for everyone that likes Atlas' high end freight cars.  I do think they're cool looking cars and if I wasn't building such a specific roster of freight cars I would probably jump right in.  Hopefully it will sell well.

As far as pricing, I'd say it's appropriate but then again I don't have a dog in the hunt.  I would compare it to the standard autoracks that RC did.   If you want autoracks, you might grimace a little but you'll pay it, and you're thankful that RC did a pretty good job on them.   Same thing here...you're glad Atlas is doing them...they'll be spot on most likely.  Walthers or Bachmann could do them and they'd be half as good and still be the same price or close to it.

[sundowner]

FEC has a similar car to this but they used it for 20' and 40' containers. I would get some of the FEC ones if produce, they can keep the trash containers.

[lock4244]

With some work, could be a used as stand-ins for CP's 81' COFC flats... so long as you're not too picky.

[eric220]

I would probably jump right in.

I'm not sure that I would use this phrase anywhere near a conversation about these cars.

[inkaneer]

So how many are you gonna buy Ink, even at street prices. If you expect to see alot of 50 car unit trash trains, then obviosly someone is willing to pay the price. In reality, the vast majority of modellers are not going to be willing to put a 50 car trash train on their personal layouts.

You are right, prices are getting up there compared to 5/10 years ago. But that iswhat is happening and not a whole lot we can do about it, except don't buy and move on to quilting because there won;t be awhole lot produced if they can't make a profit. This isn;t Komrad Amerika.

Quite frankly I don't expect to see any 50 car trash trains on Ntrak or other layouts [unless, of course Atlas sponsors it].  I have not seen any unit trains of the articulated auto racks either but that is not a fair comparison as the articulated cars could be mixed in with regular autoracks.  I have seen CSX auto rack trains with a couple of articulateds mixed in so those could be bought in ones or twosies and mixed in with the regular auto racks.  But that's not the case with the garbage unit trains.  We'll see how they sell but I got the feeling that they will be going real cheap on Ebay.

And no, I will not be buying any.  I'll stick to the transitional period where 2 bay coal hoppers rule the day.

[Ian MacMillan]

And consider that the car CAN be had for under $20 a smack, AND it comes without containers, it won't be long before someone reads up on their trash trains, and starts pooping out cheap resin cast containers that can ride on the flat.

That will substantially reduce the price of a unit train.

If it fit my layout's operating scheme, I'd be looking for 12 to 15 cars to make a decent 6 to 8' long train.

Lee

Bingo...when I learned how to cast this past fall it was awesome!

[bbussey]

We'll see how they sell but I got the feeling that they will be going real cheap on Ebay.

They will sell just fine.  They are priced lower than every other currently and soon-to-be available TOFC/COFC, whether loaded or empty.  Plus they will arrive with body-mounted couplers and metal wheels, which saves another $5 or so.

Why no fussing from you over the BLMA spine car, BLMA TOFC, or Trainworx TOFC - all of which are unit-train type cars and all of which will be at a higher price point?

[Robbman]

They will sell just fine.  They are priced lower than every other currently and soon-to-be available TOFC/COFC, whether loaded or empty.  Plus they will arrive with body-mounted couplers and metal wheels, which saves another $5 or so.

Why no fussing from you over the BLMA spine car, BLMA TOFC, or Trainworx TOFC - all of which are unit-train type cars and all of which will be at a higher price point?