Atlas GP38-2 phase II

[jpwisc]

For the uninformed, what are the spotting differences between a Phase II and whatever ?

This may help...
http://trainiax.net/mephase-emdgp38-2.php

[bman]

Hmmmmm Conrail. Time to send Atlas an email on what fuel tanks they'll be using. Since they are adding sound my question is would that require using the larger fuel tank? Do they put the speaker in the fuel tank area of the frame?(I've no recent Atlas loco's to check) Plus I've a small fleet of GP38-2's as it is. What's more tempting is ordering one of the Rock ones and patching it out P&LE.  REAL tempting. That will make the decision on how to paint the undec GP38-2 with no dynamics I have easy. Just paint it P&LE. I've been waffling back an forth for quite some time whether to paint it ex-ROCK patched P&LE or a nice P&LE paint for some time now. I could have used PC too.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oh man, I've been hoping for and fearing this day for a long time.

I have some of the Walthers ones. They're probably now going in the "for sale" pile.

As some of you may remember, the original run of these things were one of my first punching bags due to the melty marshmallow fans and aforementioned sight glass issues.

If they fix those two things they're going to have real winners on their hands.

Not only that, but I'm also going to be cruising the future discount bins to get these mechs to swap under my existing GP38-2 fleet since these have the right fuel tanks (which is a big deal to mess with).

I can only hope they've invested the time and effort to get these right!

[learmoia]

Maybe @Atlas Paul  can elaborate.. but the horn placement in the drawing makes me fear they are not fixing the shell.

~Ian

[Missaberoad]

The flaws in the Walthers model aren't too difficult to fix.
I'm excited for more Soo Line numbers and proper(ish) CP Rail 3000/3100 series GMDD GP38-2s 
Not that I need to push Into the 1980s, but shiny object syndrome! 

[ai5629]

Oh man, I've been hoping for and fearing this day for a long time.

I have some of the Walthers ones. They're probably now going in the "for sale" pile.

As some of you may remember, the original run of these things were one of my first punching bags due to the melty marshmallow fans and aforementioned sight glass issues.

If they fix those two things they're going to have real winners on their hands.

Not only that, but I'm also going to be cruising the future discount bins to get these mechs to swap under my existing GP38-2 fleet since these have the right fuel tanks (which is a big deal to mess with).

I can only hope they've invested the time and effort to get these right!

If the rerelease of the Walthers freight car models is any indication, the body shell will remain the same.  I suspect they will stick their GP38-2 sound mechanism under this shell.  It is already done (large fuel tank and all), so why invest the money in a duplicate mechanism.  I already have enough of the  second run Walthers mechanisms with small fuel tanks to put under my eight Conrail Atlas GP38’s and GP 38-2’s.  Thanks.

Jeff

[Rich_S]

Well my wallet is safe this month, but I have to wonder if Atlas has released the Bankruptcy Blue Rock Island GP38-2's, will the P&LE ex-RI units be following in a future run.

If you're watching @Atlas Paul


RI 4352    John W. Ingram    P&LE 2057    
RI 4353    Nicholas C. Manos    P&LE 2058       
RI 4354    Frank J. McGarr    P&LE 2059       
RI 4355    William M. Gibbons    P&LE 2060    

Here's a couple of low res photos of the ex-Rock Island GP38-2's on the P&LE.    

[ryan_wilkerson]

Thanks for all the additional info. When I saw “new” my mind went to a completely new shell but I can understand using the walthers shell if that is the situation. Here is a great resource from mark4design on the versions of the GP38-2.
https://web.archive.org/web/20081119140949/http://www.mark4design.com/html/gp38-2_notes.html

[peteski]

Thanks for all the additional info. When I saw “new” my mind went to a completely new shell but I can understand using the walthers shell if that is the situation.

You have to remember the context.  They are not lying - this particular model is "new" to Atlas. It has never been produced by them (since they  just bought the molds).  It is just a marketing scheme.  If instead of "new" they called it "re-release of ex Walthers, ex Life-Like model, with some improvements" would not have the same nice ring to it. 

[ryan_wilkerson]

Yes the word “new” is great for marketing and it’s factually correct but my mind just hoped for a new design from Robb Fisher’s excellent design work.

[Steveruger45]

You have to remember the context.  They are not lying - this particular model is "new" to Atlas. It has never been produced by them (since they  just bought the molds).  It is just a marketing scheme.  If instead of "new" they called it "re-release of ex Walthers, ex Life-Like model, with some improvements" would not have the same nice ring to it. 

Yep I think you hit that nail on the head. Pete.
That’s definitely a -"Look at me, I'm not negative, just blunt and honest!!!" statement.
I can accept the lifelike/walthers shells but I was hoping for SP light clusters.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I have a feeling these will just use the current Atlas GP39-2 chassis and not adopt the short fuel tank version of the Walthers chassis. Which sucks for us Conrail modelers. Ed pointed out a few of the issues with the Walthers models:

1. Roof fans looked odd.
2. No sight glass.
3. Holes drilled into the roof for a winterization hatch that most prototypes did not use.
4. The horn was set about 12" too far back on the cab.

These certainly were not bad models and I actually prefer them to the Atlas phase I versions due to the fuel tanks being the right size. The fans were actually detachable (but why?) and could be easily drilled out and upgraded with BLMA or Trainworx parts. Sight glass was painted on the second and third runs. People may quibble, but the real one sat flush to the door and I think it looks fine. Paint on the Walthers model was stellar - like the minuscule gaskets around the class lights.

So if they keep the short fuel tank, I'll buy a few sound-equipped models. If not, I'll stuck to my current fleet.

[squirrelhunter]

I'm hoping Atlas tooled a new version of their old shell. The LL/Walthers ones are notably shorter that Atlas and IM -2 EMD's when you couple them next to each other, even if you take the shells off the chassis.

[squirrelhunter]

Also, I'm disappointed Atlas didn't take the opportunity when designing the new sound chassis to allow it to take both long and short fuel tanks. All they needed to do was move the speaker back a little bit.

I hoped that they would upgrade some of the walthers tooling or tool new versions now that they didn't have to worry about Walthers undercutting a new model with a new run of old tooling. But if feels like they are kind of mailing it in with the Walthers tooling.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I did notice that Atlas had the correct length fuel tanks on the artwork  - so maybe they did just modify the Walthers chassis to take a sound decoder?