Atlas 53' Containers are Not To Scale - What's Up With That?

[tehachapifan]

I wish I would've thought of some of these questions.

[Englewood]

But how does it look on a train on a layout running by at 30mph?

[thomasjmdavis]

Taking another look at the photo, it appears to be (a) shot at a low angle; (b) the Atlas is clearly pulled forward a fraction of an inch- it is casting a shadow on the white unit to its left- this would cause an optical illusion of it being taller than it is, given the low angle and (c) the unit to its right is clearly not sitting on the surface (you can see the space under it) which leaves me wondering if the Atlas is likewise not sitting down on the surface.

That said, I re-iterate that this is a job for calipers....or a scale ruler....or just a ruler....

[sundowner]

* Kato, Scale Trains and Atlas 53' have compatible pins.

* Deluxe has no pins.

* JTC is not compatible with any of the other 53'ers, but is compatible with Atlas 40'/45' and Walthers 40/48', as well as its own containers of course (Atlas 40/45' and Atlas 53' are not compatible with each other).

* MTL 53' (I forgot to include that in the pic) also has its own proprietary pin spacing.

JTC has a floor kit to upgrade ST, MT and maybe Atlas to work with there containers.

[MetroRedLine]

Okay, before you all label me as some deranged kook who's just making this up, I offer all of you to compare for yourself the height difference between the Atlas 53' and other 53' containers.  Because that's how scientific observation works - through repeated results.

[jpwisc]

@MetroRedLine I recommend these. They help in these situations.
https://www.micromark.com/Fractional-Digital-Caliper?gclid=Cj0KCQjw1Iv0BRDaARIsAGTWD1sH1aeHb-VBw0JjvZjK4yL1SyHCrkI71vA85aKfJw86woxCpoNqPhgaAroOEALw_wcB

[tehachapifan]

I still really think that most, if not all, the extra height may very well be attributed to the existence on a mounting pin on the bottom of the container, lifting it off the table. It appears the adjacent one to the left has no pins and is flush on the table. That said, I don't own any Atlas containers, so I can't say for sure.

[cfritschle]

Back in 2015, I put together a table of dimension for all of the N Scale (1:160) and N Gauge (1:150) containers available up to that time at the request of a well car manufacturer.  The Con-Cor 53-ft containers were 9.4 scale inches feet tall not including the pins, the Kato 53-ft containers were 9.5 scale feet tall not including the pins, and the DeLuxe 53-ft containers were 9.6 scale feet tall.  I don't have any of the Atlas 53-ft containers to measure, but the Kato containers (and it looks like the JTC containers) were spot on, with the DeLuxe containers just slightly taller, and the Con-Cor containers slightly shorter.

Edit:   

[cfritschle]

I checked the dimensions for the JTC, Micro-Trains and Scale Trains 53-ft containers, and they are all very close to scale.  As for the scale height and width for each container "brand" that I have measured, I changed the formula in my Excel spreadsheet to calculate the height and width in scale inches rather than scale feet.  And just to help keep it all in perspective, here is are the measured heights calculated in scale inches for all of the "brands" of 53-ft containers that I have. 

Con-Cor = 113.1 scale inches tall
DeLuxe Innovations = 115.0 scale inches tall
JTC = 115.0 scale inches tall
Kato corrugated = 114.6 scale inches tall
Kato exterior post = 114.2 scale inches tall
Micro-Trains = 114.4 scale inches tall
Scale Trains = 115.4 scale inches tall

Any variance from the desired 114.0 scale inches (9.5 feet) that is less 1.5 scale inches probably won't be noticeable under normal viewing conditions.   

And I really don't have anything against the Atlas 53-ft containers, it is just that they have not been released in a paint scheme I can use.   

[Atlas Paul]

Since we are mostly working from home except for the warehouse staff, I wanted to wait until I was in the office and could measure a container before I replied.  The Atlas container, from bottom sill to top sill, measures 0.722 inches.  The sample ScaleTrains container I have, bottom sill to top sill, measures 0.718 inches.  There is essentially no difference in height.   The measurement from bottom of pin to top sill also is about 0.004" different. 

I don't have any of the other containers handy, so I can't measure those, but there is definitely out of scale about the Atlas 53' container.

[peteski]

I'm not exactly sure what Paul said in that last sentence but his measurement of 0.722" is 115.5 "real" inches (to compare to the dimensions Carter provided). Within the range of other 53' containers.

[nkalanaga]

I think, but won't swear, that he left out the word "nothing". 

[unittrain]

The Atlas container in the photo is definitely sitting about 1/32" above the surface so that's why it appears too tall. You need to have them all sitting on a level surface the atlas looks like its suspended up off the surface.

[cfritschle]

Since we are mostly working from home except for the warehouse staff, I wanted to wait until I was in the office and could measure a container before I replied.  The Atlas container, from bottom sill to top sill, measures 0.722 inches.  The sample ScaleTrains container I have, bottom sill to top sill, measures 0.718 inches.  There is essentially no difference in height.   The measurement from bottom of pin to top sill also is about 0.004" different. 

I don't have any of the other containers handy, so I can't measure those, but there is definitely out of scale about the Atlas 53' container.

Paul,

I measured the containers at the posts where the 53-ft container would be in contact with a 40-ft container if they were stacked.  You mention measuring at the sill.  I was wondering if you measured the containers at the same location that I did?

And thank you for the measurement!  I hope a future release of the Atlas 53-ft container will include a paint scheme suitable for loading in a stack train running across southern Idaho in the fall of 2006.   

Unless of course the prototype for the Atlas 53-ft container wasn't around in the fall of 2006.   

[Atlas Paul]

I think, but won't swear, that he left out the word "nothing".

This is true