Atlas General American RBL: A Thing That Exists

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I received my first Atlas GA RBL, and well it's certainly a thing that exists.

Some highlights:
Paint is good. And underframe  detail looks great. Translucent ladders are not quite as bad as in the photos. Etched coupler release bar is both cool and sturdy.

And the lowlights:
The 70t ASF trucks. Go home, you drunk. They don't roll well. The casting is puffy, almost like vintage Walthers freight cars - it really is that bad. Oh and the standard height bolster makes this car teeter like a TLT newsprint car. The body was clearly made to use the BLMA 70t truck. What the hell happened?

The coupler pockets stick way out. Yes I know the prototype does too, but the coupler sticks another 30 inches past the pocket making this car look downright comical when coupled to anything. They could have pushed the mounting on for the Accumate couplers back at least a good 6-10" scale and made it look a little better.

The ladders are still translucent. This is really surprising because Atlas has been phenomenal at making Celcon, Delern or whatever they use opaque. I mean, when was the last time you had any Atlas engine handrail look like that?

So I have to replace the trucks, which will push the street price of this car very close to $40. That's a bit crazy, especially compared to another recently launched car - the Athearn ACF 3 bay covered hopper that also has multiple phases, very good paint, etched parts, trucks that work, a good ride height  and handrails that don't let the sun though. And their street price is only $25. I can't help but be a bit disappointed.

[ai5629]

While I am disappointed to hear about the trucks, I am hopeful that BLMA trucks may fix the ride height.  Will the ladders accept paint?  I was considering getting both Conrail cars and stripping and decaling as Conrail class 922B.  Thanks.

Jeff 

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Here are a few quick photos.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Flash on the steps.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Trucks don't look as bad as I first thought. But they are still not as good as their ex BLMA ASF trucks.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Under frame detail is great.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Dat' ride height though.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
I think the couplers could be handled better.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Clearly this is why the ride height is screwed up.

[nickelplate759]

I'm still hoping Atlas does these in NKP, even if they don't change the spacing of the locking bars on the doors

[daniel_leavitt2000]

George, do you know if the NKP used centered or offset doors? These have decidedly offset doors.

[wazzou]

What's with the wheels?

[nkalanaga]

My MILW cars have no problems at all with the ladder paint, even in sunlight.  They look the same as the sides. 

Rolling, it is above average.  My staging yard has a dip in the middle, which I can use to test the rolling qualities of a car.  If it won't roll halfway to the bottom with a gentle push to start, there's a problem.  If it rolls all the way, a couple feet, it's fine.  If it rolls on its own, without the push, I'm quite happy with it.  This one rolls on its own.  It also doesn't wobble.

Height-wise, the best I can do is compare it to another car, in this case an ESM X-58, with a roofwalk.  Sitting in straight level track, the Atlas car is enough taller that I can see light between the ruler and the ESM roofwalk, but definitely less than 1/64th inch (2.5 scale inches).  It's the same height as the Atlas 40 ft PS-1.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

My MILW cars have no problems at all with the ladder paint, even in sunlight.  They look the same as the sides. 

Rolling, it is above average.  My staging yard has a dip in the middle, which I can use to test the rolling qualities of a car.  If it won't roll halfway to the bottom with a gentle push to start, there's a problem.  If it rolls all the way, a couple feet, it's fine.  If it rolls on its own, without the push, I'm quite happy with it.  This one rolls on its own.  It also doesn't wobble.

Height-wise, the best I can do is compare it to another car, in this case an ESM X-58, with a roofwalk.  Sitting in straight level track, the Atlas car is enough taller that I can see light between the ruler and the ESM roofwalk, but definitely less than 1/64th inch (2.5 scale inches).  It's the same height as the Atlas 40 ft PS-1.

These cars sit pretty low i believe the roof is indeed lower than the PS-1 from top of rail.
Here is a prototype photo from Moloco:


you can see the sill sits directly on top of the truck side frame. The stirrup should be on the same plane as the roller bearing, not way above it.

If you swap trucks, it improves the ride height but then the couplers sit too low. I'm going to try and swap in a pair of under slung Accumates that come with their 100T trucks and see what happens.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Oh... Did I mention the end ladders are installed UPSIDE DOWN?! 

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[nkalanaga]

My end ladders don't have that problem - probably because the MILW cars came with roofwalks, and still had them in the 70s.  Are both ends of your car like that?

Interestingly, the MILW itself seemed to have some modeling issues with these cars.  Here are two pictures of 2884, taken five years apart:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4112452
10/24/1975.  I think it's the left side of the car. as it looks like a brake wheel on the right end.  Note the reweigh date "TA 3-73"
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4691294
Same car, on 5/1/1979, showing the right side.  Note that this side still says "NEW ?-64", 4 years after the other side was reweighed.

Did somebody forget to change the stenciling on one side?  Or is this evidence of the quantum physics "Multiple Worlds" theory?  Note also that the car still had its roofwalk in the 1979 picture.

[peteski]

What's with the wheels?

They look like N scale wheels. The toy train version. 
We got spoiled by FVM and few other brands.

[spookshow]

I don't get it. Atlas made new/different ASF 70T trucks for these cars instead of using their ex-BLMA ASF 70T trucks?

Thanks,
-Mark

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Correct. I don't know what's up with that. Clearly this model was designed for the BLMA ASF trucks. I kinda wonder if this was originally a BLMA project that was half done when Atlas acquired the brand a few years ago. Maybe some things were lost in translation?

King pins also appear to be unlike previous Atlas, Walthers or BLMA models.

The ride height and couplers I can fix, but that upside down ladder is glued in and won't budge. In fact the whole model is glued together.

I did find some flash on the trucks that was preventing them from rolling smoothly. Once removed the model does roll well now. Not that it matters because I have to replace the damn trucks to reduce ride height.

[spookshow]

Thanks, Dan. Looks like I'll need to add them to my (your, our) truck page 

-Mark

[Mark5]

Thanks Dan.

Bizzare ...

• Why tool up another truck when you already have one
• Those wheels ... Atlas has better wheels, those look like refugees from a previous century

Mark