Atlas General American RBL: A Thing That Exists

[peteski]

There is so much to be said for crisply molded-on ladders in N.  A quick wash really pops the detail without compromising scale.

  Frank

I"m also not a big fan of separate molded-plastic ladders in N scale. If they were finely photo-etched and painted then I might change my mind, but the plastic ones look to clunky, and they are usually unpainted, and they often don't match the shell color (or sheen)  very well.

[bbussey]

The BLMA axle must clear the coupler box, because the pilot models rode on BLMA trucks and are in the model photos on the Atlas site.  I saw test shots last year and they were on BLMA trucks back then.  I hope that's still the case.  I will find out when I get a pair of the models in hand.

[bbussey]

I ordered a CR and a D&H, and they arrived today. The B-end ladders are upside-down. But they are press-fit and not cemented, it’s just that the contacts are VERY tight. I slowly worked the ladder component out by carefully prying at the eight pin locations with a jeweler’s flat blade screwdriver and a pair of tweezers.

The uncoupler bar is cemented to the coupler box cover however, so that will require some care to get inside the coupler box to see if MTLs can be swapped in. I also will swap in ESM trucks and check the ride height and coupler height.

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[bbussey]

I modified the Conrail car by removing the shoulder on the bolsters and swapping in ESM trucks. The ride height is good now and the coupler height appears to be good. The ESM outer axle barely clears the coupler box lid, so I cut the lid back to the edge of the inner screw and now there is plenty of clearance. Couplers swap is next.

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[nkalanaga]

Oddly, my cut levers WEREN'T glued to the coupler boxes - so I glued mine on, after a little weathering.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I ordered a CR and a D&H, and they arrived today. The B-end ladders are upside-down. But they are press-fit and not cemented, it’s just that the contacts are VERY tight. I slowly worked the ladder component out by carefully prying at the eight pin locations with a jeweler’s flat blade screwdriver and a pair of tweezers.

The uncoupler bar is cemented to the coupler box cover however, so that will require some care to get inside the coupler box to see if MTLs can be swapped in. I also will swap in ESM trucks and check the ride height and coupler height.

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Glad yours could be removed. Mine won't budge at all.

[unittrain]

Atlas definitely has to correct all these issues for the next release these type of issue's is unacceptable.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

OK, following Bryan's lead, I was able to remove the end ladders in question. Man those are stuck in there good.

I also took a look at the couplers:
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Cushion comes out easily.

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The coupler pockets accept MTL couplers.

So you can either use the Accumate provided, drop in an MTL coupler or use an MTL coupler and box. Pretty cool actually.

I did lower mine. ESM trucks, some light filing on the bolsters and replaced the standard Accumate with one from their 100t trucks which is slightly underslung.


Car looks and runs fine now. But that's a lot to ask for a top of the line car. Fix these issues Atlas!

[bbussey]

I also added the missing roof corner grab iron.

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[nickelplate759]

Now if Atlas would add the missing NKP paint scheme 

[Mark5]

Now if Atlas would add the missing NKP paint scheme 

Is this it George? http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nkp/nkp84061o26.jpg

If so, sign me up!

[bbussey]

Interesting that 1015 coupler boxes can be swapped in, which I would consider if there were sides on the 1015 box. I will simply swap 1015 knuckles into the existing coupler boxes on my two cars.

[peteski]

While it seems that some of details on this new model are not quite up to par, it is good to see Atlas make conversion to MTL couplers easy.  I also applauded Scale Trains for doing the same on the models I own.  I think Scale Trains was the first company to do this.

[nickelplate759]

Is this it George? http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nkp/nkp84061o26.jpg

If so, sign me up!

Yep!

[bbussey]

While it seems that some of details on this new model are not quite up to par, it is good to see Atlas make conversion to MTL couplers easy.  I also applauded Scale Trains for doing the same on the models I own.  I think Scale Trains was the first company to do this.

When was the Atlas PS-1 boxcar model first released?  That model has the MTL centering pin cavities inside the coupler pockets.  I think every Atlas model tooled with integrated coupler pockets since then has been MTL1015-friendly.