New Atlas C424s

[sizemore]

Right? Eh, no biggie. I didn't pre-order.

I'm trying to decide what I want. Do I want to go all in and get an EL and a Reading one? Probably...

In that case, it's kinda nice being able to get em now and get decoders when I'm ready.

It’s the world we live in now. Buy now or pay three times as much later on ePay. When I look at it that way I’m saving even if I replace the decoders!

And get one EL and two RDG.

The S.

[EmdFan]

The base of the fuel tank has a slight recess which will be good for adding material to close up the holes Atlas wierdly put over the speaker location.

I finally put my Reading unit on the track today. Sharp paint and it runs smoothly although the gap between the frame and trucks will nees some plastic added to hide that gap.

Was Atlas channeling Broadway Limited with that nuclear-powered lighted cab interior or is my unit just missing a light cover?

Hey Bill,

Long time no see (online). I hope all is well.

There is a switch on the PCB at the long hood end to turn the cab light on and off in DC mode. Unfortunately in production the light was set to on by default.

If you remove the couplers and body shell you'll see the switch under the wires for the rear light. (photo attached)

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Steve W

[bbussey]

Unlike the FA and the RS3, It's not a simple body swap to mount a vintage Life-Like bodyshell on the new Atlas mechanism.  The numberboards are lit separately from the headlights, and the lenses are separate components on the new mechanism.  It takes some modification of the vintage light lenses to make them compatible with the new mechanism, or, the new lenses and windows must be swapped into the vintage body.  A little effort needed but worth it to modernize a decorated vintage bodyshell.

[wmcbride]

Hey Bill,

Long time no see (online). I hope all is well.

There is a switch on the PCB at the long hood end to turn the cab light on and off in DC mode. Unfortunately in production the light was set to on by default.

If you remove the couplers and body shell you'll see the switch under the wires for the rear light. (photo attached)

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Steve W

Thanks, Steve!

[haasmarc]

It takes some modification of the vintage light lenses to make them compatible with the new mechanism, or, the new lenses and windows must be swapped into the vintage body.

Brian, have you tried removing the number boards from the new shell?  I need to renumber one of mine so I need to change the number which would be easier if I could remove the lens.  I figured they were glued in.

[sizemore]

Any tricks to getting the shell off? Tried the box-drop-kick and it didnt budge.

The S.

[cgw]

remove the couplers first. then the shell will pop off

[sizemore]

Thanks @cgw!

After 60 odd hours of runtime all three units developed pickup issues from over lubrication. Cleaning solved most of it, wondering if anyone has added a Keep-Alive at the buddy board versus direct to the Soundtraxx decoder? There appears to be an unused two pin female JST(?) at the bottom front of the buddy board which made me wonder.

The S.

[spookshow]

If anybody is wondering how to turn on their number boards (Gold version), it's F24 for the forward boards and F27 for the rear. A handy bit of info not mentioned in the included documentation 

-Mark

[spookshow]

Are people happier with the looks of the new model? I know that back in the day there was much consternation about the chassis being clearly visible underneath the shell owing to its lack of framerail details (or something like that).

Thanks,
-Mark

[peteski]

Thanks @cgw!

After 60 odd hours of runtime all three units developed pickup issues from over lubrication. Cleaning solved most of it, wondering if anyone has added a Keep-Alive at the buddy board versus direct to the Soundtraxx decoder? There appears to be an unused two pin female JST(?) at the bottom front of the buddy board which made me wonder.

The S.

Yes, these (like most factory-fresh locos) are extremely over-lubricated, especially considering that the POM plastic used for gears does not require lubrication at all.

"Buddy board"?  Sounds like you are using a name for the aftermarket replacement "motherboard" for H0 models replacinig the factory PC board.

No, that connector is not for a keep alive.  It is for a headlight connections.  The connector is labeled "FL" (front light) and "V+" or blue common positive voltage.  This is actually lingo used by ESU.  As far as I can tell at a quick glance, there are no connectors or even solder pads for the ground or common which are needed for a keep alive.  I have 3 of these models for decoder installs.  Time permitting I'll do my reverse-engineering of the circuit board to see how easy it would be to connect a keep-alive to the motherboard.  I really wish manufacturers would feature solder pads for ground and V+ on those boards.

[Mark5]

Are people happier with the looks of the new model? I know that back in the day there was much consternation about the chassis being clearly visible underneath the shell owing to its lack of framerail details (or something like that).

Thanks,
-Mark

Frame still needs "enhancement" in my opinion. https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=61070

[robertjohndavis]

Frame still needs "enhancement" in my opinion. https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=61070

I can’t see anything past the thicc handrails.

[spookshow]

I guess it does still look like it's up on stilts -



-Mark

[peteski]

UPDATE: I took a quick peek at the motherboard and it appears that Atlas is using a logic level output for some function (don't knwo yet - maybe number boards) so  they had to include an "amplifier" transistor on board to convert logic to power output.  That requires a ground signal from the Next18connector and thus provides a place to connect the keep-alive's ground or negative wire. More details when I dive deeper into this board.