I miss the old Atlas N scale board …..

[randgust]

For anybody that might be looking at this thread that doesn't have a clue as to the 'dog cart'.... I still have the images although the original links went down with my ISP a few years later.

After doing the 44-tonner, EMC40, GE25-tonner, 25-ton Shay I was referred to as the 'critter king' so decided to take it to absurdity on April 1.

The 'mechanism' was completely fake, but matched the dimensions of the smallest known Faulhaber motor made at the time, fitted out with some watch gears and Railway Express Miniatures tiny track cart wheels:


Link:  http://www.randgust.com/dog03.jpg

The real fun was finding N scale dogs.  to pull it, as in the dog-powered speeder on Alaska's Wild Goose Railroad, my inspiration.

http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/dograil/pupmobile.jpg

 And this thing is absurdly tiny.   So convincing it actually ran was the big lie.



Link:  http://www.randgust.com/dog08.jpg

Now, where even I lost it was explaining that the 3v micro-Faulhaber motor still had to have a dropping resistor and no room for it, so the dog harnesses were made from resistance wire.  And you could only run it for a couple minutes before the dogs would overheat and needed a rest.....



link:  http://www.randgust.com/dog07.jpg

We kept that one going for a couple days before even I couldn't sustain it any longer with a straight face.   And yes, I still do have the model.

[MK]

All this without AI too! 

[u18b]

Laughing myself silly.

Oh my gosh.  Thank you for posting this.   The details were a little fuzzy in my mind.... but the overall effect will never leave me.

That was -- what.... 20 years ago.

That was the best ever, and I still remember it to this day.
 

[mike_lawyer]

I always enjoyed Victor Miranda's posts, he was a fount of knowledge on N scale steam.  Max Magliiero's posts on N scale steam projects really gave the courage to try custom steam projects.  I definitely wouldn't have the modeling skills I have today without the Atlas board.

[fcnrwy23]

Yep!
Just recently, was thinking about the Atlas Forum too.. And how the Hobby has changed, over the last five years..
2020 was a bad year for our club. It decimated the membership.

And the club just has NOT been the same..

Jerry

[CBQ Fan]

It was too bad it could not be kept viable, but I totally understand why it was shut down. I did find it interesting to see who migrated here and those who did not. 

[peteski]

Didn't someone create an Atlas Rescue forum? Is that still going?

[Rasputen]

I still have some Atlas GP-7s with Victor's low gear trucks in them.  There was also a Japanese member who was highly talented at adding additional phosphor bronze pickups to his steamers.  I don't think he ever posted here, I sure miss seeing his work.

[CBQ Fan]

Didn't someone create an Atlas Rescue forum? Is that still going?

Skip tried really hard to recruit me there. I did join for a bit but it did not have the traction I was looking for. I think it is still out there but not much activity from what I can recall.

[cfritschle]

Didn't someone create an Atlas Rescue forum? Is that still going?

Here is a link to it:  https://atlasrescueforum.proboards.com/

[peteski]

Here is a link to it:  https://atlasrescueforum.proboards.com/

N scale section only has 259 threads (since inception?) with last post over 1 month ago. That seems dead in my view.  The H0 scale section seems more popular.

[Dave V]

As they say, "you can't go home." Change is inevitable and irrevocable.

Years ago I was active in four forums (fora?) simultaneously. Honestly it was a bit much to keep up with, but the variety of posts made it worthwhile.

All that to say I'm glad The Railwire is still here. This feels familiar, and these are my people. I miss Atlas, and I don't visit either the Trainboard or MR Forum anymore (due both to time and to misaligned interests). The Railwire has also been the most consistent in challenging me to do better, to be better. Atlas had more of that than some of the other forums, but none so much as The Railwire.

Lots of familiar usernames in this thread!

Was thinking about how everything has changed so much. Even the giants like Caboose here in Denver, the MB Klein store in Cockeysville, and Kalmbach as an independent publisher...all changed. Had to go back to Lancaster, PA last weekend for a funeral and even that's changed quite a bit. I was glad to be able to visit the Strasburg Train Shop for a brief moment (all too brief), but even then I wonder how long that'll last.

Enjoy it in the here and now. Go to the hobby shop. Post in the forums. Buy the magazines. Soak it in. Because who knows what'll still be around tomorrow!

[dangerboy81]

It seemed so busy. I could read everything that interested me, come back an hour later, and have a bunch of new posts and replies to read. I do appreciate being here though. I used to frequent Trainboard too, but find I barely ever go there anymore.

[brokemoto]

Miranda's Maxim as explained by ke:

"The poor performance of many N scale steam locomotives is almost always directly attributable to poor electrical contact."

Several of us were snapping up Kato and B-mann tenders to improve the MP and some of the other steam.  Of all that I improved, I have only an MP eight wheeler, mogul, USRA light 2-8-2 and four USRA light Pacifics left.  I sold all of the other stuff.


Thank you for your consideration and support.