I have been waiting for a couple of years on the Atlas GP9s in C&O colors. I got mine today and lo and behold the handrails are solid blue. The real thing has yellow trim. If you guys at Atlas can paint the handrails on other engines why dont you do the rest? And no these arent the Trainman series.
That's weird, the pre-production graphic on BLW's site (which I assume came from Atlas) shows them with yellow handrail ends and step edges. Maybe somebody goofed at the factory. -Mark
You can see the issue here: http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn...vspfiles/photos/ATL-40000431-2.jpg?1353489796
Micro Scale (the decal people) make a product called MICRO PREP. for delron and other plastic parts (hand rails) I have used it with great results.
It sure looks like they didn't paint any of the handrails if you look at the pre pro artwork???? Milwaukee Road is suppose to white handrails. Strange for a master series loco.
oldrk,FVM paints the hand rails,they have great running locos,and for only 10:00 dollars more, no frustration!!!!!! happy holidays, uptoday
Atlas is generally pretty good about these things, so it seems like an odd omission. Then again, they also tend to release their locomotives in "as delivered" paint schemes. So, maybe these engines didn't originally come with their handrail ends painted white? Just speculating as I don't really have a horse in this race. Atlas participates in this forum, do they not? I'm surprised they haven't chimed in here. Anybody tried asking them directly? -Mark
Maybe Atlas determined that handrail painting is beyond the capabilities of their new factory. See how well they did on this RS-11: http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn.volusion.com/ztna9.tft5b/v/vspfiles/photos/ATL-42666-3.jpg
Yeah, I guess we could turn this into a general purpose "bash Atlas" thread. 'Cuz, y'know, they're pretty lame (roll eyes). -Mark
Whats the big deal I am happy to paint the handrails on my Katos as it seemed none of my NS locos came with them. My Atlas NS locos had them btw... Painted or not, its a good trade-up for an excellent running loco imho.
They went to the trouble of painting the fuel site glass and fuel cap red and putting the EMD emblem on the side but cant paint the handrails?? What am I missing?
Is there some proper protocol to follow when bringing into question the skill set and quality control of a given factory so that it shall not be deemed as “bashing?” Given that Atlas, as a company, has a long track record, but what is the track record of the factory they’re using now? How long and how successfully have they been producing model train equipment? Suppose that you were in Atlas’ position. Suppose that your new factory was turning out products as shown in the link in my previous post. Isn't possible that you would opt to have them not paint the handrails if that was the best job they could do?
No idea. Have you tried asking Atlas? Maybe they screwed up, or maybe it was on purpose. Either way, you probably aren't going to get any useful answers here. -Mark
Anybody can scare up a picture of an inept model (regardless of the manufacturer). But IMHO, I think Atlas's ongoing history as an elite and innovative player in the N scale market buys them a little more slack than this thread is apparently willing to grant them. I mean, dang, if Atlas isn't good enough for us, who is?? Anyway, whatever. I'm bailing on this thread. Have at it. -Mark
Right, Atlas doesn't care (eyes rolling so hard they're flying from my skull). OK, really done now -Mark
I can't think of any of my Atlas GP7/9 lokies that have the safety paint on the handrails, even the new BN release which should have (as in required by the time period). IIRC, the GP30's are in the same boat and the GP35 as well. It seems that way with any of the Atlas lokies that have the handrails and walkways cast as a unit (though there may be exceptions I am not aware of). Looking at my lokies that do have multi-colored handrails (CP Rail GP38 for example) the handrails are separate from the walkway and the colors seem to be molded in, not painted (though I have never tried to scratch one to see). Maybe that is why the GP9 does not have the colored handrails, no way to introduce the color into the mold?
The photo is from the website of a major retailer and, presumably, is representative of the items they have in stock. It’s precisely because of Atlas’ ongoing history that we might tend to hold them to a higher standard rather than be more forgiving of any apparent lapses in product quality. Recall that there were issues when they switched to a new supplier for the first run of the VO-1000.
