I guess my Atlas/Kato/Bev Bel RS3 would be too modern then. However, wouldn't the 1970s era Atlas/Roco locomotives technically be A2G? At any rate, I don't have any A1G, LL1G or B1G/B2G stuff in operation (except a Bev-Bel Bachmann GP-40 which I use for photo freights). I do have an Atlas/Roco GP-9 en route which I plan to repaint into B&M paint so I can attempt some retro operations, my other older motive power is mostly Minitrix because frankly it runs better. I use tons of A1G freight cars when I get the retro bug, I have been reviewing some of those cars on my blog.
And I remember the freight car boxes with $1.50 on them. It was the passenger cars that had the $2.50 on them. The original post mentioned Atlas 1st generation. But how about going back further to Arnold Rapido. I am keeping, as a historical artifact, an Arnold boxcar with a translucent red plastic body shell and a plain undetailed flat sheet metal underbody. And I recently bought an "all-new" Arnold wooden stockcar, in the original box, at a local dealer who has a lot of resale stuff. I find it is Arnold's N scale version of an Ambroad HO "1-in-5000" craftsman kit for a St. Louis & Iron Mountain car. Has some details never done by anyone else in N scale, apparently peculiar to this prototype car. And a few things peculiar to making compromises to manufacture in N scale. Hope to get around to getting it painted for Iron Mountain, recouplered, and running one of these days...
Not to brag (OK, yes I am ) but all of my Atlas A1G stuff still runs with the original motors in them. Same with my Bachmann F units from about 1969-70. The A2G locomotives began with the RoCo models in the early-mid seventies (GP30, F9, etc.). The A3G locomotives started with the famous Atlas/Kato RS3 in 1983 which led, of course, to all of the wonderful locomotives which followed. As far as rolling stock, anything Atlas not on George's site would be A2G or later as he covers all of the models and roadnames originally released by Atlas in the early years. Other roadnames were added to existing models and those would be considered A2G or later. There are differences in them which make them distinguishable from the first releases. I have always liked that B&M logo. Lone Star even put it on one of the Treble-O-Lectric boxcars at the request of International Models the owners of which wanted east coast roads represented. Doug
You must have all the luck. The smoke escaped from the motors of all my A1G locos long ago. The first Atlas loco that ran reasonably well for me was the Roco-made FA1 - after the weight and traction tire kit was installed. As mentioned, the subsequent Kato-made RS3 was both revolutionary and revelatory. A pair of Bachmann F-units didn't run for squat and went right back to Child World. Pretty much steered clear of Bachmann products after that inauspicious start. If it wasn't for early Arnold-Rapido locos, I'd be long gone from this hobby by now.
Just catching back up after a weekend away. Rich_S, thanks so much for confirming the New York Central paint scheme on the E-R Models caboose. I will definitely use and credit the photos to you. The AHM/Lima set is in the realm of the "early N" / "first generation" as well. When I got the Atlas train set, my younger brother got a set with a Lima F7 (or F-something or other, probably) with five cars. It was the same Christmas. Doug and I are in agreement in terms of the A2G/ A3G designations for locomotives. For freight cars, I think that once production moved to the USA, that's A2G, and then when over to China, that's A3G and later. It's important to note however that A1G and A2G equipment was more or less available at the same time since A1G stuff was everywhere and was in hobby shops and larger retailers for years.
Looking back at the original criteria, I did run my original N scale locomotive (a Bachmann F9A) up until last year... when the gears finally cracked. It was in the midst of a repaint into a freelanced road which had trackage rights on my B&M layout. So that one lasted from the early 1990s until August 2013, making it B2G, I guess it ran pretty well until it failed. I had to rebuild the pilot from styrene sheet and build new rear ladders using styrene strip due to a horrible fall down my basement stairs, it was barely noticeable when I was done.
Randy , No, I had no intent on adding LIMA... I wanted to keep it strictly ATLAS / MEHANO, ATLAS / RIVAROSSI, ATLAS / ROCO and BACHMANN only from 1968 - 1980 though some here have added LIMA and some others . Tom
For me, yes on rolling stock and no on motive power. Many of the older models work as the basis for enhancement or kit-bashing.
I don't know if these are first generation or not: Atlas ore and tank cars, still roll quite well. Bachman 1776 loco, Needs serious cleaning. Con Cor PA1 SP Daylight, (3 dummies), Needs oil and cleaning and a suitable set of cars. MRC Y6b - Chassis was traded to someone needing parts. The shell may be used for a 'imagineered' steam / diesel bash.
Atlas? SD45 and some metal chassie somethings. The mechanisms were ruined by the Con Cor packing material after years in storage. I intend to get the SD45 running as a dummy unit. The 'silver' paint job is mine. The Pacific does not run but I'm thinking it just needs some cleaning up and a suitable set of cars to pull. Metal body is all I can tell you about this. It will likely become a 'yard queen'.
I was pretty much thinking along the same line regarding the availability of A1G and A2G rolling stock in the early 1980's when I got back into model railroading. There was a lot of Roco/Atlas stuff around made in Europe... so... even though the products were not actually cast in the 1960s-1970s time of A1G... they may just as well be in that same classification because the molds were pumping out the same models for at least a decade. The main difference would be the paint schemes and quality of pad printing by the 1980's. I used to buy the Atlas 70T Ore cars and Beer Can Shorty Tank cars for $.99 a piece in the early 1980's... and they were likely being offered at a discount because they were over-produced by the 1000's... or there simply were very few N scale buyers. For all I know they were A1G cars cast in the 1970's which were just sitting on shelves until I happened to buy a bunch in the early 1980's. Those Atlas/Roco cars I mentioned before were also heavily discounted... and I got a couple dozen of them as well. They could easily have been 1970's stock which had not moved for years. I doubt I actually have A1G items from the late 1960'-early 1970'... but I have never really given much thought to it either. Back then... there were few really good quality locomotives... and I was lucky to have been steered to the Minitrix and Kato/ConCor models... otherwise... I might have given up model railroading in N scale by 1985. In 1985... I got my first Atlas/Kato diesels... and never looked back.
I did the same thing. Ended up with a whole bunch of cars I would never use. Sold them later, accidently for more than I'd paid to buy them, which was nice.
I love my old ore cars with the metal wheels and Rapido couplers. The sound of them running in circles is very relaxing. I buy more of those and the shorty beer can cars whenever the budget permits.
One of these days I will get to something that I've been wanting to do on the A1G website, namely, "Life After A1G," which would document as best as I can what happened to the tooling for the models in the Atlas First Generation lineup. These were scattered to the winds; the most complete information I have posted so far is on the E-R Models offerings. Roco and Walthers (and Roco distributed by Walthers-- aaugh!) also offered follow-ups of a sort to the A1G releases, with, as Calzephyr notes, better paint jobs. There are some just sitting here waiting for their pictures to be taken and posted online. Meanwhile... I consider the Super Jumbo 94 Foot Tank Cars to be the last of the A1G releases, and the beer can tank cars to be the first of the A2G offerings. The ore cars wind up somewhere in between since they were available as kits.
