Atlas 4-4-0

oldrk Jan 26, 2013

  1. randgust

    randgust TrainBoard Member

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  2. FriscoCharlie

    FriscoCharlie Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Shorpy images are hard to embed for some reason.

    Charlie
     
  3. skipgear

    skipgear TrainBoard Member

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  4. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    I see from my E-mail this AM that the 2nd run of the Atlas 4-4-0 is out with a few more roadnames plus the undec, and a painted unlettered version. Will be interesting to see if they managed to do some tweaking at the factory on this run.
     
  5. randgust

    randgust TrainBoard Member

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    First tests with the tape-on test weights and the jumper wires were complete success. It now crawls through #6 and #4 crossovers without a hiccup, rock-solid now. So I'm going ahead with making masters for cast weights that will fit on. There will be two; one to fit inside the cab (with a small inset to clear the torso of an engineer) and a second weight to replace the coal pile with a raised bunker and pile. I'll them available on the randgust website later.

    Nothing against Atlas, but I'll bet there's only assembly changes, not tooling. There were similar issues with the 2-6-0, and judging from the design and tooling, this is also manufactured by the Micro-Ace partnership. Everything I'm doing is a tradeoff; I'm more interested in performance than appearance - I can live with wires that look like hoses and I don't have to see through the cab. So its an opinion thing, not a true flaw like tight gauge would be. I'll agree that headlight is kind of a bust, but remember, this is the 1800's people, headlights weren't on during the day.
     
  6. EMD F7A

    EMD F7A TrainBoard Member

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    Can you cast up a tool box or two for the front deck in metal to go with? NP & others had 'em on their logging locos (I'll go find some pics).

    Also, today a certain New Jersey vendor started pre-orders for the next SIX roadnames on the 4-4-0! Time to check with our TB advertisers....

    Perhaps this 2nd run will fix any of those nagging little issues.
     
  7. randgust

    randgust TrainBoard Member

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    Nope on the tool box. It's already nose-heavy. I'm doing these two parts in cast metal. But considering the boxes I've made for the Climax, maybe one of those is close and they are light resin.
     
  8. randgust

    randgust TrainBoard Member

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    Great news!

    Still tinkering with this locomotive, after a long absence.

    1) The stunt I learned with the Kato 11-105's - polishing the pickup wheels with a felt buffer in the dremel - works great with this little guy. Combined with Conductalube, more weight in the cab and on the tender deck, and hard-wired tender pickups, the performance is just really good. Better than any locomotive of its size, way better than the Bachmann and significantly slower, smoother, and more reliable than the Atlas 2-6-0 with similar upgrades.

    2) The oft-criticized low-relief drivers - nothing against David's solution (and rumor has it Atlas is going to fix this issue in the second run) can be 'fixed' by using a ultra-fine black Sharpie and 'coloring in' the wheel openings with black. The resulting effect is really quite good, easy to do, and relatively precise.

    Photos coming, I've got more stuff I'm doing here.
     

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