I agree, quite surprising. I just remembered that Minitrix offered its U28-CG in NP in the early-to-mid-1970s. [Photo from Trovestar] This was a great locomotive with a precision machined chassis, a good motor and a headlight. They never stalled.
I have always thought the exclamations that we were living in H-E double toothpicks, in the early days, a bit overstated. I mean, I don't remember ever wanting to throw my stuff in the garbage or anything like that. I get my copy of "N Scale Primer" out every once in a while too. And, it has the Rapido Soo Line GP7 on the cover. Doug
Would have bought that U28CG if it had been available at the hobby shop... they only had the Santa Fe one... and never mentioned an NP version. Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
It really does and I'm even running the new BLI T1 and it runs flawlessly around the layout. None of the six axle diesels bind or derail. I have never liked tight curves because they make passenger trains look silly but I have always wanted to build this layout so recently I did. I'll accept the shortcomings of 11" & 12 3/8" curves.
Those match the radii that I'll be using too. Given my space, I chose these over a layout with wider radii and a dull track plan. Most of the curves will be hidden and I don't run '86 freight equipment anyway.
My dad was in the Radio Controlled airplane hobby, I never caught that bug, but as was common in the 50's and 60's, I received a train set for Christmas in 1967. It was an Athearn HO scale SD45 train set seen below. The set came with Atlas Brass track and a MRC Trainpack 100. Yes, I still have this train set, but the Atlas Brass track and MRC Trainpack are lost to time. I still have the instructions for the Athearn SD45. In 1971 I received an AHM / Lima N scale train set for Christmas from my Grandparents. It was the New Haven F7 train set seen below. Yes, this is what's left of that 1971 AHM / Lima train set. Most of the track is lost to time, but the engine and power pack still work. I keep both sets now for remembrance sake. In 1987 Kato released their first N scale locomotive, the GP38-2. I ran across this model in a local hobby shop in 1989 along with the Micro-Trains pilot conversion kit. Having been recently married and living in a small apartment and finding this great looking and running Kato N scale model is all it took to convert me from HO scale to N scale. I've been an N scale modeler for 29 years now and have not looked back. On a side note, I converted to DCC in 1999
I remember when I first saw Atlas' RS-3 in the early '80s at a local hobby shop, as manufactured by Kato. It's superb operating characteristics were leagues beyond anything seen before AND it was a classic Alco. This one locomotive led N Scale into a new age. I bought one and painted it in D&H. It still runs well.
A beauty! I never got any of the original RS-3's but I did see them in the hobby shop. I do have a couple of the newer C&NW ones made from Kato parts so they are virtually identical to those units. They took the same MT conversion as the originals. Doug
The only Minitrix locomotive I ever purchased was the BN U30CG. For the time period it was probably the best running locomotive with 4 of the 6 axles driven.
I still have the same locomotive. It came in a set my father gave me around 77’ or 78’ I think. He got the set on clearance. Can’t recall how much he paid, but he was pretty happy about it. And he is no impulse shopper!
Got a Lionel 027 train set for Christmas when I was way too young for it. The fact that only the power pack, one flatcar and a couple pieces of curved track remain is testament to that. Also got a Lionel HO scale "American Flyer" train set (the loco was a GP9) a few years later, still too young to take it seriously. Then when I was 9 I got a Tyco over & under HO set for Christmas (3rd time's the charm) and my dad and I built my first permanent layout, on a 4x8 board. The locos were the red and yellow scheme Rock Island, but I noticed the trains around here were red and grey and said "Southern Pacific," so I wanted those instead. Got into Athearn Blue Box in the early-mid 1980s, and built my 2nd layout in 1988, a 4x12', which lasted through the 1990s and into the 2000s. But it gathered dust after the early 1990s because I built the layout with 18" radius curves and was disappointed to find that the large, modern rolling stock I wanted to run, couldn't run on 18" radius curves. So that pretty much killed my enthusiasm for the hobby. As for N scale, I got laid off of a job in 2006 and though I had a lot of money saved up, I was kinda feeling depressed. Then one day I looked at my dust-gathering 4x12 HO scale layout and decided to dismantle it, sell it off and get into N scale. I always loved the size of N scale but hated how they looked like toys (and they were more expensive than HO at the time). But these new N scale trains, they looked more realistic, code 55 was getting more mainstream, and the modern locomotives and intermodal rolling stock I wanted seemed to be decent enough in N scale so I made the jump in early November 2006. Planning a new layout totally changed my attitude in life. I never looked back! I actually own more trains in N than I did in HO (well, I have a better income than I did when I was a kid/teenager...)! My layout is only half done, but I was able to run trains around my mainline since 2010. In 2013, I got into DCC, and have about 4 sound locos now. I enjoy the hobby far more as an N scale than I did when I did HO.
My original RS-3s are still running and a very rugged mechanism. A pair went to my young son at the time to run on his layout and they even survived him
1982... yes, it would be one more year before the release of the Atlas/Kato RS-3s. They were just about indestructible. I pulled mine out of storage the other night and after many years, every one of them still ran with no issues. http://www.spookshow.net/loco/kators3.html
Well I can't contribute here at all but to say thanks for starting this thread. It was interesting to see what was available then. In 1982 I was just finishing college and off to start my career. I did not start getting involved with trains until 1994
My first set was a Bachmann train set with a GP40 and a few cars. Then bought a MiniTrix boxcar and the start of modern locomotives. Atlas FA-1 that had flywheels. This was early 70's.
Atlas' Roco-built FA-1 was a good locomotive and quite a step up from the usual from this Austrian manufacturer. I still run mine. Within a year or so, a traction kit became available from Atlas with twin weights which surrounded the can motor. Many of us cut the rear Rapido coupler into a 'T" shape and semi-permanently coupled a mate to allow a close-coupled A-A set.
You are welcomed... and thanks to all the subsequent posts from the members. I thought I would mention that between 1982 and the mid-1990's my N scale modeling was anaemic at best. Income was barely able to keep up with expense of raising 3 kids. I 'missed out' on most Kato releases and some other Atlas items. Fortunately... I was focused on mainly Rio Grande, SP and ATSF... so it was a little tough to not reserve items... then find out they were short run. I got hooked on Micro-trains(nee Kaydee) because of all the investment hype. Well... by 2000... all that hype was deflated as improved rolling stock models from Atlas and Intermountain were duplicating most of the Micro-trains 'formerly rare' offerings. Yes... Micro-trains still are unique in many ways and are still getting some premium auction bids... but not like 1980's to 1995. Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
Interesting, when I first started, it was a pair of DRGW GP-30's and a pair of GP-35's from Atlas (Made by Kato) and about 2 cars from Atlas...... Then I quickly grew tired of the clunky look of the Rapido couplers and started changing them out for MT couplers
And... I still have many 1980's-1990's which sport the Rapido couplers... with no immediate plan to change them out. I have a couple of DRGW Atlas/Kato GP9's which were on RS3 'sized' chassis in 1988. A few years later I got the Aztec retrofit chassis... but... never got 'round- to-it'... like many of my projects LOL. Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
