I was very impressed with the Atlas SD35's the new couplers looked and worked well. the numberboards were numbered. It operated smoothly, easily on a par or even better. I liked it so well that I ordered two more unnumbered units.
Sorry, I posted it before I was done. I would like to hear other's honest critique of the SD 35's and the E8/9's too.
Are these new E-8's that Atlas released? If so, what roadnames? I am unable to visit train stores anymore now that I live in a remote area. Charlie ------------------ Ship It On The FRISCO!
The E8/9s are the old KATO units with a new frame that accepts decoders in plug-n-play fashion.They should pull like a mule,but the LL units will still out pull them.I don't own any and most likely won't cause the Grande Valley has no need for them. ------------------ Catt!
Well, although I don't need any SD 35's or E8/9's, I have seen them run and examined them for details and paint. WOW! They are really good! I hope this is a sign of things to come. I've heard that some major Hobby dealer has said the red on the Santa Fe Warbonnet E8 is wrong, and sent them back to Kato. BIG MISTAKE! Being a HUGE fan of the Santa Fe, I can say honestly that this appears to be the correct shade of red. Kato did mess up on the CW44-9 Santa Fe Warbonnet's red, but not this one. Who do they run? Great! Now, about the SD35. My favorite is the Southern. Atlas scores a 100% with me on this one, it is the best from them to date. I hope they do something more modern soon, but I'd bet the Train Master is going to ROCK! I don't need one of those either, but for those who do, I think they're going to be nice. ------------------ RAILROADING-TO-THE-MAX, Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Style! Brent Tidaback, Member #234
I have a critique! The body mounted coupler on the E8!! We are in the 00s now, and Atlas and Kato should both know that they shouldn't use truck mounted couplers. They can njust cause problem after problem. On these locos it may not be so bad with the lack of backing movement, but still! Happy Railroading!! Dane N. ------------------ TAMR2860-AKA BC Rail King TAMR2860@Canada.com for TAMR info. To send a general TRAIN! E-Mail send to BCRailKing@Canada.com AIM me at TAMR2860!
Gotta agree with Dane, truck mounted couplers on locomotives should be a thing of the past. ------------------ Alan The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale! www.ac-models.com Andersley Western Railroad Alan's American Gallery Alan's European Gallery Alan's British Steam Gallery
Who said anything about a "Truck mounted" coupler? Neither the SD35 or the E8/9 has a truck mounted coupler. The Kato has their redesigned "bump" coupler installed and the Atlas is using their new Accumates. As far as appearance, the Kato coupler wins, for performance, it's the Atlas Accumate that wins. ------------------ RAILROADING-TO-THE-MAX, Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Style! Brent Tidaback, Member #234
I said something about a truck mounted coupler on the Kato E8. I believe that I truck mounted coupler is when the framing for the coupler is not on the frame, but the truck, as it is on the E8 ------------------ TAMR2860-AKA BC Rail King TAMR2860@Canada.com for TAMR info. To send a general TRAIN! E-Mail send to BCRailKing@Canada.com AIM me at TAMR2860!
I could of sworn it was a body mount coupler on the Kato E8. I know the Life-Like E's are truck mounted, but I don't think the Kato is, I may be wrong. ------------------ RAILROADING-TO-THE-MAX, Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Style! Brent Tidaback, Member #234
In terms of earlier comments, you are right, I made it sound like Atals had truck mounted couplers, but that is only cars. I will try and hunt down a picture of Katos E8 to show people-and as I believe I said before, the problem with truck mounted couplers is that when you back your train up it can push the truck, or I guess better said it puts pressure on the axles. This causes almost a "pop" effect where the wheels of the car go out of the track. All the large N scale manufacters now use body mounted couplers. I discovered the E8 only has the truck mounted coupler because of the fact that it would be a large change to the shell if they made it body mounted. As most of u probably know, this is almost just a release with a few minor changes. I haven't seen the head end of one running, does it even have white LEDs? Happy Railroading!! Dane N. ------------------ BC Rail King TAMR2860@Canada.com for TAMR info. BCRailKing@Canada.com
The couplers on the rear of the E8A's and both ends of the B's are truck mounted, as are the F's and PA's. The split frame prevents a body mounting at this point. Maybe a similar set-up to the front coupler mount of the Kato F3A/7A could be developed for rear body mount couplers on subsequent releases of E/F/PA/FA/whatever cab units? This would require a minor modification to the chassis molds. Just a thought. Gary. ------------------ Gary A. Rose The Unofficial TC&W page N to the Nth degree!
Ok, that answers that question, they're truck mounted on the E's. I guess I didn't take as close of a look as I thought. To answer the light question, YES SIR! They have the new "white" LED's. Turn off the lights and it will almost light up the room. ------------------ RAILROADING-TO-THE-MAX, Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Style! Brent Tidaback, Member #234 [This message has been edited by Maxwell Plant (edited 22 June 2000).]
Peoples, I have seen a few SD35s that made it to Vancouver early, but I am still yet to get mine, and others are in the same boat. Do any of you have any ideas on why it is taken them longer than ussual to get to Canada? I am used to hearing about a new product about 1-2 weeks before it hits Vancouver, but it has been awhile longer. All the ones that have made it to the hobby shops are low nose undecs., but they have more on order. Atlas confirmed they are coming, and I believe they are coming through H&D. So anyone have an idea what is taken em so long!?! Happy Railroading!! Dane N. ------------------ BC Rail King TAMR2860@Canada.com for TAMR info. BCRailKing@Canada.com
Unfortunatly, what goes around, comes around. The hobby shop I go to (RoyalBlue's Place) has had trouble getting everything they order, let alone on time. However, this time they received every SD35 and E8 they ordered and on the day promised. Go figure... ------------------ RAILROADING-TO-THE-MAX, Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Style! Brent Tidaback, Member #234
how long is it now since everyone got thier SD35's as i still not got mine yet, it seems that everytime i order something direct from america it takes ages to get here but its not the same the other way round, strange............. ------------------ Matthew wheres all the C636's???? stickymonk.com Matts Photo gallery
Got my SD-35 in Western Maryland red/white livery. Looks great. It may be a little highly geared? Find it hard to lash up with my other models which run slower. Trying to figure out if I miss the modeling task of installing couplers and painting step hand rails? Need something to tinker with. ...Eddie ------------------ Eddie Delozier PRR N-scale deloziers.com eddelozier@yahoo.com
Well I finally bought a SD-35 yesterday. I don't need it,but I bought it anyway. Am I impressed? OH YEAH!!! This baby is sweet. It pulls like a mule and the new couplers worked very well.The only problem I can see is now I want more of them. It seems that I along with a few others sorta iritated M'bacon a wee bit and fur that I apologize sir,but I'm still having FUN ------------------ Catt!
What road did you get, Catt? I don't need any but I really like the Southern SD35's. Being a BNSF modeler, a SD35 from Southern is the last thing I need. But it is the best looking model done by Atlas to date. It seems to me the run pretty good too. ------------------ RAILROADING-TO-THE-MAX, Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Style! Brent Tidaback, Member #234
