Atlas Masterline ,Thrall 53 foot articulated well cars. Review and tips.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2016
- After much searching for an addition to my Kato Maxi Well cars, I decided on these Atlas cars as a suitable addition to my intermodal fleet. These cars are very nicely detailed with many metal parts, but do need some minor tuning for trouble free operation. Also fitting Kadee couplers is not as straightforward as you would expect!
That being said, they look great and have a real presence about them even without some weathering,so they get to run on the Birdwood Sub' !! They are good value for money , especially if on sale.
Cheers , Gregg. - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Thanks for the review. Very helpful. You're right they're nicely detailed but very light weight. Haven't tried to put a Kadee in yet but now I know what to expect.
It's great to see you make another outstanding video. I will be looking for the next installment, keep up the good work.
Thanks Clarence! Don't know about outstanding??, but I'll take it..LOL.
Appreciate the support.
Cheers Gregg.
Great tips Gregg! I got some cars that need some of these things. Thanks a lot for posting and for sharing your know how. And glad to see you're in good health again. Cheers RT.
Thanks RT! With your modelling skills you'll have no problems! Now I have to try and do some scenery like yours..LOL
Still a bit of swelling to go but just about right and all is good, thanks!
Cheers Gregg :-)
I just bought a set of atlas ttx 53” articulated cars from western depot train store didn’t know there would be problems with them until you mentioned it, ty for the tips on how to fix it.
You're welcome Michael! I hope they run well for you.
Cheers Gregg.
Great video Gregg! Thank you for doing this video. I was recently considering these cars. Good to know some info on them first. They definitely have some good points and bad points. I'll have to think about it.
~Deryk
Thanks Deryk! They look great in person and when you know the tricks they are't too bad to get together. So far so good on the head of a 20 car stack train up and down the Helix ( loaded of course!) and through all my turnouts.
Cheers buddy:-)
Gregg.
Thanks for the tips, I just got mine yesterday, 1 thing when I work on mine upside down I set the containers in the wells to elevate for a stable platform, Ed
Thank you Edward! Putting the containers in is brilliant!!, Why didn'tI think of that..LOL Thanks for watching.
Cheers Gregg.
When I worked at Thrall Car they called them low packs. Good Video!
Thanks Shane! That's pretty cool that you worked on these! They are still running on the layout with no issues, as long as I keep them loaded and towards the rear of a train!
Cheers Gregg
Yeh Greg, been missing the old fishplate of late, but what a recovery, well worth the wait, fantastic review, high level of detail, sound advice, and comparison with kato, and the info on the kadee couplings, well done, I wish all reviews were developed as well as this one.
Thanks Camden! This one was a little rushed and as I don't have my new edit suite yet, I had to muck around with the editing but we got there. I like reviews to show you things you can't see just by looking at the item, anyone can point out the nice details, but you need to know the pros and cons to make a informed purchase. Thanks for the support and glad you liked the video.
Cheers Gregg.
@@FishplateFilms is there a place you get the cars from please reply
@@rosswarnke9186 I think I got them from Model Train Stuff ? Was a while ago now!
GRegg.
Great update Gregg I think I will get some.
Thanks Chris! They are good value for money, especially on sale.
Gregg:-)
Looks nice, thanks for the information. Love the details, no derails on the layout, wow, you need to write a book or have your own television show. Hope you are staying warm down there.
Thank you Sir, my pleasure. I can honestly say I haven't had a "track related" derailment on the sub for years. I had a check rail installed the wrong way in a turnout that caused a couple of light cars to jump off, but after fixing that it's all been good. It all comes down to good benchwork and baseboard, then you have a good foundation for track! If they give me a TV show , I'll come back and live in the States..LOL
Not too cold at the moment, I'm heading south in a few weeks so it'll cool down a bit then.
Cheers Gregg.
very helpful!! just got a set off ebay!! exactly the instructions I was looking for
Thank you and I'm glad it helped you out! Be very careful with them , especially if you are replacing the couplers!
Cheers Gregg.
@@FishplateFilms mine did not come with the extra parts as they are second hand. but I have a mate that can 3d print so might get him to make something to suit kd's
Hi Gregg! Nice first review! Good honest info mixed with your wit, it's a winning combo.
You mentioned risk in transporting well cars to shows and such. I found a method that works great. I transport my LOADED well cars in heavy duty shipping tubes. The come in a variety of diameters. You can find one that just fits the loaded cars, and it's padded with foam rubber on the ends (they come with caps and you cut to the length you need). I haul a kit-built Gunderson A-Line 5 car set that are permanently connected, and the containers are double-sided taped together. No damage in 10+ years of carrying. You set the tube on the track ahead of the set and just roll them in. Unload the same way, right onto the rails, ready to go.
Thank you Sir! The cars are going well on the layout and I feel they are nicer to look at the the Kato Maxi Well?? . Thats a great idea on how to transport your freight cars! If I ever need to I will give that a go.
Thanks for the support.
Cheers Gregg.
These are very nice cars. I have a set and haven't taken them out of the box yet. I don't like the assembly process between the articulated joints. I wish they would've made it to just drop in place the way Athearn did with their spine cars. As for the coupler issue, with the replacement draft gear box with the triangular shaped coupler boss, Atlas did the same thing with their 2743 gondola. The Kadee #78 couplers will drop right in without any problem. They were discontinued but they pop up on Ebay from time to time.
Great review mate I love the shout out to the rivet counters ! My favourite weirdo's they're the Tesla owners of the model train world 🤣🤣🤣
I must say I agree a little? Ive had a Scaletrains loco and it was good , but I sold it as I didn't like some of the mechanical aspects.
Cheers Gregg.
Thank you solved my problem. As for weight I have found that the weights for gondola cars fit in the bay well, and are hidden by the containers.
No worries and you're welcome! I run mine with 2 containers and towards the end of a train and I've had no issues, or run them empty on a "bare table" train. The gon' weights are a good idea too!
Thanks for watching.
Gregg.
Great review, just goes to show a little tuning and they run great
Cheers Glynn
Thanks Glynn! So far so good!
Cheers Gregg.
They do look nice Glynn! How many we gonna buy!? =D
We can get a lot of them if you start doing more overtime , LMAO
Awesome review, Gregg! Very in depth and loved seeing them in action. Though somewhat unrelated to this specific review, I'm trying to decide if A-line/InterMountain well cars are worth it.
-Cam
Thanks very much Cam! Well cars are a bit of a gamble I feel, due to the design , they are hard to make strong enough and the articulation is a challenge to make reliable in the model form. Thats why I say Kato lead the way with their Maxi Well cars. Try to get a look at the A-line cars at a shop if you can? Good luck with it man.
Cheers Gregg
Ooo, nice Gregg.....
They are Dwight, but certainly not "ready to run"..LOL
Thanks for watching.
Gregg.
Hi Greg, nice to hear from you. Those cars do look very nice, but personally, at my level, I would expect less fiddling. In the UK these things cost so much, if I can't have them running in 20 minutes I'm disappointed. I have several other types, most of which ran straight out of the box. Some needed a little adjustment and one cheaper one needed some discreet surgery, but in the main they were RTR like it says on the box. I think this demonstrates just how different we all are. As the French say, 'Vive la difference!'. Crack on mate. I enjoyed this one...........David PS - Seymour inquires after Stan.
Hi David, thank you for the positive comments. They are nice , all my other Alas cars are great and as you say, are up and running in no time! The biggest issue with these are the coupler boxes...why did they do it?? It is almost like a punishment for using Kades's! But that aside I like them. Tell Seymour that Stan is doing well and looking forward to getting back on the fillies !
Best regards, Gregg.
Now all you need is some 53' JB Hunt, FedEx or UPS containers to go in them. Good job on the review.
Tim
Thank you Tim! I have lots of containers waiting for cars, some 53' but mostly
48' and some 40. I have some CSX 53' boxes that look cool. I will get some JB Hunt on the next MT Stuff sale!!
Cheers Gregg.
Hi Gregg
Love your channel. Subbed recently.
On the strength of your review I purchased a set of these Atlas Well Cars and overall have found them to be excellent, but still only after a tiny bit of tweaking. I took note of your comments on joining the individual cars together and also found it quite an issue. I will admit to finally and carefully snipping off the single central angular ‘locking lugs’ right above each intermediate coupling ‘pin’ on each car. In fact they came off very easily and cleanly because it seems they were separately applied. Now the cars just join together by simply lifting each car onto the neighbouring coupling pins just like the Athearn Well Cars. I kept the Atlas couplers and so far have had no problems. I did find the vertical steps/hand rails at the end of the cars fairly sturdy but also found that they can easily fall off and have to be glued back. I did loosen the screws on the trucks slightly as you suggested and run the cars at the end of the train as well (even when loaded) just in case of any running issues, because they are ‘seriously’ light. Having said all this I would definitely consider getting more of these cars in the future because I agree that they do look the part. Cheers, Tim
Thanks Tim! They are very nice and have been running since this review with no problems. The coupler height is a little high and not easy to fix , but apart from that they are great cars!
Modifying the connecting pins is a good idea , especially if you move them around layouts or even just for everyday running...I may look into that myself!
Thanks for the comments and for Subscribing.
Cheers Gregg.
You're most welcome! All the best from London, UK.
Great review Gregg, they do look awesome on the layourt but those dang hand rails are a pain, have had to replace nearly all of mine. Thanks for sharing!
LOL..thats funny David!! Sorry, but I'm glad I'm not the only one to break them off!! And I think you have "two" eyes that work?? They are undergoing heavy train trials as we speak! Thank you for watching sir! Nice to hear from you.
Gregg.;-)
Check out Vinny's new video of one of my model club members layout that is also helping me build my layout!
Wil do Dave! Vinny's been a bit busy of late!!
great to see your first review , Gregg
Thank you Sir! There won't be too many , maybe one on Tsunami 2??
Cheers and take care Sir.
Gregg:-)
FishplateFilms
do you have a Tsunami 2 ? I wait and wait ! my shop say comes in 3 weeks
No not yet, I am planning a railfan trip down south , so I am busy with that. I will get one when I get back in late August. I will put the first one in a Atlas Dash8 Warbonnet!!
Gregg!!
a Atlas C40-8w in Warbonnet paint ! very nice
I know you will like it, I have 3 to do when I get back from my holiday.
Good stuff Gregg! They do look very nice but I can see how the tuning might put some people off them. But then, as you say, if the price is right it cab be worthwhile. I need some of these types of cars and your review has been most enlightening! Thanks for sharing what you've learned. There are some out there that don't share the info... I don't like those people!!!!
Cheers!
Stew.
Hi Stew , sorry I haven't been in touch, things are a bit hectic here and I'm still trying to get things done on the house. They are very nice cars and once you know the tricks, they are quite easy to tune up. I get heaps of info from other channels, so it's good to return the favour, plus a review should tell as much as possible , the good and bad!
Thanks for watching mate and I promise to catch up soon.
Cheers Gregg.
No worries mate. I suspected you were busy! I've done more work on the layout. I'm going to try for an update this week.
Cool , look forward to it!
very nice looking ,, you blamed kato for the coupler boxes ,, lol ,, they do look to be hard to put together , but now watching your video will help every one from here on out ,, can't wait to see you run them for awhile and see if they stay on the tracks , great review ,
Thanks Sparky! Yes I forgot to put a mention in saying I meant Atlas, not Kato..LOL. They are running well and loaded have been no trouble at the head of a 20 car stack train! I'm on a rail fanning trip now , so I will post a video of them after I get back.
Cheers Gregg.
have fun on your rail fanning trip ,
This was a very good review. The details look the part and I guess the biggest thing is the work before play. Keep those reviews coming.
Do you have any more operation videos in the work?
Thank you Trashman! Yes , it is "no pain no gain" with these!! But well worth the effort I think, how long they last in service will be another thing? I don't do reviews usually but these needed a better one than I could find. I will be getting a "Aztec" cleaning car soon and will do a review on that. The next op's video will be the ethanol train.
Cheers Gregg.
"Ribbed for your pleasure"....ha, no other comments?! Wife and I thought it was funny sir. Great video thanks for taking the time to make and edit.
I have no idea why thats funny.........??? LOL. Glad you liked the video and got sole "pleasure" out of it :-)
Cheers Gregg.
Greg, nice review and some well thought comments. Yes, the Atlas cars seem to be great MODELS but need loving care to be runners. I think that several years ago there was a major effort to provide "scale width" draft gears, hence the oddy narrow draft gears that don't lend themselves to Kadees (or the identical clones). There has been citicism of Atlas for this but they haven't moved to change the tooling. Back when I bought an earlier run of Atlas well cars I didn't even get the extra draft gears. The cars certainly LOOK nice. Kato's are also quite good. My Intermountains' also look good, but I have't bought their Thrall cars. Walther's earlier cars ran well but had mediocre detailing, but that has improved in the various well cars that they have produced in the last couple of years. Athearn is generally good, but have a weak point in their articulations that can break and it's a pain to repair. Athearn, Walthers and Kato seem to be good runners (most of Walthers have a diecast frame). Minor trivia for you; most BNSF double stack train have a lot of J.B. Hunt and Schneider 53' containers, just to provide you guidance for future purchases. Containers tend to be produced in batches, but right now the supply of Hunt's and Schneiders are pretty good, especially since a nice new line of 53' containers just arrived from ScaleTrains.com.
Thank you Gary! There is so little difference in the boxes , but I guess they were trying to get it right as we demand..LOL! It really is a compromise with well cars, don't know why? My Kato cars are great and bullet proof, and the Athearn spine cars are very good too, I have a lot of them. Thanks for the info on the containers, I will get some JB's and Schneiders when MTS have a sale, they are not cheap, considering what is in them!!
Thanks for the kind words and for watching .
Cheers Gregg.:-)
Gregg clear and concise review, wrong period for me (50s-70s) so I will not be having this sort of car, but you gave me some pointers about what you may need to do to set new cars up for good running. Have you needed to use my Dads steam method for bending your hardboard? Keep up the good work Neil :~)
Thanks Neil! Yes the same set up goes for all cars to keep them running nicely! Yes I did use your dads idea for the masonite, I soaked it in the bath for a few hours then bent it slowly over a saw horse. It came out great , thanks! You'll see it on the Ethanol train video.
Cheers Gregg.
Nice review Greg..
It occurs to me that the derailment problem might not be entirely down to the wheelset, if there is not enough swing on the coupler arm (which there doesn't look to be on those narrow coupler boxes) that would also cause derailments on some less than generous curves because it would literally pull the cars off the rails...
Thanks Stu! With the narrow boxes, Atlas use a skinny version of their plastic coupler which has more movement. I have tried mine through no. 5 turnouts with no problems, possibly on very tight curves or poor track you may have a issue but so far all is good with mine. The Whisker couplers have a pretty good swing after you free them up.
Cheers Gregg.
nice video bud #keepheronthetracks
Thank you Anthony!
Cheers Gregg.
Damn Good Video Mate.. Please do more.. Just Hope the N scale sets hook up Better than the HO's did..
Thank you! Appreciate the comment, I will be doing the odd review in the coming months. I think the N scale version will be different.
Cheers Gregg
I had a set of these. For me, they had a problem accepting certain containers. They would get stuck and It was hard to remove them without damaging the walkways. In my opinion, Kato makes the best wells hands down. Walthers coming in second then Athearn. Atlas, just looks nice but no thanks.
Hello all of you on TH-cam. I agree with you Gregg why these manufacturers can’t make the Cupler pockets standard so you can just do a drop in of Kadee’s To my knowledge the only two companies that put Kadee’s in from the factory is Intermountain RAILROAD Company and Broadway Limited. I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure those two companies put Kadee’s from the factory. My personal opinion I don’t mess around with nothing but Kadee
Hi Bill, thanks for watching! From what I have found , these cars were BLMA and atlas bought them out. As such , BLMA were pretty fussy about scale and the coupler pockets are as close to scale as they could get , and the plastic couplers fit ok, but Kadess are a little bigger , so a slightly bigger draft gear box is supplied. A little bit fiddly but they are very nice cars and are doing well on the layout.
Cheers Gregg.
Considering its Atlas, I am surprised you had to touch them at all. They look great though Gregg =)
I feel they were made by someone else Nick? The coupler pockets do not seem to be an Atlas thing? Yes they do look great though.
Cheers Gregg
Seeing as the early atlas locos were made my kato, i wonder if this was some of kato's earlier work in regards to the rolling stock.
Maybe,, someone suggested BLMA which have been bought out by Atlas?? Who knows..LOL
Nice :) All of the well cars that I have so far are individual units, so I haven't had to deal with flipping over multiple cars. I know this is a number of years later, but did you ever consider making a special section of track on your work bench, so you could work on these more easily? By that, I mean a section of track that is mostly just rails, with the ties cut out in the center. Then you could drill holes in your workbench (or a long slot) underneath the center of where the ties would have been, so you could screw/unscrew stuff on the bottom of the cars without flipping them over. Just a thought :)
Thank you ! I might when I weather these cars, as taking them apart is a pain...we'll see when the time comes!
Thanks for watching.
Gregg.
Very informative video thank you for that, quite frankly Atheran Genesis or scaletrains.com rivet counter are superior specifically the rotating bearing caps Kato makes an impressive Amtrak superliner passenger car I'm a major stickler for detail on my equipment
You're welcome Ron! These are very nicely detailed on the body but fiddly to work with. I have many Kato well cars and they are bullet proof, but not as detailed as these.
Thanks for watching.
Gregg :-)
They do look good, to bad that they need so much work. I bought an old Walthers goldline and it was metal cast. Not sure how the new ones are made.Scott
The next ones will be quicker Scott. The new Walthers are metal also, but they are separate cars and not articulated.
Cheers Gregg.
I'm planning to model CSXs Boston and Albany line from West Springfield to Worcester. All intermodal trains are comprised of these......
They are nice cars, though a little fiddly to assemble. Also they are very light so need boxes in them to keep them on track if in a heavy train.
Gregg:-)
Wouldn't it be possible to weight the bottom container to provide weight?
Great review with lots of details.
I am scared to buy those long 3 set cars on small radius curves layout. I have 22 inch radius down to 18 some place.
What would be the minimum radius for thoses 3 cars set?
Thanks Luc! I think the minimum radius is 18 but 22 is recommended. Check on the Atlas site for their specs.
Cheers Gregg
Hey Gregg, Did you say somewhere in a video you run atlas dash8-40bw silver line locos? i have a gold series with dcc and sound and just ordered 2 silver series, do they have dcc in them or any sound or did you add a decoder of some sort? Cheers, Adam.
Hi Adam, I have 6 Atlas Dash8 -40Bw's, there are great locos and one of my favourites! All of mine are "Silver" series which I have installed Tsunami decoders, which are much better (IMO) than the QSI. You can see some of the install on part 1 of my layout cab ride videos.
Cheers Gegg
FishplateFilms okay cheers, i will definitely check it out than!
Gregg, wondered where you had gotten to, hadn't heard from you for weeks.
A couple of questions/points. I noticed that the speed on the side of the cars was in "metric" - 110,(time mark 16.14) and I didn't see am imperial speed panel. when did the yanks go metric, or is this for interchange with Canada and Mexico?
Re your weight problem, don't Kato''s containers have magnets and facility to add weight. Years ago I bought a set of Con Cor well cars. They were metal in construction, and at the time looked great, however I could never stop them from "wobbling".
In my three month trip in the U.S., I never saw a vending machine with "ribs for your pleasure" (might just be an Aussie joke).
Greg a.k.a. chainsaw
LOL..thats funny Greg! Yes the speed is for Canada!!!I have been trying them out today and with a load they are fine with 20 cars behind them , so far so good! I picked up one of the Kato units and forgot how heavy they are!! The Kato boxes are a good idea if I need more weight in them but I think they'll be ok mid train at least.
I thought Durex was a US company??? Mind you, nice ribs are good eating..LOL
Cheers Gregg :-)
so ribbed for princess's pleasure then?never a dull video from you :)
LOL...one would hope both get enjoyment from some nice ribs!!
:-)
yes indeed, quite so, good sir.
Keep it classy :)
Indeed:-)
Gday Gregg just wondering were ya bought that midwest cork have ya got a good supplier in mind thanx Joe . Go Queenslander great layout mate
Hi Joe, I got it from Ray at Austral Modelcraft in Mt Gravatt. He doesn't have it on display????, so you have to ask for it. Not a bad price either. Thanks for the
compliment, the layout has a long way to go though,,LOL
Cheers Gregg.
Thanks for the quick reply Gregg . I have been to rays a few times so i know were he is so next time im in brisbane i will grab some. Did ya see the 3 loco 63 wagon coal train run from brisbane to acland coal mine mate? I know a coulple of drivers so i was able to get a video of it just past Toowoomba were i live. Do ya think it would be possible to come and check out your layout one day mate.Thanx Joe
You're welcome Joe! No I missed that train, would be good to see, are they running a full one back to Brisbane? Would be interesting coming down the range!! That train would not fit into any loops so it would be a controllers nightmare getting it passed anything else! Next time you're down let me know and we can arrange a visit to the "SUB' !!
Cheers Gregg.
There supposed be running another long train Saturday the 15th up and back so i heard.
Yeah it would be good to grab a few ideas from ya layout ,my train layout is in the house at the moment, heater , aircon so i don't have that many problems with rail. But about a months time my shed should be finished, no heater no aircon so it will be good to see what changes i need to make when i put rail down. It will probably be a Saturday trip when i will be there next not sure. Thanx Joe
No worries Joe, just let me know when you're heading down and we can catch up.
Cheers Gregg
Would these work at a 18in track for HO scale
I'd say you would be pushing it on 18" curves, but I think that is the minimum radius . 24" is the recommended minimum.
Gregg ")
@@FishplateFilms oh ok thanks
Missed you we are going to Make your PM a US citizen and let her be our next president. Love her.
Hi Art! Our PM a few years ago was a woman, Julia Gillard. Not too sure who you mean?...though some may call our current PM a bit of a girl..LOL
Gregg :-)
Lol politics in this country of ours are a joke.
arthurhouston3
I Alove
Just add weight inside the bottom Container. Or buy Walthers Gregg.
Hi Joe.
When you have two containers in the cars, they are heavy enough. , but when empty they have to be in the middle or towards the end of the train, so they don't "string line" and derail. This is the same for real railroads so a little planning is involved in making up trains...just like the real ones! The Kato well cars are metal? plastic and are heavier but I still don't run them empty in the front .
Cheers Gregg .
An agreement about the coupler boxes:( Maybe adding weight into the containers for more weight???? I prefer like Andy to add extra weight......
Yes , why did they do that??? Testing is going well so far , they handle being up the front of a train well when loaded with two containers each.
Good review and work up on the car's Gregg. Looking good to Buddy. Bob, Longshadowsmodeltrees.com
Thanks Bob, I just woke up..LOL ..arvo shift this week. They are nice and today I'll try them up front on a stack train and see how they go up the helix??
Cheers Buddy!
Gregg.