How collectible are Atlas cars?

[3rdrail]

At least some of them are evidently worth far more than list price:

http://cgi.ebay.com/N-scale-Atlas-1905-Wood-Reefer-Atlas-Beer-Chicago_W0QQitemZ130126056125QQihZ003QQcategoryZ19121QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The wood reefers are very fine models with exceptionally good graphics.

[Robbman]

Message deleted

[bsoplinger]

I've seen many of the Atlas 94' whale belly tank cars go for upwards of $100 especially if its the Citgo scheme. That's considerably over list, even allowing for 30 years of inflation. 

[wes_sutton]

But is does beg the question, how collectable are they given that some of the latest release so as the various steam era 40' boxcars and the 11,000g tank cars are up there or even superior to some of the MT releases.

I suppose it comes down to what's the average run of an Atlas car vs the average run of an MT car. While it is often said that the manufacturers keep these figures much to themselves, I am sure there is knowledgeable soul on this forum that can shed some light on this?

Wes

[up1950s]

The other factor is " Beer " . Many people want a beer train , many collect any beer or wine cars . You want to make a killing , make a limited , numbered 1-100 beer car that has not been produced before . Advertise that 1 a week will be auctioned off on eBay . Bet it will sell very well . 

[wm3798]

There may be a small amount of nostalgia effect there, too.  If the car's been out of print for a long time, sometimes people want to replace a car they have fond memories of...

That's why I have a bunch of these:


The WM never had cars like this, but it's one of the first WM cars I ever owned from back in the 70's.  Over the years it got lost in the shuffle, probably donated to the fleet at the WMRHS N scale layout, so now, since I have a paper mill on the layout, every time I see one on ebay, I take a stab at it.  They can usually be had for about $4-10, so they're not exactly over the top, but I don't mind paying $10 if I have to.  I think I have 5 of them now.

Lee

[up1950s]

I have crib cars myself , 9 for the D&RGW and 7 my W&LG . They are just past my 1959 cutoff , but I turn a blind eye to that 'cause I have the power .

[Nato]

  Pulpwood Crib Cars, intresting to see a photo here. I use 2 of these babies in my Op Session fleet one WM and one Rio Grande, although I know both roads never had em. The reasion for usuing them is the log loads are removeable allowing me to ship loads in to my paper mill and empty cars out. Now if I could ever find a source for the (always not available) MT Peeler Log loads I would use them on Walthers Log Bunk flat cars,but I guess I'am just too lazy to make my own removeable loads for use on three cars. Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.

[Weedline]

As mentioned already the old Atlas large whale belly tank cars with 4 sets of trucks always go near the $100.00 mark.  Not really sure what the attraction is unless you are a collector, I'm not even sure those things are proto type

[Nelson]

The GATX scheme was proto, the others were not.

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/gatx/gatx96500blb.jpg
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/gatx/gatx96500alb.jpg

Rareness is the big attraction with these. This is probably the least common of the older cars Atlas made and no other manufacturer ever produced the type.

[Roger Holmes]

Here's a photo of the car currently on permanent display at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis.  I believe that it is the only one ever built.

[up1950s]

I wonder is that whale tank , if turned into a oil/water tender of correct proportions could feed a steamer to travel coast to coast non stop ?

[Bob Bufkin]

Anyone know how large these were in comparison to the 2 PRR did years ago?

[3rdrail]

Anyone know how large these were in comparison to the 2 PRR did years ago?

There were two PRR cars, one pressurized and one not pressurized. The pressurized car PRR 500001 held 38,050 gallons, but MGWR was only 268,000 lbs.  PRR violently opposed 100 ton cars on 4 wheel trucks and built these two cars to attempt to get the tank car manufacturers to put such cars on 6 wheel trucks.

The span bolstered, four truck, GATX car had a capacity of 50,000 gallons. Don't know the MGWR.

[3rdrail]

I wonder is that whale tank , if turned into a oil/water tender of correct proportions could feed a steamer to travel coast to coast non stop ?

Nope, locomotives like the Challenger and the PRR Q2 converted  better than 10,000 gallons per hour into steam. That car only holds 50,000 gallons. Remember, water plugs or tanks were usually 25 miles apart.