New run of Atlas VO-1000!

[CBQ Fan]

I am going to have to buy the 2 Q units:

http://www.atlasrr.com/NLoco/nvo1000b.htm

It is actually cheaper price point than I would have expected 

[packers#1]

Southern Rwy VO-1000's and the itch to model some older transition-era stuff...screw it, I'm young 

[up1950s]

I most likely will only get 1 UP black VO as it predates my era , but what the hell . http://utahrails.net/articles/up-sw-other.php

Well being that Atlas was kind enough to also do analog as well as DCC I ordered both UP analog units . Thanks Atlas .

[brokemoto]

FINALLY!!!!   B&O and in not one, NOT two, but THREE, count 'em, THREE road numbers!!!!!  Thank you, Atlas!!  Too bad that Atlas no longer has a forum on which I can thank them, but as some of the Atlas boys come here regullarly, they will see it.  There ain't a whole lot that I buy, these days, but I will buy all three of these.  THANK YOU, Atlas!

[Rossford Yard]

Gotta love Atlas.  The TRRA?  Who else does road names like that.  I wonder if any of the retailers here can give an idea of how those lesser know roads sell in comparison to the bigs?  IHB, BRC, and now TRRA, plus Houston Terminal and many others.  I would have never thought road names like that would ever be available.

[Ian MacMillan]

What? No Amtrak or Conrail? 

[rickb773]

Gotta love Atlas.  The TRRA?  Who else does road names like that.  I wonder if any of the retailers here can give an idea of how those lesser know roads sell in comparison to the bigs?  IHB, BRC, and now TRRA, plus Houston Terminal and many others.  I would have never thought road names like that would ever be available.

I imagine the sales of small time railroads do well in their local areas. South Jersey has a small railroad that does switching for an industrial park and a refinery called SMS. They  primarily use old Baldwin diesels. Stewart models came out with a Baldwin switcher with the SMS road name and the local hobby shop owner had to scrounge units from other dealers to meet the local demand for the model.

[spr1955]

I hope they pull better than the first run. Mine won't pull more that about 10 cars.

David P.

[SkipGear]

For those having issues with the first runs, the trick I have found is to bend the leaf spring pickups down a bit so they end up being more of a spring. It allows the trucks to equalize better and makes the mechanism run much quieter. I think the original worm/wormgear mesh is too deep and springing the truck away from the frame abit fixes the problem.

[NYC1956]

For those having issues with the first runs, the trick I have found is to bend the leaf spring pickups down a bit so they end up being more of a spring. It allows the trucks to equalize better and makes the mechanism run much quieter. I think the original worm/wormgear mesh is too deep and springing the truck away from the frame abit fixes the problem.

Tony, does this apply to he original Korean-made model, or are you referring to the first Chinese-made run?

[SkipGear]

The first run, Ajin versions. I picked up a frame at a trainshow a while back really cheap just to get the motor out of it and started tinkering to find the issue was in the gear mesh. Springing the trucks a bit helped with pickup and noise. Out of the box, the weight of the frame was supported on the worm gear, not the truck frame itself, thus the reason it was so noisy.

[NYC1956]

Thanks for that update, Tony. When the VO-1000 first came out I was ecstatic about seeing it produced. I ordered several. What a disappointment they turned out to be, at least mechanically. I wrote to Atlas with a long list of problems I discovered along with many suggested improvements. Never received a response. The parts necessary to do a complete upgrade are so expensive that buying an entire new model and switching shells is probably a more sensible alternative. I'm glad Atlas finally changed production from Ajin to their Chinese factory.
Anyway, I'll try your suggestions and see if I can get some use out of the early models that I have.