Atlas Summer Catalog... (Those beer cars must have been popular)

[learmoia]

https://shop.atlasrr.com/d-697-june-2023-pre-orders.aspx

https://download.atlasrr.com/0723MCPDF/June2023ASMCMSRPOnly.pdf

[C855B]

...sigh... I'm going to have to get those Olympia cars. It was the one brewery I actually toured... 43 years ago... as something to do before setting out to railfan the about-to-die MILW Western Extension. Damn nostalgia is makin' me spend money!

[Mark5]

Apart from the vehicles, the boxes/reefers/tofc flats are all "fantasy schemes", right?

Mark

[samusi01]

The Great Northern TOFC flat under the Rainier trailers is at least the correct number series for a converted 53’ 6” TOFC flat… aside from that, I cannot comment on the correctness of the rest of the paint scheme, although it looks ok to me.

As for their proposed beer cars, I hope it’s a success for them and permits them to get the rest of their off-delayed production under way again.

[DirtyD79]

Cool to see they're bringing back the Ford Fairmonts and the RPS Ford pick ups.

[nkalanaga]

The GN flatcar looks OK, lettering-wise, especially if it's weathered.  The prototype picture I have is filthy!

The car itself needs side railings, and probably other details, but the prototype was a fishbelly flatcar.

[thomasjmdavis]

Apart from the vehicles, the boxes/reefers/tofc flats are all "fantasy schemes", right?

Mark

I'm putting the flats into the category of "Toy Trains".

I wonder what they were thinking with the "A.T.&S.F." lettering on a piggyback flat - not to mention the "10-75" build date for a 50' riveted fishbelly flat.  The number series is correct for a piggyback car, specifically, an Ft-5 (GSC cast frame, 53'6"), built in 1955, and sent to Topeka on delivery, where side rails and tie-downs were added (ATSF did not use folding hitches until several years later, but I assume replaced the tie downs on these cars in the early 50s.). The irony here is that Atlas has the tooling for the correct car (or very close, less the side rails, etc), in their 'master' line.
https://shop.atlasrr.com/c-1534-n229.aspx.

So, essentially, these are $35 versions of the same tooling as the stand ins we paid $5 for in the 1970s, with somewhat upgraded couplers. Although some of the beer trailers are nice.

And for the Atlas apologists, yes, I know...they might fix all the lettering issues before it's released- but I'm not willing to bet $35 bucks on that.  It took me less than 10 minutes to find a reference photo of the prototype (Hendrickson, Santa Fe Open Top Cars, p.79) for that number series, the ATSF v. A.T.&S.F. lettering is in numerous references, some of which must be on Atlas' shelf. I expect people selling $35 freight cars to spend at least 10 minutes on the research, and to care enough to at least get the lettering right on a  If they want me to pre-order something based on a graphic, they should at least have the graphic accurately represent what we're going to get. I know this is N scale, but I am personally getting tired of manufacturers pretending that 53' cast flats can be produced as 50' riveted models because "it's only N scale, it's too small to tell the difference."

Yes, I understand, these are for people who want a beer piggyback for fun, and don't care if the lettering is accurate, for these particular cars. If they had done a run of the "Master Line" GSC flats, I wouldn't have even looked at these. But with so little coming out in the way of transition equipment, this is the sort of thing we get stuck with.

[Spades]

So, essentially, these are $35 versions of the same tooling as the stand ins we paid $5 for in the 1970s, with somewhat upgraded couplers. Although some of the beer trailers are nice.

According to the inflation calculator what was $5.00 in 1970 is now $39.12,  So you save a few pennies and the accumates are better than rapido couplers.

[John]

...sigh... I'm going to have to get those Olympia cars. It was the one brewery I actually toured... 43 years ago... as something to do before setting out to railfan the about-to-die MILW Western Extension. Damn nostalgia is makin' me spend money!

Me as well - Olympia Beer was the only beer I drank other than San Miguel the year I was stationed on Diego Garcia - it was relatively fresh - Budweiser and Miller had a flat taste to them as well as extra preservatives ...

[learmoia]

According to the inflation calculator what was $5.00 in 1970 is now $39.12,  So you save a few pennies and the accumates are better than rapido couplers.

Couple of things.. they weren't $5 in 1970, they were $3...
And it was this thing.


They didn't get to $5 until the 1980s with the A.T.S.F. and Conrail scheme..

You'd think they would quit reprinting stuff they mass produced 30 years ago...

[JMaurer1]

Just once I wish they would take the 5 minutes it would require to actually ASK one of the prototype groups or historical societies if their info is correct. I like the Atlas TOFC cars (even if they are totally lacking any TOFC tie downs or other detail) but they have never produced a Southern Pacific version (or just about every other road that they have done) that is even close to the prototype lettering. Glad to hear that the GN is mostly correct, but the ATSF sure isn't. Can't say about the other roads in this run, but it would be a surprise if they were...of course, I might still have to get the GN and maybe the SF just because there is such a void here to start with...

[Philip H]

There's a Hoffman Beer car . . . . How can I not?

[C855B]

Apart from the vehicles, the boxes/reefers/tofc flats are all "fantasy schemes", right?

I'd say so. Even in the '70s, when I worked for SP, there was a big problem with thefts from beer cars, and we're talking about plain ol' tuscan red insulated 60' boxcars. It was clearly an organized effort where the bad guys knew what to look for. So there's no way in heck that there would be cars emblazoned with product identity. No way.

[Cajonpassfan]

I'm putting the flats into the category of "Toy Trains".

I wonder what they were thinking with the "A.T.&S.F." lettering on a piggyback flat - ......

Yup. Yawn.
Otto K.

[Rossford Yard]

There's a Hoffman Beer car . . . . How can I not?

Now, I am teed off!  There is a Brauer Beer (not widely available in the US, but still) and I DEMAND they do one of my ancestors' local brews......NOT.

I believe the fantasy schemes should just show us that these mfgs probably couldn't survive on the purchases of the experienced modeler with prototype knowledge.  They probably looked at MT and saw how well the colorful fantasy schemes did/do with "casual" model railroaders and followed suit and followed profits.  And, rather than complaining, we should probably thank those kinds of collectors for getting runs up and prices down, even if just a bit. 

I mean, at one time I heard there was like a 300 unit minimum on rolling stock to be worthwhile, although Paul Graf told me that with new printing technology that wasn't as big a deal as it used to be, at least for individual paint schemes.  If still true, based on responses so far here, they would need to get about 298 more preorders from less serious modelers to make these happen.

I hope they sell well and that Atlas plows some of the proceeds back into things I WANT.  LOL