Atlas U23Bs and B23-7s are here

[wmcbride]

My preorder arrived at Lombard today and are paid for and heading into a shipping box.

Silver B23-7s were $97.99 and the silver U23Bs were $89.99.

I hope Atlas did not do any "creative" redesign on these ...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Geez. No rest for the weary wallet.

Gold in too?

[wmcbride]

I didn't order any Gold since I preordered five ... so long ago. My wallet cannot even afford the silver.

The Atlas production schedule says "some" of the Gold might be here (or very soon).

[GM50 4164]

Has anyone opened these up to see if there are any changes to the chassis like some other new releases? What decoder are these taking, e24 or Next18's?

[Southern1970]

Hey Benjamin,
I believe they are E24
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=58545.0

[GM50 4164]

Hey Benjamin,
I believe they are E24
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=58545.0

Thanks. I was leaning towards the e24 boards but wasn't sure since the SD45's were Next18's. I'm assuming they went that way since Soundtraxx doesn't offer a e24 yet if ever.

[spookshow]

I just put my new U23B on the rails and the first thing I noticed is that it's quite loud (like coffee grinder / electric razor loud). Anybody else experience this?

Thanks,
-Mark

[lock4244]

I just put my new U23B on the rails and the first thing I noticed is that it's quite loud (like coffee grinder / electric razor loud). Anybody else experience this?

Thanks,
-Mark

These little GE's don't mesh with my modeling needs, but I have noted a few of my GP40-2W's are rather loud... the coffee grinder description is apt. They sound like they should run poorly, but they actually run quite well. The SD50/60 and C630 have scared (scarred?) me from ever buying an Atlas six axle again, and the performance of many of their four axles was sending me in that direction as well, but the GP40-2W has reversed that. As you know, it uses a different mech/chassis from their previous four axle offerings, and this seems to have been a change for the better.

Does your U23B run better than it sounds?

[wmcbride]

I just put my new U23B on the rails and the first thing I noticed is that it's quite loud (like coffee grinder / electric razor loud). Anybody else experience this?

Thanks,
-Mark

My Silver units run very quietly.

[spookshow]

Does your U23B run better than it sounds?

It runs fine, it's just a lot noisier than I'm used to from Atlas.

-Mark

[spookshow]

If there's someone out there who has both a new and old U23B, can you check to see if the shells are interchangeable? I don't have an old one myself and Atlas support doesn't know 

-Mark

[Ike the BN Freak]

And no U23B shells in this order...guess I'll keep searching ebay and such, will need it to kitbash a U30B when the U36Bs are released

[GM50 4164]

If there's someone out there who has both a new and old U23B, can you check to see if the shells are interchangeable? I don't have an old one myself and Atlas support doesn't know 

-Mark

The shells are interchangeable to a degree. The latest frames a quite a bit thinner than the older frames. They slide into the shells quite easily though the low nose light shield needs to be removed. The older frames in the new shell, the rear most left frame has a slightly raised part of the frame that hits the new shell light shield. The thinner frame falls out of the older shell really easy so be careful.

[spookshow]

Thanks Benjamin, much appreciated 

-Mark

[spookshow]

I lubed up the bearing blocks and that quieted things down significantly. Odd that I would have to do that because the trucks are absolutely slathered in grease.

-Mark