What is this?

[spookshow]

I've never seen one of these sets before. Is it really N scale?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATLAS-SHELL-MODEL-RAILROAD-TRAIN-SET-STEAM-LOCOMOTIVE-COAL-CAR-NEW-IN-BAG-/130752006036?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1e716d4794

Thanks,
-Mark

[C855B]

These have to be HO. The lengths give it away, as do the size comparisons against the mailer inserts that show the original ordering information. I don't recall this specific mailer in my Shell bill however many years ago it was, but it's certainly in character with the junk and semi-junk "premium" offers that thicken the envelope and make me dig for the statement. 

I'm VERY surprised about the Atlas logo on it, however!

[up1950s]

Not all rivits are in the right place , damn . Wonder the date of manufacturing though .

[central.vermont]

I'm thinking the station and track are Atlas and the loco is ????
Just my 2 cents worth.

Jon

[spookshow]

Definitely HO. I searched for "atlas shell" in the HO eBay listings and scads of these things come up.

-Mark

[kalbert]

Is this maybe the junky HO equivalent to our junky N "High Speed" SP stuff from Readers Digest?

[spookshow]

Pretty much, yeah.

-Mark

[VonRyan]

Funny thing is that if you were at Bedford two years ago, then you would have seen one of those readers digest things (the Rio Grande covered hopper) complete with Micro Trains trucks, with truck mounted couplers, running on the New Jersey Southern layout (upstairs). I do have to fess up, however, that it does belong to me. Not a bad runner either, its probably the only good piece out of the bunch.

-Cody F.

[Bob Bufkin]

I always get a laugh when they mention "coal car" instead of tender. 

[btsnyder27]

I remember that!  Wow, takes me back to my younger years...(what, 12 years ago?  That's half a lifetime...anyway....)

My grandma used to work at a Shell station way back when outside of Linglestown, PA (Gable's Truck Stop, now closed, for those of you familiar with the I-81 corridor around Harrisburg).  She had bought the entire set for me for Christmas one year....it had the locomotive, tender, and a few other cars...it wasn't powered at all, and I don't even know if Atlas actually made the rolling stock or not.  It did come with a loop of Atlas True-Track and an Atlas station (not even in a box, just a bunch of parts and instructions thrown together in a bag).   And yes, it was 100% HO.