York 17 Coming from Atlas (and a bunch of other stuff)

[u18b]

I can't believe that they're still selling this offset cupola caboose. It is the same one that they have been selling for over forty years. Amazingly, it still has the same lack of window detail on one end of the cupola. The rivets are huge. Also, the trucks (still) do not line up with the bolsters on the body. Other than that it's still a mediocre (at best) model. As popular as this type of caboose is, I would have thought that someone would have done a higher fidelity version of it.

Ummmm.  I think that's why it is in the Trainman line, and not the master line.

[randgust]

If you want to do a better job on that caboose (from a modeler standpoint) start with a Trix/Model Power body and frame.  The bolsters are correct, and the basic body is better than the Atlas.  Replace roofwalks and rails/ladders with brass parts and it's not half bad, I'm re-doing another pair.  They are dirt cheap on the auction sites, you'll likely pay under $5.
 
Of course, if you want a real post-1969 ATSF Ce-1 or Ce-2, Intermountain has them.  But not for $5.  And the current run is dead-on for ATSF paint and detail, although fragile with all that add-on detail.

And if you find a current Atlas body paint scheme you just have to have, the bodies do transplant onto other frames including the Trix and even a stretched Kato if you want electrical pickup.  Yeah, its a project, but a good one.   No ill against Atlas, it's a very dated product, but as a Trainman product, they're pretty much telling you that from the start!

[jimmo]

If you want to do a better job on that caboose (from a modeler standpoint) start with a Trix/Model Power body and frame.  The bolsters are correct, and the basic body is better than the Atlas.  Replace roofwalks and rails/ladders with brass parts and it's not half bad, I'm re-doing another pair.  They are dirt cheap on the auction sites, you'll likely pay under $5.
 
Of course, if you want a real post-1969 ATSF Ce-1 or Ce-2, Intermountain has them.  But not for $5.  And the current run is dead-on for ATSF paint and detail, although fragile with all that add-on detail.

And if you find a current Atlas body paint scheme you just have to have, the bodies do transplant onto other frames including the Trix and even a stretched Kato if you want electrical pickup.  Yeah, its a project, but a good one.   No ill against Atlas, it's a very dated product, but as a Trainman product, they're pretty much telling you that from the start!

Yea, I get that. I am just surprised that it is still running. It's probably the oldest, longest running N-scale model in history.

My disappointment was based more on following the link to the Atlas website, seeing the artwork for the roadnames and thinking "wow, looks like they finally updated the tooling" then looking a little further to see the actual photo of the model was the same ol' vintage caboose.

I too have done extensive rework on the Atlas caboose Randgust, but I think your suggestions were pretty good. I wasn't aware of Intermountain's Ce caboose.

For the record, Atlas is still one of my favorite model manufacturers. I have been a customer since way back when that caboose was new.

[bbussey]

To Atlas' credit, the modelers get intricate/accurate painting and graphics on the Trainman line products that is equal to the finishing on the Master line products, rather than generic dumbed-down graphics that has been the norm for lower-end models.