My $25 Atlas


chessie_system3

chessie_system3

Well-Known Member
OK so I purchased an older Atlas locomotive this past Friday from good ol eBay for $25. The previous owner has done some work to it as I am also planning on working on it myself to make it more appealing to the eye.
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As I hope you can see she needs a little work on the paint job however from a few feet away she looks fairly nice so I'm not too hard pressed to correct that at the moment. So first things first. As I opened my package I decided I needed to see how she does on my layout. How does she sound and does she have working lights. She does function in both directions with decent slow speed controls which is critical as this unit will be in a switching role with maybe some mainline time. However she is a coffee grinder. Which being an older locomotive I expected as much. She doesn't have working lighting which isn't that big of a deal as I have a means to correct this.
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Moving on to the front. She will need added number boards going forward and the nose section repaired as it has the cast in headlamp. The C&O logo will have to be removed and placed higher on the nose. The windshield has what I'm assuming is glue residue on it. I'll have to correct that as well.
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Now moving on to the top. Only one part I'm concerned about is correcting the glue residue from the exhaust stack work the previous owner did. Easy fix for me that won't take much effort. At least in my case anyways.
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The rear will need number boards and a C&O logo added. Overall to me this wasn't a bad purchase as the standard old Atlas locomotives go for $40+ on eBay alone. So $25 to start my project. I have been reluctant to find anything on detailing one of these so I'll be on my own with my own knowledge to get this unit into a layout worthy locomotive. I'll post updates as I am able to work on it. I model off of the C&O railroad so this unit is on the top of my to do list.

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There's nothing at all wrong with the older Atlas locomotives. My fleet of Atlas Alcos were probably the first locomotives that they released with the Kato drive sometime in the late 80'd. Fantastic running locomotives and even after many years of use they still run like new. I got a pair of Atlas F units from Garry a while back decorated for the older NP pine tree paint scheme and they also are fine running locomotives.

A little bit of weathering will probably will help the shell and some lubrication will probably quiet it down. When I'm working on the layout I will usually let a train run and the Atlas units are so quiet that there are times I have to look around the layout to find the train. Looks like a nice purchase.
 
montanan said:
There's nothing at all wrong with the older Atlas locomotives. My fleet of Atlas Alcos were probably the first locomotives that they released with the Kato drive sometime in the late 80'd. Fantastic running locomotives and even after many years of use they still run like new. I got a pair of Atlas F units from Garry a while back decorated for the older NP pine tree paint scheme and they also are fine running locomotives.

A little bit of weathering will probably will help the shell and some lubrication will probably quiet it down. When I'm working on the layout I will usually let a train run and the Atlas units are so quiet that there are times I have to look around the layout to find the train. Looks like a nice purchase.
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I feel the same way. Like I said $25 for an Atlas locomotive that is complete and runs is hard to come by.

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So I decided now was as good a time as any to remove the shell and see what's going on under the hood.
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The gearing was bone dry. So I added some lubrication and that has quietened it down quite a bit.
Under the shell is a little alarming to say the least.
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If you take a closer look you see blobs of glue holding everything in place. A minor setback as I plan on removing the windows anyways as there are present gaps and I'll throw in some thinner clear plastic pieces to form the windows in the cab. Now for anyone who knows the older Atlas locomotives don't come with molded in cab steps. They are slides instead.
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This unit is going under the knife. I actually have a parts list for doing up a C&O GP40 that will have to tap into for some parts. Running ability is fixed so moving on to another step.

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Well the windows have been removed with the help of a flathead screwdriver and a gentle touch.
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I will leave the number boards in place as well as my headlamps. I will be installing miniatronics bulbs I have on hand for lighting.

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chessie_system3 said:
I feel the same way. Like I said $25 for an Atlas locomotive that is complete and runs is hard to come by.
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Nice catch, but I always add the shipping cost into the purchase price as that total equals what it cost you to get the item.
Is there a way for you to tell if that is one of the Kato builds that Chet is referring too?
I look forward to seeing how the re-build progresses.
 
Sirfoldalot said:
Nice catch, but I always add the shipping cost into the purchase price as that total equals what it cost you to get the item.
Is there a way for you to tell if that is one of the Kato builds that Chet is referring too?
I look forward to seeing how the re-build progresses.
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If I tallied shipping it comes out to $38. Still less than what's being offered. But you are right. I should include shipping as well. And this unit is a Roco made in Austria unit. I have I would assume a Redbox Atlas U23B with a Kato drive? I'm not sure what the Redbox units have in them.

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Yes, Still a good price. Yousta be real bargains before the shipping costs got outta control.
It really frosts me to pay what they charge now, and they don't even have the old "parcel post".
 
Sirfoldalot said:
Yes, Still a good price. Yousta be real bargains before the shipping costs got outta control.
It really frosts me to pay what they charge now, and they don't even have the old "parcel post".
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Oh yes. When I first started eBay I was scoring locomotives for little of nothing. Bluebox SD40s for an easy $20 with a few bucks shipping. Can't even score an Athearn blue box for cheap anymore unless it's missing its detail items.

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Ah yes the very reason why I keep busted shells. I found some decent looking fans in my junk box. Along with a parts donor.
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I figure a GP38 is really close to a GP39. Shoot this model is actually following an actual GP39 prototype.
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I'm sure the previous owner replaced the rear fans. At least judging by the color difference. Putting the fans in is going to be a chore I just know it. It's just good to have the appropriate steps and nose already on hand. It'll make this so much cheaper.

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Like Chet, I too run a fleet of old Atlas/Roco locos still with original motors. They have been highly detailed and look as good in my opinion as the new ones. I am using a Railpro system which makes these locos run even better. A few months ago I purchased a GP40 Atlas loco off of ebay for $26.00 plus shipping. I doubt if this loco has 10 hours on it, it is in perfect condition, I am very pleased with this locomotive. As for new locos, I made the mistake of buying an Athearn Genesis SD70, This thing is a P.O.S. and I have never gotten thing to track properly, certainly not worth the money I paid for it. No more new locos for me.

Mel
 
hirailer said:
As for new locos, I made the mistake of buying an Athearn Genesis SD70, This thing is a P.O.S. and I have never gotten thing to track properly, certainly not worth the money I paid for it. No more new locos for me.
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Well unfortunately you couldn't have chosen a worse loco for first your "new" loco. The warped trucks and other issues with the SD70s ruined the Genesis brand name for almost a decade. Add to that the junk MRC electronics that Athearn started putting in and it was a perfect storm of a bad product. I boycotted them for these reasons for about that same 10 years. Didn't stop me from buying new things in other brands - Atlas, Stewart with the Buehler drive, Intermountain, and piles of Proto-2000s. When Athearn fixed the electronics issue, and adjusted their plastic compound -hence and no more warped trucks- I've been happy with new Genesis products I've purchased.
 
I'm totally against newer locomotives. My only issue is that they are really fragile. Why I have a decent collection of busted up locomotive shells. I don't have any real high end stuff on my roster. I have one P2K SD7 that's a real work horse. I purchase older locomotives mainly for durability purposes. However this locomotive I just got even though it's old is a really smooth runner. Definitely better than an Athearn Blue Box.

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I purchased this N-SCALE ATLAS / ROCO GP30 from my local hobby shop in 1990 for $1.50, it was all in pieces..when I got back homeI put it together it ran, my mother panted and numbered ! One may have to rotate the images.

BCK RR

1> GP30 .jpg 2>GP30-2nd.JPG 3>GP30 3rdJPG.jpg
 
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