I've seen some rolling stock brought out by Atlas in the Trainman line- it looks OK, but I haven't bought any yet. One of the items I'm interested in is the GP38-2. I've seen the decorated models as well as a pre-production pic of the undec model on the Atlas website, and the price makes it competitive with Athearn's R-T-R GP38-2. Has this engine been seen in stores yet? Has anyone purchased one? How does it run? Reason I ask all these questions is that I'm tired of swapping out chassis on GP38-2 shells in order to get proper-size fuel tanks for my Frisco GP38-2s, and I plan on getting several more of this model in 2006. Any first-hand info would be welcome- I'm only interested in the undec version with dynamics, not the decorated versions, altho I'm sure they all run about the same. TIA
I have not sen any in the stores yet. Nor have I seen anything on the net either. I am wanting to get a few myself, well at least 1 if it meets my standards. Hope that it is similar to the regualar line of Atlas, if it is, then it is a sure bet buy.
In Model Railroader magazine, the Atlas Trainman line is already in the ads for the Trainland stores here in New York... Later on this week I'll stop by there and see if they got it in stock, and ask for a demo. From looking at the photos at Atlas' website, the Trainman GP38-2 does look decent... Good level of molded details, and the Atlas mechanism should be a good runner considering its lineage. I would still swap out the cab for a Cannon Thinwall though (the stock cab still doesn't have flush-mount glass) and I would bend my own handrails out of .015 wire-- The plastic rails look way too thick.
