Just wondering if there is any difference between the MT 89 footer TOFC cars and the new Atlas announcement. (talking prototypical lane not updated quality) Thanks
I don't think there is much, don't believe the first run has hit the store shelves yet. However I believe the Atlas cars will be coming with body mounted couplers and metal wheels.
Tony, FWIW, I picked up a Trainworx 89' UP brown flat, (from BLW) outstanding detail! Every bit as nice as their trailers IMO. It has body mounted couplers and metal wheels. I would like to get a Atlas car as well as a BLMA car for comparison. 2slim
2slim, the Trainworx flat is an 85ft car, not an 89ft. Tony, the Atlas cars haven't shipped to dealers yet, shipped from China May 18, 2013.
They are both models of the ACF flat car, although the Atlas model will be available in the Twin-45 and Triple 28 variations in hitch placement.
The container has just arrived, so after we get it checked in and do our QC checks, we can start shipping to the distributors.
ACF made a bunch of different flat cars. (For example, the BLMA F89J is an ACF car, but looks very different.) I think the question is whether the Atlas and MT cars are the same exact prototype or not.
yes or no, I still have to like the MTL flats for that nifty-swifty version of a coupler that lets the 89 footer go around 10" radius curves w/o a hitch. Something not all my full-size passenger cars can do, even with truck-mounted couplers. In fact those flats track better around the curves (and backing up through crossovers) than some of my other freight equipment.
I have both the BLMA and Trainworx...the brake line rigging and stirrups are made from a yellow plastic that does not match the paint on the car. A little weathering will fix that. I want to get some of the atlas ones cause of the triple config. I would like to see a triple 57 config made by some one. Adios Wyatt
Anybody but me do any actual run testing on these yet? Just got mine.... looks fantastic. Flanges are rubbing on the bottom of the car floor as it comes out of the box even through 15" curves. Car has absolutely no vertical tolerance over the wheel treads to the metal car floor; grinds on any frog drop, minor vertical curve, superelevation, etc. Beautiful car, but I see modifications coming on mine to clear even low flanges. Both the BLMA and Trainworx flats passed that test, although the BLMA wheels failed (old news, since fixed) and the Trainworx scraped at 11" radius on the frame. The Atlas wheels certainly track better but I'm rather stunned on the flanges scraping on the floor. I coupled it up to an MT 89' flat for comparison and was surprised that it really doesn't have a visibly lower floor; not sure if that's because MT is good or Atlas isn't that much better, I'll have to check with some tools here. The coupler on mine is a little high and I'm also not sure how well that short-shank, very limited-swing coupler is going to work out, a little skeptical there. Car is heavy enough that it shouldn't stringline... To Atlas' credit they do clearly state that minimum radius is 13" so there's no taking cheap shots there. I guess I'm mostly interested in if I'm the only one here that put it on the track and immediately heard grinding. They 'could' have put some washers in there, I'll find something that works, just surprised.
I switched the wheels out on mine to I believe BLMA 33" wheels and now it runs flawlessly (mine did the grinding too). ((Correction....I just checked and they were FVM narrow-tread wheels I put on it))
I want to say I read somewhere that the trucks may have been installed "backwards," like MT, they have the offset bolster hole. I haven't gotten mine yet, hopefully within the next few days.
All of my 4 had rolling issues when received. In fact, three of them wouldn't move at all. Transpired that when the trucks are removed I could see, under a glass, that there were varying amounts of flash around the 4 circular ejector pin marks which was stopping the wheels from rotating. I ground all this away and at the same time put a shallow depression into the underside where the flanges rotated. They now roll reasonably well. It's worth remembering that when handling these that the decking side "walls" are very fragile and will easily become detached if you look at them wrong. Same applies to the top plate of the raised hitches. When I received mine I contacted Atlas but their response was that the one (s) they had tested were alright so there's no problem. Please go away. And this despite my dealer telling them that some of his remaining stock had the same issue and reports on another Forum complaining of same. Surprisingly complacent for Atlas, I thought. Anyway, now fixed and a very welcome addition. Paul
I purchased 4 cars, 1 had broken parts in the bag, another was missing a ramp. Called Atlas, they send a replacement bag of parts right out, great service. Replaced all the wheels sets, and couplers, mine would not go threw a Peco medium turnout. Very nice looking and running cars now!
Paul, bingo... I pulled the trucks off of mine and I have the same flash issues under the wheels at the 'ejector marks', now with visible paint rubbed off from the flanges. One spot is really bad but overall yours is probably worse than mine. Wow, this appears to be an actual manufacturing flaw. I'm an Atlas fan, so this is certainly unexpected. Reminds me of the old Con-Cor 'squeaky axles' grinding on the Rapido coupler springs that plagued them for years in the 70's. RRJim: What did you replace the couplers with?
Randgust, Ha! I knew I wasn't alone. Just seen your post on t'other Forum. If you don't want to grind off the flash, it's easily removeable with a sharp scalpel blade as it's very soft metal. Until that flash had been removed, no amount of wheel swapping worked for me. I also pared back the underside ribs as they are very close to the flanges. Paul
The only med. length couplers I could find was from Bachmann, would like something more to scale, but these work great.
The F89F is a Channel Side car and wasn't built by ACF. AFAIK, both the MTL and Atlas cars are ACF Ash10a's but not the exact same version as one another. Jason
