Atlas Model Railroad Co. Product Review

SECOND RUN OF ATLAS C30-7 OFFERS NEWPAINT SCHEMES WITH NEW AND IMPROVED TOOLING

BY: JOHN WELTHER The following product review was taken from the June issue of Model Railroad News Magazine. Reprinted with permission of LampLight Publishing Company, Merlin, Oregon. Copyright 1997.

Atlas has released a second run of their phenomenal C30-7 in HO. Not only does this run offer new paint schemes but it also incorporates new tooling for improved details. These new improvements include the correct headlight housing on the cab, correct positioning of the engineer and brakeman's front windows, access hatch with bolt detail on top of the nose, correct battery box louver on the front right side, correct step configuration on the left rear raised walkway, hand slots for cut bar access on pilots, roof seam added just ahead of air intake screens, correct size x-panels at the rear of longhood, and correctly sized holes on the Adirondack style truck sideframes. Regarding the sideframes, Atlas continues to mislabel them. This second run of C30-7's also has some models with GSC sideframes. Possibly because of this mislabeling, one problem has crept up with this latest batch of Dash 7's. With the exception of the U.P. and NS models, they all have the wrong style sideframes. I spoke with Atlas about this gaff and they were aware of the problem. Evidently the mislabeling of trucks created some confusion in China where the models are produced. An Atlas spokesman advised me they are willing to rectify the problem, for anyone who chooses to do so, by contacting Atlas directly. All in all, I think commendations should go to Atlas for making an already great model even better.

The sample I received came decorated for Family Lines. The Family Lines' C30-7's were sub-lettered for SCL or L&N, the two major roads that formed Family Lines. As with their previous run of C30-7's, Atlas offers three road numbers for each paint scheme. In the case of Atlas, Dash 7's painted for Family Lines they offer one model numbered and sub-lettered SCL and two L&N's. Right on Atlas! The paint and lettering on my Family Lines sample is superb!

Many of the model railroad manufacturers today are doing a fine job of decorating their models, and Atlas is no exception, causing fanatics like myself to feel it's redundant to strip and repaint them. Even the black and white safety strips on the pilots of my sample are sharp edged with no fuzzing. This can be difficult for even the best of custom painters. This second run of Dash 7's have the same mechanism as their first release resulting in the same running statistics as before. A five pole, skewed armature, dual fly wheel, motor with all wheel pick-up, the model weighs a hefty 20 oz. and negotiates a minimum radius of 22 inches. They also come equipped to accept a DCC decoder.

In fact I feel these are the best running six axle, HO plastic diesels in the market, today. They even out perform my Kato diesels, even if slightly, and for less money!

The cab has the correct (2 or 4) number of windows for the corresponding road name. The BN whiteface version even has a four window cab with the outer windows painted over, simulating cabs modified by the railroad.

This release of Atlas' C30-7 is available in the following road names: BN "Whiteface", Family Lines, Norfolk Southern, Santa Fe "Kodachrome", and Union Pacific. They come with details, to be added by the modeler, such as wire grabs, coupler cut bars, brake cylinder piping for GSC trucks, and flexible plastic handrails. If you are considering adding these find models to your HO roster, don't wait as they are bound to sell out fast!