This review was taken from the December 2001 issue of Model Railroading Magazine and is reproduced with permission of Highlands Station, Inc., Aurora, CO.

ATLAS ACF PRESSUEAIDE®

Review by David G. Casdorph

One of the more “high-tech” looking covered hopper cars that has been released in HO (and N) scale is Atlas’s new ACF PressureAide® model. This is a truly modern car, being introduced in 1982 in the market niche previously occupied by GATX’s Airslide® and North American’s line of pressure differentials. Most PressureAides are used for transporting flour, cornstarch, kaolin clay or talc. The “high-tech” look comes from all of the piping underneath the body. The pipes are used for discharge of the product from the hoppers. During unloading, the body is actually pressurized up to 15 psi. This low air pressure helps push the normally fluffy product along through the discharge pipes. Capacity is 5,000 cubic feet.

Atlas’s new model represents the body style and prototype production from 1983-1991. These have eight full-height seams on the curved sides of the body. The next body style had narrower side sheets resulting in eight full-height seams plus two partial-height seams. The Atlas model has the appropriate eight full-height side seams. The earlier prototype cars had 15 roofwalk supports. This version of the prototype car and the Atlas model has ten roofwalk supports. Most PressureAides have eight 20” hatches. The Atlas model, thankfully follows this more common version with eight very nicely detailed hatches. There are also three vents on the “roof” (two on top and one under the roofwalk on the “A” end). It’s this kind of detail that makes this car a standout model  (note, however, that the vents are usually left unpainted – an easy fix for the modeler).

The 1983-1991 body style of this model features a full-length beveled reinforcement strip just below the roofwalk supports. This results in short roofwalk supports on the 1983-1991 cars and taller roofwalk supports on later cars. The model has essentially the same sidesill as on the Atlas 1450-series 4650 Centerflow® model. However, the 1983-1991 version of the prototype actually has a different kind of sidesill that appears to be unique to the PressureAide. The prototype’s sidesill has a deeper cut in the ladder-rung area. The style of sidesill used on the model wasn’t introduced on the prototype until the late ‘90s.

The model includes end brake gear, but lacks any brake pipes on the end. The train-line (brake line) that runs along the side is oversized (about two times at 3.1” scale) and abruptly ends in the middle of nowhere. The model appropriately and nicely has the four reinforcement strips on each end. Underneath the body the model has that neat piping that makes this model so different from other covered hopper cars. The main pipes scale out at 4.5” compared to the 5.7” on the real cars. The secondary pipes on the model scale out at 3.3” compared to the 2.5” on the real cars. Atlas has to be commended for giving us a model that has such intricate piping present. One fairly major concern however, is the complete lack of any rivet detail on the hoppers – something so obvious on the prototypes.

Sadly, the biggest error on the model is that beautiful roofwalk. The model uses a slotted-pattern roofwalk. All of the known prototypes built so far have the diamond-pattern roofwalks. The roofwalk itself is awesome for a non-brass model. It is not only the wrong style but a quite different style (the slotted style is quite “open” in appearance versus the more “closed” looking diamond style). Further, all of the roofwalks and roofwalk supports I’ve seen of this era of PressureAide have been painted the same as the body color (the model is unpainted).

The model has the correct end side sheet style with the elongated tab and two rivets supporting the tops of the inner ladder frame. Side steps on the model are the rectangular version with an upside down mounted inner rung. On most of the prototypes the inner rung uses the one-up/one-down mounting tab style. Lettering on the models appears to be generally accurate and very sharp. On the model a magnifying glass can be used to clearly read the smaller lettering. And lastly, the bolsters seem to be too tall (as if they used the N-scale model as a pattern).

Overall, Atlas’s new PressureAide model is exceptional. It incorporates details and features that were unheard of in the hobby only a few years ago.

Acknowledgements

I thank Tim Frederick for his assistance in this review – especially the detailed measurements of the model’s rake and discharge pipes.

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