Atlas Model Railroad Co. Product Review

ATLAS’ NEW N SCALE MOGUL STEAMS IN

MODEL RAILROAD NEWS – August 2004

Review by David Otte

Atlas Model Railroad Co.
378 Florence Ave.
Hillside, NJ 07205
908-687-0880
Fax: 908-687-8857
www.atlasrr.com

These are certainly exciting times for model railroaders! While 1/87 may continue to be the most popular scale for model railroading, 1/160 is not far behind. True, N scalers have not yet seen motive power with factory equipped sound as mass produced for HO scale enthusiasts, but they have enjoyed an unprecedented number of new locomotive models. Within these recent releases, steam locomotives have to be at the top of my list as examples of just how far N scale manufacturers’ production technologies have advanced in the areas of miniature drive mechanisms, detail levels, and decoration. In particular, I offer Atlas Model Railroad Company’s latest contribution to the N scale cause, a 2-6-0 Mogul steam locomotive, as evidence of this progressive effort.

The Mogul
I cannot recall of late when a post Civil War-era, nineteenth century steam locomotive was produced in any scale, let alone in this diminutive size. The first locomotive with a 2-6-0-wheel arrangement was the Pawnee built by Millholand for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad in 1852. A small number of additional copies of this locomotive were later constructed by builders Smith & Perkins, Norris, and Baldwin, but these early 2-6-0s were erected with rigid lead wheels and were only successful at slow drag service offering no real advantages over the 0-6-0 design.

It wasn’t until Levi Bissell’s patented swiveling two-wheel lead truck design was introduced in 1858 that the 2-6-0 took off as a popular locomotive design. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad is credited as having rostered the first true 2-6-0s built in 1860 by Baldwin. The Central Railroad of New Jersey followed suit with a 2-6-0 of their own in 1861 and the Erie had a sizeable fleet of 2-6-0s by the mid-1860s. The 2-6-0 design was further enhanced by the effort of William Hudson of the Rogers Works, who perfected the three-point suspension, which allowed the lead trucks and drive axles to work in harmony when passing over less than ideal track conditions. This enlightened design aspect made the 2-6-0 a true competitor for the more widely accepted
4-4-0 wheel arrangement.

The true age of the 2-6-0 came with a Rogers-built locomotive featuring the new Hudson equalizer suspension for the New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Company in 1865. Popularity of the design grew and soon spread to railroads throughout the country. Baldwin factory records indicate that production of this locomotive type went from a meager three engines a year in 1868 to twenty-six by 1875. The 2-6-0 proved itself to be very reliable in freight service as it tracked well and offered a 50 percent increase in tractive power over the
4-4-0. Thousands of Moguls would ultimately be built, but the design would ultimately be superceded by the more popular 2-8-0 first introduced in 1866. However, 2-6-0s would continue to be constructed new up until the late 1920s.

It is curious to note that the first endearing reference to the 2-6-0 as a “Mogul” was found in an advertisement by Baldwin in the Poor’s Manual of Railroads of 1871-1872. Even before this use of the term though, the Central Railroad of New Jersey had named its 1866 Taunton built 2-6-0 Mogul perhaps offering the entire class its not familiar moniker.

The Atlas 2-6-0
For a model railroad manufacturer who has been producing mostly diesel locomotives in N scale for the last decade, Atlas’ announcement that they were going to be offering a pre-1900 design Mogul was a delightful surprise. Waiting with a great anticipation for our review sample to arrive, I must tell you that my first impression of this model upon removing it from it clear plastic case was that it was tiny, but darn cute.

Among our consortium of self-appointed N scale experts here at the magazine, we quickly concurred that we had seen this model before. It appears that the tooling for Atlas’ Mogul has its origins as a Japanese model produced by Micro-Ace. This 2-6-0 is a replica of one of three 42-inch gauge locomotives built by H.K. Porter here in the US starting in 1880 for Hokkaido Coalmine and Railway. Basically, it is a typical cataloged Porter industrial locomotive. Being a model of a narrow gauge prototype that operates on N gauge track, the Micro-Ace 2-6-0, as such, scales out to be about 1/133; somewhere between Japanese N scale (1/152) and TT scale (1/120).

That said, the Atlas 2-6-0, taken as a 1/160 model, dimensions out quite well as compared with the American class of Moguls built starting the 1870s. During this time period and the following decade, locomotive builders adhered to very similar general measurements on their 2-6-0s. An 1883 Brooks Mogul, for example, had a locomotive length of 28 feet 10 inches, a tender length of 18 feet 6 inches, a height over the stack of 14 feet 4 inches, and a cab width of about 8 feet. Driver diameters averaged about 56 inches as on the Brooks 2-6-0, but heavier Moguls could have over 60 inch drivers and smaller 2-6-0s might measure below 48 inches. While the 3.71 inch long Atlas coupled set is within scale inches of the dimensions of the Brooks’ 2-6-0 listed above, its drivers are about 44 inches in diameter and are the only hint of its true prototype heritage.

Delicately detailed, the Atlas Mogul has an impressive level of detail despite the simplicity of the prototype’s design. The wagon top-type boiler is fitted to a split metal chassis along with a separately applied cab, smoke box, cylinder saddle, and see-through slatted pilot. The bell, sand and steam dome tops, safety valve, whistle, cab window glazing, water delivery pipes, metal main and side rods, wire hand rails along the boiler, head light, and flag stanchions are all add-on parts. Brake cylinder and shoes are also represented. Furthermore, the tender boasts a coal load, metal hand grabs, and three toolboxes.

Beautifully decorated, our black, gold, and maroon painted review sample has an absolutely flawless glossy finish. Its appearance harks back to the early days in railroading when locomotives wore ornate paint jobs and crews took great pride in their engines, keeping them spotless and shiny. The quality of graphics printing is some of the best I have ever seen. Teeny lettering, striping, and fancy scrollwork adorn both the locomotive and tender. And believe it or not, the lettering is all readable under magnification, including the .075-inch diameter Baldwin’s builder plates on the smokebox.

With “V. &T.R.R.” extended down the length of the tender walls, this Mogul represents the Virginia & Truckee’s number 20 named Tahoe. She was one of 17 different 2-6-0s owned by the Nevada based railroad made famous by the discovery of the Comstock Lode. Built in 1875 by Baldwin, Tahoe and her sister number 19 Truckee fall within the general size of Moguls we discussed earlier, but were equipped with smaller 48-inch drivers. The Tahoe saw regular revenue service until 1926 when she was downgraded to switching duties. Sixteen years later, old number 20 was sold to the Clifford C. Bong Construction Company for use in building new railroad facilities in California during World War II. Today, the V&T Mogul resides in Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg, Pennsylvania restored to her original glory.

Overall, the Atlas Mogul resembles the V&T’s number 20, but there are a few major differences other than the drive size. First of all, the V&T engine had a straight boiler with a different dome and bell arrangement, Secondly, the Atlas model displays equally spaced drivers, which appear to be an uncommon trait among Moguls in general, as is the case with the Tahoe. Finally, as delivered, the number 20’s exhaust stack was much larger since it was a wood burning engine rather than a coal burner like the Atlas model. (As always with the hundreds of detail variations that can be found on steam locomotives of this same class, I offer these observations only for reference purposes and I do not hold the manufacturer to responsible for matching every detail of every nineteenth century 2-6-0 built.)

Operation
As pretty and delicate as this little steamer is, the Atlas Mogul sure is a sweet running machine. The N scale 2-6-0 is equipped with a very small motor, which is mounted in the cab of the locomotive. Power is transmitted to the middle drive axle by a worm gear on the motor and idler gears in the chassis. Traction tires are located on the rear set of drivers. All wheels, including those on the tender, are blackened metal with the drivers and rear tender truck wheels acting as electrical pickups. An electrical connection between the locomotive and tender is provided through the drawbar. One aspect of this model that I should point out here is that – unlike the majority of most real tender locomotives – the Atlas tender has rigid tender trucks. However, the fact that they do not swivel does not seem to affect the locomotive’s ability to track through standard N gauge radius curves.

All I can say is that the combination of all these characteristics have created an optimal level of performance for the Atlas 2-6-0. For a locomotive that weighs less than 2 ounces, it is an outstanding hauler. As I was performing the By the Numbers testing I thought something was wrong with my equipment when I found the locomotive pull weight to be .8 ounces. That had to be wrong, I thought, for such a small model and decided it was the time for some practical measures. Setting a consist up on the track, I started out with a train of twelve cars. The Mogul didn’t falter, which I kind of expected. Adding another dozen cars didn’t hinder the 2-6-0 either. OK. So then I added another dozen cars for a total of 36. Still no wheel slippage encountered and this was at a slight .5 percent grade and on 12.375-inch radius curves! Finally, after bringing the car count up to 40, I started to see the Atlas locomotive have a little traction trouble, but it still made it around the layout. Incredible. This has to be the best pulling locomotive I have tested in quite awhile.

The 1/160 Mogul was also very smooth and quite running with a slow speed registered at 1.6 smph. However, the high-end speed was well over the general 50 mph that most 2-6-0s could muster. Featuring an operating headlight, it is rather small keeping in with the scale, but effective and visible under normal lighting conditions Overall, I didn’t have one negative experience with this locomotive on the test track.

Final Thoughts
Congratulations Atlas, on a job well done. The Mogul is one of those locomotives that no matter what era you model in, you’re going to want for your N scale collection just because it is a real work of art. Currently, the 2-6-0 is also being offered decorated for the New York, Lake Erie & Western, New York & New England, and the Rio Grande with two new roadnames, the Pennsy and Santa Fe, and a stock Porter paint scheme are scheduled to be released this fall. Run, don’t walk to your nearest Atlas dealer as I have a feeling these little gems won’t last long.

By-The-Numbers
Atlas, 2-6-0 Mogul
N 1:160
Starting Volts = 1.1
Traction Tires? Yes
Stall Amps = .33
Volts Amps Scale MPH
1.1 .03 1.6
3.0 .07 22.2
6.0 .09 55.4
9.0 .11 88.6
Pull Test (ounces) Slipping
Loco Wt. 1.4 Volts – Amps
Pull Wt. .8 12 .20
Efficiency = 57.1%