Atlas Model Railroad Co. Product Review

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This review was taken from the November, 2001 issue of Model Railroader Magazine and is reproduced with permission of Kalmbach Publishing Company, Waukesha, WI.

N SCALE 55-TON TWIN HOPPER FROM ATLAS CO.

Atlas is making ready-to-run models of a common 55-ton twin hopper introduced by the Norfolk & Western in 1936. The model features a one-piece plastic carbody, a die-cast metal floor, Accumate magnetic knuckle couplers, and a removable coal load.

A prototype drawing of this car appears in the 1937 Car Builders Cyclopedia (Simmons-Boardman). The Atlas model closely follows the prototype dimensions. Atlas makes cars with either peaked or flat ends to match the specific prototype paint schemes.

The well-detailed styrene body is a single casting which includes the sides, ends, and interior slope sheets. The end ladders are finely detailed with thin cross-sections. A couple of odd interior braces snap into place to support the simulated coal load.

A zinc alloy floor casting snaps into the body and it includes the hopper bottoms and door details. The brake details are plastic parts pressed into holes in the floor.

The models come with appropriate 55-ton solid-bearing trucks, which have rigid frames and wheels, molded in acetal plastic. The needlepoint wheel-sets are free rolling and all of them matched the National Model Railroad Association standards gauge.

The Accumate magnetic couplers are truck mounted and are held in place by small plastic pins pressed into holes in the under-frames.

This model weighs about .5 ounces, so it’s only about half the weight called for by the NMRA’s recommended practice of .5 ounces plus .15 ounces per inch of length. Even so, interior access is easy, so additional weight can be hidden under the coal load.

Our sample cars were evenly painted and the printed lettering is clear and readable, including the small end reporting marks and lettering.

The prototype twin hopper was built in large numbers and the N&W design was widely copied by many Eastern railroads. According to Atlas, all of these models have lettering, which matches specific prototypes.

Because of the car’s widespread use, anyone modeling Eastern railroading between the mid-1930s and early 1960s will want to add these common prototypes to their car roster. - Jim Hediger, senior editor

N Scale 55-ton Twin Hopper

Price: $12.95 each

Description:

Ready-to-run plastic freight cars

Road names:

(three car numbers in each scheme)

Atlantic Coast Line

Baltimore & Ohio

Central RR of New Jersey

Chesapeake & Ohio

Delaware & Hudson (black)

Delaware & Hudson (boxcar red)

Lehigh Valley

Norfolk & Western

Norfolk Southern (early short line)

Reading

Western Maryland (Fast freight)

Western Maryland (Speed lettering)

Undecorated (flat end)

Undecorated (peaked end)