Atlas Model Railroad Co. Product Review

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This review was taken from the October, 2000 issue of Model Railroader Magazine and is reproduced with permission of Kalmbach Publishing Company, Waukesha, WI.

N Scale EMD SD35

Review by Jim Kelly, Managing Editor

A plastic, N scale SD35 has never been available, so Atlas’ new offering is most welcome, particularly as it’s an accurate and highly detailed model that runs great. Also it comes in a lot of interesting road names we don’t get to see as often as we’d like.

The Electro-Motive Division of General Motors introduced the SD35 in June 1961, les than a year after its four-axle cousin, the GP35, first appeared. These two engines, the “35-line,” were the first EMD engines to feature the more angular lines that became characteristic of the road engines to follow. This is most apparent in looking at the flat cab roofs as compared to the rounded ones going all the way back to the GP7. The most obvious spotting feature on the SD-35 line is the combination of radiator fans: Two large (48”) ones with a small (36”) one between.

With its 2,500 hp the 35-line quickly fell behind in the horsepower race going on between EMD and GE at the time. Moving on to the eagerly awaited and more powerful (3,000 hp) SD40, EMD made the last SD35 in January 1966—a total of 360 locomotives. Most of the SD35s went to railroads in the East and Southeast.

According to a roster in the November 1968 Extra 2200 South, the original buyers included the Atlantic Coast Line (24), Baltimore & Ohio (24), Central of New Jersey (12), Chesapeake & Ohio (14), Louisville & Nashville (22), Norfolk & Western (80), Pennsylvania RR (40), Southern Ry. (110), Southern Pacific (29), and Western Maryland (5).

The SD35s were particularly successful in Eastern coalfields where the six axles helped distribute their 360, 000-plus pounds and 2,500 hp more evenly on curving and often light rail than was possible with four-axle GPs. All the SD35s came with dynamic brakes. Most of these engines have completed their long and honorable careers, but some (Notably on Montana Rail Link) still survive.

True to their traditions, the Norfolk & western as well as the Southern Ry. Brought their SD25s with high short hoods topped by bells. Some roads had units with headlights on the low hoods. Atlas has included these variations as appropriate.

Our sample locomotives were crisply molded and check out closely against drawings in the December 1964 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. The paint was applied a little more heavily than we’d like but was still entirely acceptable. The lettering is correct and legible, including that on the number boards.

The mechanism follows the basic and ingenious Kato-developed vertical split frame design that we’ve been seeing on Kato and Atlas road switchers for some dozen years now. The two frame halves (zinc) are separated slightly (thus insulated) by plastics bushings and connected by metal screws into plastic nuts. The motor and drive line parts are suspended between the frame halves and held in position by them.

The open-frame motor has a five-pole skewed armature and flywheels. Universal joints at the end of each drive shaft engage a worm gear which drives a gear at the tope of each truck assembly. Gears in the truck assembly convey the power to all wheels.

All the wheels pick up electricity by means of metal plates that hold the axle ends. A tab atop each of these plates rubs against contact strips on each body half, electrifying them. Tabs from the motor bush caps contact the frame sides to complete the circuit.

The wheels on our samples were chemically blackened and checked out against the National Model Railroad Association’s gauge.

This is Atlas’ first N scale locomotive to come with AccuMate magnetic knuckle couplers that are compatible with (and look very much like) Micro-Trains MagneMatics. The couplers are body-mounted. Those wanting to use Rapido-type couplers will find replacements and directions on the exploded view that comes with the engine. Modelers wanting to install Micro-Trains will find the no. 1015/16 an easy swap-out.

The model runs smoothly and quietly. It’s capable of creeping but also exhibits the high top speeds we usually see in N scale. (Tops on the prototype, depending on the choice of three gear ratios available, would have been 83 mph.( Still, there’s plenty of range for control with a typical power pack. Its .8-ounce drawbar pull should handle about 15 cars on straight, level track.

Those wanting to convert to Digital Command Control can save trouble by purchasing an engine with a Digitrax DA146A decoder factory installed. Should you decide to retrofit a decoder it’s available from Atlas or Digitrax. Installation is a simple matter of taking the frame halves apart and substituting the decoder for the PC board.

Atlas has maintained its modern reputation for quality with this fine locomotive.