Trackside  “Tid-Bits”  Product Review

Buy Atlas Master Series Rolling Stock

Atlas Model Railroad Company has been around for a long time.  Aside from being known for their exceptional lines of track, accessories, and quality locomotives, Atlas has assembled a fleet of top-notch freight cars in HO-Scale. While it seems that the emphasis has been on tank cars such as the 17,600 Gallon Corn Syrup Car, the 17,360 Gallon Tank Car or the 11,000 Gallon Chemical Tank Cars,  Atlas has been able to squeeze out a very nice quality rendition of the Thrall 2743 Gondola.

This is a “Freight Car” - Gutsy, Hard working and very low profile.  It measures a scale 52 feet 6 inches with a gross load weight of over 280,000 pounds. The “2743” designation refers to its gross cubic foot capacity for hauling such commodities as heavy bulk materials, scrap metals, steel coils or even something along the lines of just plain steel rods, or even discarded tires.  Several of these cars lined up together in a train with loads couldn’t help but make for an impressive lash up heading for any scrap yard or steel mill.  This is a car that begs to be weathered and “environmentally enhanced” by a seasoned modeler. 

The Thrall company produced close to 7,000 copies of this heavy duty car during the 1990’s that went to a number of major class 1 railroads and assorted manufacturing companies. Because of this they should prove to be just as popular with modern day modelers. 

The Atlas car weighs in at approximately 7 ounces.  Metal brake rods and grab irons are among the fine details that are added to the car to enhance its appearance. Minute details such as air hoses and grab ladders are faithfully represented here.  The tooling of the car body is the same that has been seen on all of the Atlas freight cars in the last several years.  In short, the overall appearance of the car is very well executed.

The initial offering of road names include CP Rail, Environmental Rail Solutions, David J. Joseph Company, (Commonly seen on CSX , over the Boston and Albany Line ), Gondola Connection, Joseph Transportation and Norfolk Southern.

The Atlas freight car trucks used on this unit stand out and create a very impressive look to this car.  An Accumate or Kadee coupler would be compatible for operation with this car using the included optional coupler pocket.  Modelers should take note that the optional coupler pocket is designed for use with a Kadee #78 coupler and not the traditional #5 style. Many railroads have this car and continue to operate them into the middle of this decade.  This should create the need for Atlas to come out with a few more batches of this car over the next few seasons, in different roadnames. 

Oh… Did we neglect to mention the stunning braking and air lines that run along the underside of the car.  Another quality Atlas job, done well again!

The MSRP of these cars is $29.95.  These cars are part of the Atlas Master Line Rolling Stock Series.  You may not need to pay full price for these cars, but order a few as soon as you can, because the initial run won't stick around too long, regardless of the price.

Buy Atlas Master Series Rolling Stock