Car only: $24.95 ($19.95 for undecorated). Containers: $19.95 (four-pack).
Manufacturer
Atlas Model Railroad Co.
378 Florence Ave.
Hillside, NJ 07205
www.atlasrr.com
Era: late 1970s to present
Road names (multiple road numbers): USA Waste, Allied Waste, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CIT Group, East Carbon – DSEX, ECDC, Florida East Coast, General American, Joseph Transportation. Undecorated version is available.
Comments: A unique 85-foot skeleton flatcar and trash containers are now available in N scale from Atlas. The containers are available separately or as part of a combo pack that features one flatcar and 4 containers.
Railroads use specialized equipment to haul solid waste. The N scale model follows the same prototype as the HO scale version reviewed in the May 2012 Model Railroader.
The model features separate wire grab irons and some of the prototype’s brake equipment and piping.
The die-cast metal, open-deck flatcar weighs 1 ounce, which is 0.5 ounce too light according to National Model Railroad Association RP-20.1. However, the four containers add another 0.5 ounce of weight.
The car’s blackened metal wheels are in gauge. The molded detail on the plastic 100-ton trucks includes the spring and bearing caps.
The car has plastic, body-mounted knuckle couplers mounted at the correct height per NMRA S-2.
The plastic 20-foot USWX trash containers have corrugation patterns and lettering that match photos in the book Railborne Trash and Waste Containers of New Jersey by David Casdorph. However, the models are missing the Waste Management logo found on the prototypes.
A train of these loaded cars would make an interesting addition to a modern-era N scale layout.
