Manufacturer
Atlas Model RR. Co.
378 Florence Ave.
Hillside, NJ 07205
atlasrr.com
Era: 1980s to present
Road names: (3 car numbers each): Wisconsin Central (black), Brandy- wine Valley RR (black), Chicago & North Western (green), Genessee & Wyoming RR (brown), Indiana Harbor Belt (black), New Jersey Transit (brown), Missouri-Kansas-Texas (black), United States Railway Leasing Co. (black), and undecorated.
Comments: A new batch of road names has been released on the popular Atlas model of the Evans 52-foot gondola. This Trainman series car has a molded plastic body with all of the details cast in place except for the brake wheel and the major air brake components on the underframe. The model’s dimensions match those of the prototype found in the 1994 Official Railway Equipment Register.
The car comes with Accumate knuckle couplers mounted at the correct height. The free-rolling 100-ton roller-bearing trucks have metal RP-25 contour wheels.
A concealed metal weight gives the gondola a total weight of 3½ ounces, which is ½ ounce under the National Model Railroad Association’s recommendation. The wheelsets match the NMRA Standards gauge.
As a Trainman series car, this model accurately captures the major details, but it doesn’t include all the individually applied details typical of the more expensive Atlas Master Line cars.
Our sample gondola came smoothly painted with excellent printed lettering that matches prototype photos. The small data panels are clear and easily read under magnification.
The model represents a common mill gondola that’s widely used in the steel industry. A mill gondola has a smooth interior to avoid damage to the lading if the load shifts during transit. Typical loads include machinery, pipe, finished steel shapes, castings, ingots, ingot molds, lumber, poles, large vehicle tires, aggregates, gravel, crushed rock, and scrap materials.
This Atlas gondola is an accurately proportioned model of its prototype. The utilitarian car would be suitable for many modern-era layouts.
