Atlas N scale U23B

Atlas Model Railroad Co. has released a smooth-running and accurate N scale model of General Electric’s U23B, a 2,250-hp four-axle road switcher introduced in 1968. The ready-to-run model has roadname-specific cab, headlight, and truck styles and is available in both traditional DC and Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder-equipped versions.

Last of the “U-boats.” Powered by a 12-cylinder engine, the U23B was a lighter, less-powerful version of GE’s 16-cylinder 3,000 hp U30. The U23B was ideally suited for branchline or light mainline service, and 481 were built between 1968 and 1977, making it the second-best-selling (as well as the last) locomotive in its builder’s long-running Universal series.

Depending on the customer’s preferences, U23Bs were made with low or high short hoods, with two or four side windows on the cab, and with one of three different truck designs. Until January 1973, most U23Bs were delivered with Association of American Railroads type B trucks; after that date U23Bs were delivered with GE’s floating bolster (FB2) high-adhesion trucks. Chesapeake & Ohio and Western Pacific U23Bs used traded-in Electro-Motive Division GP or “Blomberg” trucks.

Class 1 railroads have moved on to newer models, but several U23Bs remain in service on regional and shortline railroads.

N scale U23B diesel
Price: $104.95 (DC only), $139.95 (DCC equipped)
Manufacturer
Atlas Model Railroad Co. Inc.
378 Florence Ave.
Hillside, NJ 07205
www.atlasrr.com
Description: Plastic ready-to-run diesel locomotive
Road names
(Each road name available in three numbers) Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Chesapeake & Ohio; Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific; Delaware & Hudson; Lehigh Valley; Missouri Pacific; Western Pacific; and undecorated versions (with or without low-nose-mounted headlights, AAR B, EMD GP, or GE FB2 trucks)

The Atlas model is within scale inches of U23B prototype drawings found in the Simmons-Boardman 1970 Car and Locomotive Cyclopedia. The body is made of three styrene castings: hood, cab, and walkway. Separate factory-applied parts include the horn, railings, bell, exhaust stack, brake wheel, and plow.

The thin-cross-section acetal plastic handrails and stanchions match the body color. As on the prototype, handrails at the step wells and the step edges are painted a contrasting color.

Our sample’s Lehigh Valley Cornell red and yellow paint was smoothly applied and includes impressively tiny pad-printed builder’s plate and warning signs.

N sclae U23B features
Blackened RP-25 contour nickel-silver wheels (in gauge)
Body-mounted Accumate
magnetic knuckle couplers (mounted at correct height)
Directional lighting with golden-
white light-emitting diodes
Eight-wheel drive and electrical
pickup
Five-pole skewed armature
motor with dual flywheels
Illuminated number boxes
Minimum radius: 93/4″
Roadname-specific details
Painted safety rails
Weight: 3 ounces

Inside the shell. The body is easily removed by grasping the long hood and gently wiggling the body back and forth to release the shell’s cast-in lugs from the chassis.

The split cast-alloy frame holds a five pole, skew wound motor with two turned-brass flywheels. All four axles are powered, and all wheels pick up electricity. The wheels are blackened nickel silver. All four wheelsets on our sample U23B were in gauge.

A top-mounted printed circuit (PC) board includes two golden-white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for the directional headlights. The LEDs also illuminate the front and rear number boxes.

Performance. Our DC sample took a bit of power, 3 volts, to get moving, but the mechanism was impressively quiet and smooth throughout its speed range.

The model’s minimum sustained speed was a silky-smooth 3 scale miles per hour. Its top speed was 118 mph at 12 volts, more than a little optimistic for a down-and-dirty freight hog! Depending upon their gearing, prototype U23B diesels could run at a maximum speed of 79 mph.

There isn’t much room for weight inside a narrow road switcher body. This 3-ounce model delivers a relatively modest .64 ounces of drawbar pull, which is below average but still works out to about 16 free-rolling cars on straight, level track.

The wheels are smoothly plated, and we’ve found that pulling performance often improves after the mirror-finish wears down a bit.

The Atlas N scale U23B’s nearly silent mechanism offers exceptionally smooth performance, and the accurate roadname-specific details should please prototype modelers.